Google+ is a newer social media site, but it’s definitely not small.
Within the first year of its introduction, Google+ (Google Plus) gathered 450 million users, and that number continues to grow every day. It is used by individuals and businesses, and many users are even leaving Facebook for Google+ because of Google+’s integration with other Google services.
Here are some reasons you should consider using Google+ for your business:
1. Integration with Google features
The first reason you need to have a business Google+ profile is because of the integration benefits.
Google integrates their different sites and applications, making it easier to connect everything. This is important when you’re utilizing their different features and helps with branding your business.
Features like Google Maps, YouTube, Flickr, Google Hangouts and Google Authorship are all connected to your Google+ profile.
So if you have images of your products on Flickr and a YouTube account with interviews and tutorials for using your products, they’re linked with Google+. This increases the number of users on your Google+ profile, YouTube account and Flickr account.
2. Authority in your niche
In order to get your blog or website the viewers you want, you need to show that you are an expert. This is what takes you from the beginning stages of developing your brand to being known as the go-to person for information and valuable content.
Google+ lets you do this with their authorship service and by adding authority to your site and posts. This is especially helpful if you run a Blogger account, which is now also owned by Google. You reach expert and authority status when Google+ is connected with your blog on Blogger.
3. The Google search engine
It is no surprise that Google is the number one search engine around. Yahoo! and Bing come in a close 2nd and 3rd but have yet to reach the enormous amount of users that Google has.
According to Google, they have approximately one billion searches every single day, available in 146 languages and 181 countries. 15 percent of these are searches from brand new users. Because of this, you know a social media site under the same name is going to get into the top search engine results.
4. Google +1 button
Finally, you get the benefit of the Google +1 button.
This button can appear all over the place, including your website and blog. It makes easy for your readers to “like” your post by pressing the button. When they do, your site, article or blog post shows up on their Google+ profile. It is a great way to utilize the entire process.
As with all social media networks, you get what you put into it.
If you’re serious about using Google+ to your advantage, create your profile and start adding interesting content.
Contribute to other profiles and share links of content that isn’t only your own. Interact as much as you can and promote your page, and your site will definitely see positive effects.
Tina Samuels writes for many small business websites including Reputation.com.
