“Google+ Why is it important?” seems to be a trick question
at first glance. Of course it isn’t important. The only time anyone ever hears
or thinks of it is when one of the many meme’s making fun of it get circulated
on the social network that matters – Facebook.
Ending the conversation there, however, misses some of the
benefits that Google + can have for individual users and businesses. For the
individual user, Google+ easily allows you to connect to your interests via the
thought leaders and content creators that form their new, yet numerous,
“communities”. In the same way that Facebook easily connects you to your
existing friends, Google + can be used to connect to the ideas and communities
that matter to you. Google+ also makes it easy to keep this network of people
organized in a way that you define. The intuitive “circles” feature allows you
to sort your contacts into whatever categories you find appropriate (close
family, extended family, HPM homies, old grad student friends, etc.) and lets
you easily set differing levels of privacy with each group. In short, with an
ever increasing number of users, the opportunities for easily connecting both
publicly and privately to friends new and old are growing daily.
While the differences between Facebook and Google+ may seem
slight for the individual user, the benefits to businesses can be tremendous.
Unlike their earlier social effort, Buzz, Google+ hasn’t been created as a
standalone product. It is becoming more and more integrated into all of
Google’s offerings, from Google docs to Gmail to Maps to Search.
Ah, search. In the same way that Facebook rules social,
Google rules search. If you’re a business with a web presence (can you think of
any that don’t?), then search is important to you. Shortly after the creation
of Google+, they introduced the concept of Search plus Your World, an effort to
combine traditional search results from the wider web with results influenced
by your Google+ network. For a business without a presence on Google+, you risk
dropping lower in search results than businesses that do. An example of the
search benefits of being an active member in Google+ can be seen at here: http://www.smartinsights.com/search-engine-optimisation-seo/seo-strategy/google-plus-seo/
Beyond major international companies like H&M that were
profiled in the link, there are also implications for local business. Google+
Local is another service integrated with Google+ and combines search with
product reviews and mapping. As the internet is increasingly accessed via
mobile devices, this is a powerful combination that can direct customers into
local businesses at the exact moment they are searching for what they
want.
To conclude, Google+ can be a user-friendly way for
individual users to connect to people with similar interests. It is also
becoming an increasingly vital way for businesses of all size to maintain their
search relevance. Though many scoffed at Google’s second attempt at social, the
internet giant might just be the one to get the last laugh.
If you are Google, what do you hope Google+ does for your
company?
Does Google+ need to overtake Facebook for social dominance
to be successful?
References:
Personally, I am not as active on Google+ as I am on FB or Twitter. I agree with you Google+ seems more important to business than to individual users. We can compare a company's Google+ page with its FB page and see the differences. Would you mind promoting your discussion on my Facebook Page? How about promote your discussion and promote your discussion led by your tomorrow at the same time? Then, people won't feel overwhelmed with our updates.
ReplyDeleteGoogle is well known for their quick and easy search engine on the web. Whenever someone is researching or looking for definitions the first thing they type in is goggle, to fine the results. Some people Google everything in order to be well informed on unknown topics. When it comes to companies, Google brings upon a huge advantage to them. Google allows companies to build their foundation and further increase their SEO. With Google+ not only can a company increase their SEO, they can all further develop their network and brand by communicating with people in and out of their Circles.
ReplyDeleteGoogle and Facebook are completely different things and I don't think Google needs to overtake FB for social dominance to be successful. Google’s social networking is unique and although Facebook is more commonly used, Google has reached different social groups like businesses and organizations. Also, Google+ will continue having increasing users because when someone creates a Gmail account, they are automatically set up with a Google+ account. However, with Facebook, you are given the choice to sign up to be a user. That’s what makes them a lot different. If anything, I believe that Facebook and Google+ can collaborate to expand and enhance their social networking abilities.
ReplyDeleteI am not a big user of Google +, especially compared to Facebook. Google is known for their searches and is the first search engine that I always go straight to. If I owned a company, I would use google+ to increase the SEO and expand my brand. Google+ is a great way to expand the searches of companies by connecting with other companies on Google+ and they can search plus your world. To me, Facebook and Google+ are used for different things. I use Facebook to connect with my friends and use it as a social media network. As I previously stated, I do not use Google+ a lot, so I don't think it needs to overtake Facebook for social dominance. I use Google+ for googledocs to share documents and pictures, but I don't sit on it and look at what my circle is up to.
ReplyDelete