Google+ Gaining Ground in Business
September 19, 2012
Is Google+ getting hotter? It would seem so, according to CNet News’ “You Say Google+ is a Ghost Land? Time to Revisit That One.” The site is still no threat to Facebook, but writer Peter Yared makes a strong case that a focus on small businesses makes Google+ more relevant than many people realize.
Google’s link-every-product approach succeeds in giving the company an advantage, in this case specifically with searches for small businesses. Such a search prominently displays an image of the business’ Google+ Local profile next to the search results; many users click on that page rather than going to the business’ own site or another information provider. Voila, more clicks for Google!
That is just one example, though. Yared notes other ways in which Google+ seems to be positioning itself as a crucial resource for businesses. Google is leveraging last year’s purchase of Zagat by incorporating its local business reviews. It is also soon likely, he says, to integrate content from its more recent acquisition, the travel guide site Frommer’s. He concludes:
“Google+ has rapidly become the business social network, differentiating itself from LinkedIn as a promotional and communication network rather than a public directory of employees. (Google just announced Google+ features for medium to large businesses.) Google+ is already a great place for small businesses to create an online presence that gets a lot of traffic and provides users with context such as reviews and location. It will likely soon let users opt-in to a business’ ‘circles,’ then allow businesses to shoot promotional material straight to a user’s Google+ inbox, also known as Gmail. Now that’s a winning small business strategy.”
Yared may be on to something here. Does Google’s future lie, at least in part, in becoming a primary resource for small businesses? Stranger things have happened.
Cynthia Murrell, September 19, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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