Make a Google Plus Business Listing Part of Your Social Media Marketing

Mike Hanbery - 11.22.2011 8:00 AM

On June 28, 2011, search engine giant Google launched Google Plus (Google+), an Internet social network modeled as an improvement on Facebook.  By October 9, 2011, it had accumulated 40 million users. In November, 2011, the platform followed the lead of LinkedIn and Facebook, allowing businesses to have micro-sites (Pages) on the platform.

Especially with the failure of Google Wave and Google Buzz—neither of which were actually intended to be the new Facebook but neither of which were ever really understood—and with time and financial budgets already allocated to existing social media marketing tools, businesses have questions about Google Plus and the degree, if any, to which they should be involved.

Why Google Made Google Plus
Facebook’s real value lies in the data it possesses. Facebook knows more about you than you do. It knows how you behave on its network, what you “like,” what you don’t like, what you type and talk about, what advertisements you click, what someone else might say that provokes a response from you, the sentiment of those responses, how you influence and are influenced by your connections…

The ability to return relevant options to your Internet search engine query is the foundation of Google's empire. Facebook is the most popular and active site on the Internet. How relevant, the question becomes, can Google’s search algorithm be if it does not include the data Facebook owns? Either Google’s search results keep pace with, and reflect the ever-increasingly personalized nature of, the Internet user’s experience or Google becomes irrelevant and its empire crumbles.

There are two ways to gain an asset: acquire or build. Google attempted to acquire access to Facebook’s data. Facebook declined. Google made Google Plus so they could generate the same demographic and behavioral data and incorporate it into their search algorithm.

How to Use This Information
In 2010, Google merged local and organic search, elevating the importance of a consistent, pervasive presence in local listings. The single most powerful element in that effort is a Google Places page. This is neither accident nor coincidence.

Among your goals for social media marketing are (or should be) to obtain authoritative links and expand the visibility of your company online. The priority and visibility of each link is decided by Google.  We’re all playing on their field by their rules. Yes, your business should establish and cultivate a presence on Google Plus and incorporate its use into your ongoing social media marketing strategy.

What questions do you have about Google Plus Business?

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