Are you utilizing Google+ as an SEO and Social Media Marketing platform for your business? Did you say NO? Then you really need to look at the following facts:
Google owns Google+ and thus it treats your Google+ business page similar to its own webpage, improving your brand s reliability, authorship and eventually your rankings most importantly. Everything and anything you post on Google+ is indexed by Google - True That! Its popularity in social media networks can be seen in its 500 Million active users, following Facebook with 1.2 Billion users. Here are the listed steps to leverage the full potential of Google+ in business boosting up your SEO and Social Media efforts
1. Engage with your circles & communities: Be a part of them
Read the posts published by them. Follow memes & trending topics.
2. Share Content Consistently: Actively Grow Audience
Make sure that your G+ page looks fresh and relevant with the posts that you are sharing regularly. Consistent actions creates consistent results in social media.
Create a content schedule (keeping the best time to share in mind)
- Share videos and photos
- Engage your audience with a contest/survey
- Share link to your website/blog
- Use G+ itself as a niche blog
Pattern of sharing content:-
It is amazing to see how quickly your shared content can rank in Google search results�sometimes within minutes you can see your post in the results. But - Do not overdo and bombard people in your circles with notifications as it can be quite easily perceived as spamming for which you may be un-Circled/unfollowed/blacklisted!
3. Influencers: A core approach in today s marketing
Identify & interact with the industry expert who have got the ability to influence people to take a positive action in regards to your Google+ page. Google+ ripples is one such tool that can help you find:
- Who is publicly sharing/re-sharing posts & the comments they have made
- Statistics on how a URL/post has been shared, with a breakdown of languages
- Which post has maximum number of shares & a strong following
Watch your competitor s Google+ activity to find their influencers, if they are doing well in it, then communicate with them to influence your presence too.
4. Use Google Hangouts
The Hangouts app is perhaps the most potent feature of the social network that you can use, and here is why:
- Reach out to potential customers hosting Q&A Hangouts
- Long-tail SEO optimized keywords as topic of hangouts to increase visibility online
- People love to consume video content & G+ hangouts allow that primarily
- Easily accessible on mobile devices which is the need of the hour
5. Use Communities: Facilitator of 65 % Engaging Conversations
Posting in communities has often witnessed double or triple the amount of +1s or shares the content has received on the social network. Which is a very good sign of improving your presence online.
You can either join communities that affect your industry/domain and matter to your customer base.
6. Follow : More People in Your Circles, Better Visibility
You cannot get followers without you actually following relevant people, groups & communities. Like, Share & comment on other people s post relevant to your business & in turn invite them to naturally grow your follower base.
To make your fans feel connected, serve the platter as per their interests:
- Reward with special deals/offers
- Make announcements of new launch, event or campaign
- Share video content - walk customers through product uses, customer experiences, or company corporate video.
And then let it go viral through your followers, people you have in your circles, loyal customers that you have earned. Google+ is more than "just another social network" to boost online presence, it is an ultimate tool to maximize visibility on Google search pages. G+ lets you promote posts, videos, deals, etc. to a range of audiences, from your Google+ "Circles" to people simply searching for your type of business on Google. So! The takeaway is - do not forget to put a +1 button on your site! - Call it a monopoly of Google or anything else, but businesses ought to have their presence felt on it, on the grounds of SEO and Social Media. Make Google+ your Social Media bread & butter! And reap the unseen benefits!