4 Reasons Why Every Marketer Needs to Start Loving Google +

You probably did not know that there are 540 million users on Google Plus each month.

This may come as a surprise to many marketers who have tended to shun Google Plus in favour of the social media bigwigs.

But here’s another interesting fact: The number of Google + users is growing by leaps and bounds. Today, the number of Twitter users is half that of Google + users. This is despite the fact that most social media marketing efforts are largely focused on the Twitter and Facebook platforms.

For now, Google + has nothing on Facebook, going by the astronomical number of active users on the world’s largest social media site. Even then, Google + offers unique branding and optimization benefits that other ‘sexier’ social media sites cannot rival:

A Branding Opportunity at the Search Engine Page

When you set up a Google + Business page, important information will show up at the front page of the search engines when searchers use brand specific keywords to find your company. For example, a search for Apple Inc brings up a right hand info box showing detailed data about the company. Not only does the searcher see the prominent Apple logo, you will also get a quick break down of what the company does, its location, the founders and even stock price information. This ‘free’ branding opportunity is not just available to big, well-known companies. Just setting up a business page on Google Plus and thoroughly completing your profile will make your brand visible at the search pages too.

Increased Content View from Gmail Interface

Google has integrated all of its products in such a way that using one product could invariably compel you to use another of their product. For example, when you use Google Hangouts, your video calls are simultaneously recorded to YouTube. In the same vein, when you send marketing emails to Gmail users, they will also see your company’s latest blog post, logo and Google + page on the right hand side of their email interface. This non-intrusive yet prominent strategy serves three purposes: It can boost brand awareness. Secondly, it encourages customer engagement as your email recipients can click on the “Add to Circle” button to start interacting with you on Google Plus. Third, displaying the most recent blog posts is an nifty technique to get users updated with the latest at your website or blog.

The Undeniable SEO Benefit

Google + is under the lucky tutelage of the world’s largest search engine—this alone makes Plus an indispensable tool for search marketing and organic rankings. From Google Plus, searchers can use #hashtags to find relevant content much as you would use keywords to find anything at the search engines. In effect, incorporating relevant #hashtags into your posts serves to optimize this content for your social media target audience. Increasingly, social proof is affecting SEO and search visibility. Posts by active and popular Plus users often show up at the main search engine pages for the relevant keywords. Unlike Facebook and Twitter where big celebrities often take away the lion’s share of users’ attention, Google + is less crowded. It is much easier to build a community, and enjoy greater social recommendations. Bigger social proof can make you eligible for even greater visibility at the search pages.

Credibility and Visibility From Authorship

Google Authorship is the Big G’s way of attributing content to its author. Authorship attribution allows users to find content created by the same author. It also enables the author to build thought leadership by attaching a personal brand (in this case a profile picture) alongside his content. Studies have shown that search users are likely to trust and click through links with a profile picture. Just having that profile picture and an indication of the number of people in your circles, (social proof) can boost your company’s credibility in the eyes of potential customers. It is also true that content connected to a Google + profile can boost your organic rankings.

Smart marketers know that it is just a matter of time before Google + becomes a “do or die” tool in the social media-marketing scene. Integrating Plus into your overall marketing matrix could be just what you need to move to the next level in terms of search marketing, organic ranking and customer engagement.