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Google+ Is Growing Up. Should You Jump In?

Just about two years ago (June 28th, 2011 actually) Google launched its answer to Facebook and Twitter with their own social media product. It is called Google +.

Last summer we blogged about Google + with our recommendations on whether or not to use the tool and how it could benefit your business. Our stance (and for the most part this is still our take on the matter) is that having a page for yourself and your business is good for your Google efforts. Google is going to be “nice” to those businesses that have pages on one of their products. Makes sense, right?

We still are unsure about spending a lot of time growing your connections on Google +. A lot more people are on Facebook so that might be better solution for you. However, according to an article on adage.com that we came across, the number of people on Google + has increased pretty dramatically. It is now second behind Facebook and growing.

So, how is Google + doing now that it is a “toddler”? Well, some of the original complaints about Google + are still around. It isn’t the most user-friendly and that doesn’t appear to be getting any better. The tools that make it “cool” are still there – especially the hangout feature. This is great because it does give itself an edge over Facebook, Twitter, etc.

One thing to consider about Google+ is how it is going to continue to impact search and allowing people to “share” their experiences they’ve had with businesses. According to the same adage.com article, we can expect some shifts in the coming months and years in the world of social media. According to the article, by early 2016 more “sharing” will be going on with Google+ rather than on Facebook. That could be interesting.

One last point to consider about Google+ is that they haven’t jumped on the advertising bandwagon. In our opinion, this is kind of refreshing. For those of us who use Facebook, it certainly feels like ads are taking over.

For now, a year later, we would recommend setting up a Google+ page for your business as your focus and then making sure that you stay up to date on the latest in the social media world. (Our blog is a great place to get all sorts of information.)

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