Google plus will blow Facebook away in 2012 and beyond as a tool for business and brand building, among other things.
While Facebook may have the current social media edge, Google has big plans to take over that coveted spot with Google plus.
Deep pockets and a fierce competitive spirit almost guarantees it won’t be long, but perhaps most important in this equation is Google is…well, Google.
Google Plus Is Attracting Big Names in the Online World
Many of the biggest names in the online world were early adopters of Google plus:
- Mari Smith
- Seth Godin
- Gary Vaynerchuk
- Guy Kawasaki
Just to name a few of the Who’s Who in the social media stratosphere. 🙂
These folks know something about using social media for building businesses and creating memorable brands. They wouldn’t be using Google plus if they didn’t believe it had something big to offer them.
What Else Makes Google Plus Important?
For one thing, using Google’s social media platform is just one more way to make Google happy. And we all know that the name of the Internet marketing game is making Google happy. In fact, word on the street is, going forward, SEO results will have more to do with factors like trust and credibility than carefully targeted and placed keywords.
Amit Singhal, Chief Engineer at Google says, “They value connections and the community surrounding a particular topic over the well-designed SEO strategy. They will focus on TRUST—and how trust is developed and nurtured—over a perfectly keyword-optimized blog post.”
This is great news for businesses who are credible and straight-shooting and actually invest the time and resources to build strategic relationships with their audience. These algorithmic changes give the honest small business a chance to be found and ranked well because of who they are and the loyalty their customers afford them.
Like any new platform, Google plus has a learning curve. Time will be the biggest investment you make to get your Google plus page(s) up to speed (unless you hire someone to do it for you). The smart people over at Social Media Examiner have a terrific post about setting up your Google plus page(s).
I am still in the process of setting up mine, but so far, I like what I see.
How are you using Google plus and what are your experiences with it so far?
