Online Marketing with Google+

Last year Google released their own social media application, Google+, which they hoped would offer new competition to Facebook. It has been out now for about a year and in my opinion it has yet to really catch on. So this raises the question as to whether Google+ is a necessary part of a small business's online marketing plan.

The answer to this depends on your situation. Any time you can add more links to your business it is beneficial to your online marketing plan. Google+ is just another platform for small business owners to offer useful content to their audiences. If you are going to use Google+ make sure you give users a reason to check out your page. The content is what drives them to the site, and within the content you can "market" your small business. We have discussed this in prior posts such as embedding links and using keywords.

But is Google+ really worth your time. The answer to this is subjective to your situation. I do not think that Google+ should be any small business's #1 or #2 social media platform. Facebook has almost a billion users, Twitter has over 300 million users, and Google+ has only about 100 million users. The goal of any online marketing plan should be to reach as many potential customers as possible. When you think of it like this it is clear that Facebook and Twitter will be much more effective. However, if you have already mastered these other forms of social media, give Google+ a try. Check out the Google+ page for Innovative Ad Solutions LLC. If you like it, and you have the time, give it a shot. It hasn't really caught on as much as Google would like, but I still think it can be effective as part of your small business online marketing plan.

One part of Google+ that I like is the various circles that you can join. A circle is much like a group on Facebook. If there is a circle that is relevant to your industry this is even more of a reason to give Google+ a try. But remember we do not suggest you use it in place of other social media applications. use it in conjunction with them for an extra platform to offer content to your customers and embed more links and keywords. If you choose to try it out, make sure you have enough content to put on the site. Even if you just share links to blogs, tips, and news about your industry you will always have new content. A huge part of online marketing plans for small businesses is sharing information that others have put out there. This is a lot less time consuming and as long as you give the author credit it is okay!

If you want to know if Google+ is right for your small business's online marketing plan, Contact Innovative Ad Solutions LLC to talk more about it!