When you think of Google+, you don’t exactly think “popular social network,” especially when comparing it to powerhouses Facebook and Twitter. However, from an SEO (search engine optimization) standpoint, Google is undoubtedly king. In other words, if you’re looking to market your brand, your business must be visible on Google+. Here are the reasons why:
Google is the most popular search engine in the world
You might be asking, “So what does this have to do with Google+?” The answer is: everything. Any content that is associated with Google+ (Google+ posts, pages, and people profiles) is favored in Google search results (translation: more people see Google+ content than non-Google+ content!) Let’s look at an example. Say that you’re planning to visit the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and want to find out more about its exhibits and open hours. You type into the Google search bar and see a sizeable sidebar about SFMOMA (complete with a logo and map) come up along the right side of your window. 
This sidebar won’t show up for every business that’s on the web. It appears only because SFMOMA has a Google+ company page. If you click on the sidebar, you’ll be taken to this company page. Additionally, this clickable sidebar looks a lot like a large—but credible—ad, which leads me to my next point. 
Google+ is free advertising
If you take a look at the first screenshot above, you can see that SFMOMA has also bought advertising: the 2 links at the top of search results with the yellow square “Ad” next to them. These are Google Ads, which businesses have to buy to display. However, take a look at how much more space the Google+ sidebar takes up, and how much more attractive it is to the eye. It’s much more informative, and it costs your business nothing but the time it takes to set up a Google+ business page.
Google+ is easy to setup
The idea of setting up a Google+ company page may seem like a big task, but it only takes a few minutes. First, visit the official Google+ for business page. Google will walk you through each step, and you’ll be setup in no time. You can then sync your Google+ page with your WordPress site so that you only publish posts one time, and they are automatically published onto your Google+ company page. Keep reading to find out how!
Google+ will help market your videos
If you’ve spent some time creating videos for job recruiting, product tutorials and more, don’t let your work go to waste. Because Google and YouTube are partners, YouTube content is also favored in search results. Don’t hesitate to first upload your videos onto YouTube, and then post your YouTube videos on your Google+ company page. You will immediately get more views. These four reasons demonstrate just how important Google+ is to your brand’s social media strategy—and they are just the tipping point. Google+ (and YouTube) are essential to the online presence of your business. Let’s look at the ways you can integrate Google+ with your WordPress Site.
Google+ for your WordPress site
So how do you harness the power of Google+ through your WordPress site? Simply connect your Google+ profile to your WordPress site. This will help Google improve the accuracy of its search results and potentially increase the Google search ranking of your WordPress site! To complete this process step-by-step, follow these instructions. Another perk of connecting is that any posts from your WordPress site will be automatically published to your Google+ profile without any steps in-between. Other benefits:
- A link to your site is added on your Google+ Profile under the ‘Contributor To’ section.
- At the bottom of each of your WordPress posts, you will see a link to your Google+ Profile, and a “Follow” button so people can follow you on Google+.
- Google+ verified authorship. Put simply, this gets your name and Google+ headshot into the Google result blurb by your posts. More importantly, this will also have a drastically positive effect on your click-through rates. (Attwood Digital cites up to a 150% increase).
The moral of this story is to make Google+ your best friend. By using it you will have exponentially increased visibility and credibility for your website!
Do you use Google+ for your business?
Denise is a San Francisco native who loves technology, fashion, and dining out around the city. Her favorite tech inventions include the Samsung Galaxy mobile phone and of course, the WordPress blogging platform.
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