Start Using Google+ Right Now (if you aren't already)!

A lot has been said about Google+ since it launched in 2011.

From fanfare to disappointment, Google+ was initially seen as a flop and many analysts wrote it off as a product that had failed to achieve the momentum that Google hoped for. But according to Linda Sherman, the former CEO of ClubMed Japan, businesses that ignore Google+ do so at their own peril. She argues that businesses can “leap ahead” by engaging with Google+ in a manner similar to early adopters of Twitter.

And at Total Product Marketing, we couldn’t agree more with that analysis.

We’ll take you through what you need to know about the importance of Google+ in growing your online business presence so that you’ll start using Google+ too!

Google+ MythBusting

Let’s start by addressing the two most common misconceptions about Google+.

1. Google+ wanted to be the new Facebook – and failed.

Initially touted as “Google’s version of Facebook.” Google+ was quickly touted as a “flop” because it failed to effectively compete with the social media giant. But Google+ hasn’t flopped at all…because Google+ was never meant to compete with Facebook in the first place.

I’ll make my point quickly: Had Google+ been a flop, there would have been limited further investment in the platform. On the contrary, Google has spent a fortune on building a world-class team to hammer away on Google+, and investment and focus on the product has not waned in the least.

The answer is clearer now than it has ever been: Google+ is how the company is entrenching its dominance – it was never meant to replace social networks like Facebook and Twitter. All of Google’s products, from Google Maps, Images, Offers, Books, and YouTube, have been rolled into a fantastic user experience by way of Google+. This experience changes the way we create our online identity through our interests, reviews, and overall experiences in order to help evolve how we relate to one another and communicate with the world. And that was Google’s plan all along.

2. Google+ is a ghost town.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that there’s not much happening on Google+. In fact, a recent article referred to Google+ as a “ghost town”. But Google+ users would disagree.

According to a recent article, a Google+ user had this to say: “If this place is a ghost town then I see dead people. Lots and lots of very interesting, highly educated, talented, artistic, and funny dead people.”

Here’s why more and more people agree with this user’s comment. Unlike Facebook, you have more freedom to interact with Google+ and use it in any way you want. It encourages you to build new relationships based on your interests, profession, career or passions. It gives you the freedom to offer space to find out information that is relevant to you, and then an easy way to share this information among interested parties. This way, Google+ allows you to widen your contacts and build networks.

And just so you know, Google+ has surpassed Twitter to become the second-biggest social platform worldwide – and it is growing fast.

The number ONE reason to use Google+

The Power of Google Plus

We’ve talked a lot about the importance of blogging here. So if you’ve not started blogging, you really really should. And here’s how Google+ will take your blog – and your business – to the next level.

If you read blogs or follow blogs regularly, you may notice pictures of bloggers appearing beside their blog posts in Google. That’s thanks to Google Authorship, which was created with the goal to help bloggers claim their content, and allow search engine users to find more content written by the same author.
Why does this matter? Read on… as the following infographic takes you down the journey of the benefits of Google +.

Need some real life examples?

In the time that we’ve used Google + here at TPM, we’ve enjoyed success in a relative short period. It’s been good for SEO and creating traffic to our site. Here are some examples of our rankings in Google. Your search results will vary based on your past search history, your location, your profile and other factors.