If Your Business Isn’t on Google+, This is Why You’re Losing Out


Still not on Google+? Still waiting for it to prove its merits? Not sure if it’s worth your while? The time to stop waiting is now. If you’re not implementing a solid Google+ strategy, your business is sure to get surpassed by others who’re quicker to the punch.
Google+ is no longer in its infancy. Today it has over 90 million users. Not only are these users active, but many of them areinfluencers. The people on Google+ tend to be early adopters. They tend to be passionate. They’re the people who can make or break a brand or business.
If you’re not on Google+ yet, you’re missing out.
The Search Plus Revolution
When Google released “Search Plus Your World,” they seriously changed the game. Google’s Search Plus basically gave every webmaster on Google+ super powers, while severely disadvantaging anyone who wasn’t.
Here’s how it works.
Instead of just using backlinks and on-site SEO to rank websites, Google decided to use Google+’s +1s as a core ranking factor. If I run a website and you +1ed some of my content, the chances of me ranking for a search of yours in the future isdramatically higher.
The level of power that +1s have is unprecedented. It’s not just a search engine factor, like using keywords in your H1 tag or having a good anchor text density. It’s literally a game changer. Just this one thing alone can cause your content to outrank pages with thousands more authority links than your site.
If you want to shortcut past all the hard work of SEO, this is one of the very few ways you can do it. Search Plus is an incredibly powerful tool that few webmasters are making full use of right now.
How to Take Advantage of the Google+ Edge
Now that you know just how much of a game changer Google+ can be, how can you harness and use its power?
First, add Google+’s badges to your website. Add it to every piece of content you publish. Encourage people to +1 your content. Run contests around Google+. Get as much attention and interaction going on your Google+ page as possible.
This will get you more +1, as well as more activity about your business showing up in your customers’ feeds.
Segment your circles. Give different kinds of content to different kinds of users. Send your power users one set of content, while giving people who’ve never bought anything a different set of content. Because Google+’s circles are so customizable, they give you a huge edge in terms of targeting your content to the people who’ll really love your content.
Speaking of content, much like any other social network, success on Google+ really does depend on regular high quality content being posted. Google+ allows you to post longer posts than Facebook or Twitter, so take full advantage of these capabilities to post a lot of high quality content.
Make sure to test out the difference between your Google+ audience and your Facebook audience. What one audience appreciates won’t necessarily be the same as what another audience appreciates. You may very well find that your audience on Google+ likes much more advanced topics and advice than people on Facebook.
Finally, engage with people. Build real relationships. Send messages to people who follow you and comment regularly. Visit their Google+ pages and comment and +1 their content as well. If you do this, they’re much more likely to come back to your page and +1 your content as well.
It Expands Beyond Search Plus
While the primary power of Google+ lies in being +1ed by people in your core audience, Google+ has a lot of other influence as well.
For one, the number of +1s you receive is definitely a search signal that Google’s looking at. In other words, your +1s will not only influence Search Plus, but it’ll influence organic search as well.
Google+ is also an extremely powerful social network that you’d be silly not to take advantage of. If all your big customers and potential business partners were on one social network, doesn’t it make sense to be active on that network? Chances are, Google+ is that network. The time to “wait and see” is over. Google+ is a significant player and the time to participate actively is now.

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