At this point, you've encountered Google Plus (a.k.a. Google+) pages, and you may even have one associated with your personal Gmail or YouTube account with it. (Okay, let's face it: Google has thrust it upon you and typically, it's their way or the highway...)
Nevertheless, maybe you still haven’t found the time or simply haven’t been interested or considered it a priority to set up a Google Plus page for your business. Even if you aren’t the biggest Google fan in the world, when it comes to your marketing: this is a HUGE strategic error.
Below, we highlight the 3 key reasons why we ensure that ALL of our inbound marketing clients have a robust and optimized Google Plus business page:
3 Reasons to Create a Google Plus Business Page
1. Show Up in Search Results
Because Google Plus is (obviously) a Google-owned property, the search engine monolith has decided to prominently feature the Google Plus Business Page on page 1 of search results for that specific business.
Considering how much money some businesses spend to get to page 1 – and for some highly competitive marketplaces it can be thousands of dollars per week – not taking advantage of this prime digital real estate is a missed opportunity of galactic proportions. It’s literally like sending a note to Google and saying: “You know that thousands of dollars in free advertising that you’re offering me? Thanks, but no thanks.”
Of course, your Google Plus Business Page needs to be edited for accuracy (address, map, hours, methods of contact, photos of the business, virtual tours, etc.), populated with relevant content and optimized on an ongoing basis. But this is a small price to pay (in terms of time/labor) for what you get in return. The ROI is massive.
2. Reap the SEO Benefits
Though it often seems like Google keeps its SEO secrets closer to the vest than the FBI, NSA, CIA and DHS combined, it’s widely understood (and wholly despised by Google’s competitors!) that a Google Plus Business Page delivers significant SEO benefits.
Specifically, Google showers some SEO love on businesses that generate “+1” votes. (These are basically the equivalent to a Facebook “like”, though Google gives more weight to +1 votes …and no, Facebook isn’t thrilled about that!)
What’s more, posting and distributing content via the Google Plus platform is often indexed more quickly by Google’s search spider (i.e. the robot that crawls around checking out websites and deciding which ones to add to its search engine database). While there are many factors that determine SEO rankings, businesses that publish quality content on a regular basis reap higher SEO benefits than those that don’t.
Also, keep in mind that Google’s “image” search is becoming more important as more searchers start to use it as part of their normal search process. As such, once you have uploaded great photos to your Google Plus Business Page (e.g. your office, your staff, your awards, etc.), they’ll likely show up first in the image search results. Searchers who then click those photos will go your Google Plus Business Page, and ideally from there, to your website where they’ll move forward through the customer journey.
3. Ellicit Positive Reviews
As you’ve certainly discovered when searching for businesses yourself (perhaps even Leap Clixx!), Google Plus Business Pages feature customer ratings and reviews. It’s definitely in your best interest to encourage your happy customers to spend a few minutes telling the world why you’ve exceeded their expectations.
Also remember: studies have shown that the longer the timeframe, the less customers tend to appreciate an experience – even if it was amazing. For example, you can save someone’s life today and they’re ready to put you in their will. But a few months from now, they may be a bit more…meh about it (“how about instead of putting you in my will, I ask that you’re mentioned in my eulogy?”).
To be safe, ask your happy, impressed customers to leave a review as soon as possible – and ideally, within minutes, hours or, at most, days after you’ve wow’d them.
The Bottom Line
As you can see, having an updated and optimized Google Plus Business Page isn’t just an option - it’s an essential part of your marketing strategy.
If you need support creating or upgrading your page to drive your inbound marketing results, contact us today. We’ll give you the advice and insight you need, and the services and solutions that make a clear, bottom-line difference. And while you're optimizing your marketing strategy, be sure to check out our helpful eBook that explains how to turn your website into a lead-generating machine!
Topics: Inbound Marketing
