If you actively use social media, then you’ve probably seen a lot of people chattering about Google Plus over the last week or so. A ton of invites went out, and a lot of people got their first look at Google’s newest social networking site. After playing around with it for a few days, I can definitely see why a lot of Facebook users may want to migrate over.
However, does this mean that YOUR BUSINESS should be on Google Plus? As always, there are two basic questions you need to ask yourself in order to decide:
1 – Will being on Google Plus help me better connect with my customers?
2 – Will being on Google Plus help my employees better connect with each other?
Those are the two main questions you need to ask. If you can’t answer a ‘yes’ to either of those questions, then your business probably shouldn’t make the jump to Google Plus. At least not yet.
You should also remember that the current buzz around Google Plus is being driven almost entirely by social media early adopters. We are the geeky types that always want to try out the newest and the shiniest. Remember a few months ago when you were suddenly hearing all this buzz about Quora and Empire Avenue? Yep, that was us as well.
Now this is NOT to say that you should dismiss Google Plus. I think you should absolutely familiarize yourself with the site and the available functionality. For one, the ability to do Hangouts would be a great way for employees to connect, especially if they are working virtually. And you need to understand that this product is NOT available to everyone. Because it still has a lot of bugs that are being worked out, and new functionality will be implemented. And we still aren’t sure exactly what impact content created there will have on search results. There’s still a lot that’s up in the air at this point on many fronts.
So don’t think you need to do a cannonball into Google Plus just yet. My advice would be to read up on the site and what it offers users, then when you get an invite, play with it a bit and see what you think. I will be doing a more in-depth review of Plus once I’ve spent enough time with it to better understand what it offers.
If you are using Google Plus now, what potential impact do you see for businesses there?
@MackCollier i thought businesses can’t even be on Google+ ? And I never liked @quora nor Empire Ave.
@MarkMayhew I don’t think Brand Pages are available yet for Plus, but I know a lot of businesses are hearing buzz & want to know the deal
@MarkMayhew And I never really tried @quora gave EA a shot but lost interest after the 1st week.
@MackCollier the “deal” is that, on a personal level, all businesses should at least familiarize themselves w/Google+ 🙂
@MackCollier i got banned (for life?!) within minutes of joining @quora (they r elitist a**holes who didn’t like a question i asked
@MarkMayhew Bingo. That was the exact point I was trying to make with the post, at least be familiar with Plus.
@MackCollier i just put u in my Circle on Google+ can u see who the other people in it are, I’m just curious http://t.co/LwOP8OK
@MackCollier i can see on Google+ that some 303 people have put u in their Circles…very impressive 🙂
@MarkMayhew Unless you change your privacy settings, I can see who you have in circles, but I have no idea what types of circles
Mack,
The quick and easy way to decide what? How can you possible answer “yes” to something that is not universally available to everyone or even understood as yet? If you’re gonna write a post about Google+, give me some meat – this is a chicken bone (aka linkbait).
This is what’s wrong with blogging today. Just my two cents…
@danperezfilms Thanks Dan, I think you had similar thoughts about I post I wrote earlier about whether businesses should use another social media tool. Then, as now, I wasn’t writing for you (the social media early adopter), I was writing for the businesses that are trying to make sense of the latest shiny object. The businesses that are now going to contact me to ask about how to get them on Plus because they keep hearing buzz and feel they HAVE to be there.
That’s why I suggested that businesses should be aware of Plus, what it offers, and not jump in headfirst simply because it’s getting a lot of hype right now. A good common-sense approach to SM adoption by businesses, IMO.
Hey Mack, I have to go along with @danperezfilms on this one… This strikes very much of linkbait.
As Dan wrote how can any business possibly answer yes to the questions you pose?
You wrote in your reply to Dan “That’s why I suggested that businesses should be aware of Plus” … well to me your title should have said as much, not the surely-to-be Retweeted and bandied about you used… Something like (off the top of my head) “Why Businesses Need To Pay Attention To Google Plus”…
I realize that’s not as sexy a title per se but it would have been much more in line with what the crux of your article was about…
Sorry Mack not trying to come down on you, just telling you as I see it…
@steveolenski Steve that’s fair. The title was actually written more for search engines moreso than Twitter or Plus or….because I wanted to put it where potential clients would find it. And the point I wanted to stress to them was that they need to ask some common sense questions before they jump on the shiny object of the moment.
But that’s fair feedback on the title, I hear ya there and I’ll pay more attention to them moving forward!
@steveolenski @danperezfilms Even if it is linkbait, I’ll give Mack a little leash. You KNOW there are SEOs out there churning out linkbait and keyword packed content Google Plus right now…and that’s the same crowd that repeatedly assaults social media for being inferior to search.
Mack has earned some wiggle room. If it IS linkbait, I’d rather the juice goes to a guy who constructively and consistently contributes to discussion of these issues in an effort to improve our industry.
Hell, he even acknowledges he’ll return later for an in-depth post. Let’s cut each other some slack here, folks. We’re all just throwing out markers to frame the discussion.
@Tojosan http://t.co/0dOAGEk Short GPlus Url Creator.
@danperezfilms not only that, how can you possibly say that you can see why people will want to migrate over from facebook, then a few sentences later say that if businesses can’t answer yes to those questions, they may not want to migrate over??? Customers drive businesses, and businesses are going to follow their customers and their interests, so therefore answering those questions have no viable effect on whether or not a business should migrate…if the customers move, so will the businesses…
@kwyatt82 not sure I am understanding your comment. I can see why some Facebook users would migrate to Plus from Facebook. If enough of one business’ customers migrate over, then it may make sense for them to make the move there as well.
As you said, it’s about being where your customers are.
@MackCollier @kwyatt82 Sorry for the confusion…allow me to clear it up a bit.
Your article stated the following:
“I can definitely see why a lot of Facebook users may want to migrate over. However, does this mean that YOUR BUSINESS should be on Google Plus?”
Then your article proceeded to announce two questions that suggested if businesses couldnt answer yes to either of those, then they shouldn’t make the move to google plus.
Your article above and your reply to me seem somewhat contradictory. The obvious is the most logical…businesses will follow customers, regardless if they can answer “yes” to either of your questions, whether they stay on Facebook, go to Google, or go to any other social networking site. Whichever site controls the consumer population for their target market will also control the business population for those consumers.
I also think in the social networking era of today, “moving” or “migrating” is not an option for anyone on any network. Managing accounts in multiple fields and networks to expand and attract potential revenue is the logical answer and solution to businesses promoting their products, and the majority of businesses are doing that, not choosing one over the other.
@kwyatt82 Oh ok. I was trying to say that I could see where a lot of Facebook users may migrate to Plus, but even if they do, that doesn’t mean your business should necessarily follow them. I still think you need to ask and answer those 2 questions.
Actually, just looking at google+ features already gave me an idea about these two questions: For example, my young students won’t care about the circles, because they connect only with people of their age. They won’t come off facebook. The pull of the established connections far outweigh google+’s improved functionalities.
I myself never went gung-ho on fb, the whole social media hype makes gives me the jitterbugs. It seems all about numbers and flooding the channels at your disposal with an endless stream of rehash. Just because someone tossed the magic number of 1000 followers into the rink.
My adult students will very well connect on google+, especially if they use google phones and calendars, like I do. I could see how I might benefit from google+ before being in. I finally got an invitation, and my mind is just pumping up new ideas. I can reach out to exactly those 19 people that matter and still grow my circles organically without any extra effort. So yes on both counts.
I was reading above where someone said that it helps your website, but I cannot find an explanation to how it does it. Does having more +1 drive your website up period? I mean does it actually have to become part of your SEO strategy now?