Social Media 101 – What is Google+?

We have written about various platforms in our Social Media 101 series. in this post, we talk about Instagram. In this post, we talk about Google+.

[This platform has closed since the post was written.]

What is Google+?

Google+ is a Facebook competitor, with over 300 million monthly active users. Google+ in linked to the entire Google stable and it carries significant weight in terms of SEO and organic search visibility. Google tries to make sharing on the web more like sharing in real life. Users can group different sets of people into ‘circles‘ and share specifically to those circles, and ‘hangouts‘.

Why is it important?

Anyone targeting a male-skewed audience should consider investing time in this platform. More than 70% of the audience is male. It is also ideal for selling and promoting technology. Ignoring Google+ is similar to ignoring Google. Google has been using Google+ to influence its search returns and page ranking. Developing a page under your Google profile allows you to link all the content you create across the web to your Google+ account.

How to set up a Google+ account

1. If you want a Google+ account, you must have a Google account with a Gmail address. Go to plus.google.com and follow the ‘Create An Account’ prompts. You will be asked for information, including your name, date of birth and email address.
2. If you want to set up a personal page, Click on the Join Google+ button and follow the prompts. If you want to set up a business page, click on the Create a Google+ page button and follow the prompts.

How to use Google+

1. Add people, brands and companies to your circles. For example, you can create a circle called ‘Publishing’ and add anyone involved in the industry to that circle. When you want to find out what is happening in that industry, you can choose to see only people from that circle in your stream. When you share something, you can also choose to share to specific circles. Create another one for friends and so on.
2. Make use of Google+ hangouts. This is a free video chat service that enables both one-on-one chats and group chats with up to 10 people at a time. Hangouts focus on ‘face-to-face-to-face’ group interaction, seamlessly switching the focus from one person to another.
3. Google+ Communities allow you to create, or participate in, focused groups of both individuals and companies who share a particular interest. This is a good way to raise brand awareness, create trust and get direct feedback from customers.
4. Google+ is similar to Facebook. Use it to showcase blog posts, add profiles of people that interest you to your circles, and feature videos you have created on your YouTube channel.

Google+ Tips

1. Make good use of the ‘circle’ feature. It gives you more control over your social media presence, because you are able to target what you share.
2. Google+ Hangouts is Skype on steroids. You can host or participate in video or text chats with multiple people at the same time. Conduct conference calls via ‘hangouts’ with those people, or conduct training sessions with this tool.
3. Put your staff into Google+ circles and share news and information with relevant groups.
4. Focus each post on a single subject and include links, questions, and clear calls to action in your posts to boost engagement.
5. Google+ is not only focused on personal social sharing, which means that you can post more frequently. Experts advise that 3-5 posts per day is a good way to start.
6. Follow this link for more Google+ Tips

P.S. If you want to learn how to blog and write for social media, join us for The Complete Blogging Course