Google+ and Your Small Busniess

As 2012 kicks into gear, it’s time to think about your current marketing plan. If you’ve finally gotten Facebook and Twitter down to a science, or if you’re just beginning your social media marketing journey, you’re probably wondering about Google+. How important is it for your small business, and just how much time should you spend looking into it and/or setting it up? Here are some important points to consider when these difficult questions are hot on your mind.

The +1 Button SEO Boost

You’ve either seen first hand or read about the evidence that Facebook “Likes” and Twitter “Followers” and “Retweets” can boost your SEO rankings. There’s evidence that +1′s will do the same. This tidbit from Google’s Google+ Webmaster FAQ page explains:

Hangouts

Hangouts are like Skype for Google. Google+ opens your webcam, and you can instantly video chat with anyone in your circles who’s online. This can be really handy for:

1. Internal meetings: Say you’ve got an employee working remotely, and you’re going to have an important meeting. If you start a hangout, that employee and the other meeting attendees can chat face-to-face via webcam. Also, since you’re already on the Google platform, if you use Google’s document or calendar sharing functions, those are only a click away.
2. Connecting with customers: Pretend for a moment that you’re a web design company, and you’ve got some people in your circles who’ve seen your work and are thinking about getting a new website. You can host a general information session during which you invite your potential clients and show them, all at once, what your company is capable of. Not only do you get to show off, but your customers also feel more connected to you, since they can see your face and interact with you directly.

Circles

Circles are categories that you can add your followers to, and then you can post updates just to specific ones. For instance, say you have 3 circles: Clients, Potential Clients, and Employees. You can post a special offer to your potential clients that your clients won’t see. Or, you can make a post reminding your employees about an upcoming meeting, and your client circles won’t see it.

The Cons

While those three features are great for small businesses, there are a couple things that you should be aware of when considering investing time in Google+.

1. You have to have a personal Google+ page to have a business page, and it is tied to your personal account. However, personal pages are easy to create if you don’t have one yet. Also, you can give other people rights to edit your business page, and they won’t see your personal stuff.
2. Facebook and Twitter still win. They’ve still got many more users than Google+, and people are much more active in general on them. However, if Google+ is going to blow up in the future, this lull gives you time to figure it out and grow with it.
3. You can add other businesses to your circles, but you can’t add individual people until they add you first. This is sort of the same thing as Facebook, though. Your updates don’t appear on peoples’ walls until they “Like” you.

Decisions, Decisions

The decision about whether or not Google+ is a good investment for your small business is ultimately up to you. If you already barely use Facebook and you see no benefit in getting a Google+ page, then perhaps it’s not for you. If any of the above functionalities appeal to you, then maybe it’s worth a try. Either way, it’s a social media-eat-social media world, and we’ll all be watching as Google+ takes its place in the social food chain.

For more information about Google+ and small business, check out these resources:
http://mashable.com/2011/12/25/google-plus-for-small-business/
http://www.cio.in/news/seven-ways-use-google-help-your-enterprise-209692012