Google+ is adding even more competition to the online Social Networking Industry by launching the platform June 2011. Competing with Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Tagged, Yahoo Answers, Twitter, and YouTube, amongst others, Google+ is currently ranked as the 8th Social Network when it comes to total visits as of the week ending September 24th, 2011. FaceBook, with almost 2 billion visits in that same week, stands alone atop the leader board. Google+ allows users to share photos, videos, links and location date with everyone, or with ones select Circles. This new Social Network allows businesses to:

• Create their own personalize company page
• Target specific audiences based off the users’ Circles
• Spread information through different distribution channels
• Create ads delivered to specific and targeted audiences

What separates Google+ from its’ competitors?

One very important difference and competitive advantage Google+ has over its’ competitors is that Google+ is indexed by Google for search results. What this entails is simple; everything one does inside FaceBook’s network stays inside their network where Google+ is supported and has the same features as Google. Second, Facebook and LinkedIn are both set up as “exclusive” platforms which forces one to have to know someone to gain access to their information. This is highly important and is why we see so many companies today pushing extremely hard for people to “like” postings on their FaceBook page. The idea of having a separate “business” page is a tremendous advantage because it allows companies to post information and not have to worry about getting “likes” or users having to be granted access to view their page. Lastly, going back to the first point, because Google+ is indexed with Google, products such as Google Places and Google Offers will be automatically integrated.

Social Networking is an extremely powerful tool for businesses today. Not only does it help spread companies information to the public, but these platforms, like Google+, allow companies to go above and beyond and is a tool for Word-of-mouth, Public Relations, and Advertising.

Before it’s too late, join Google+ today and watch your company grow.

Sources: Entrepeneur.com, CBSNews.com, Technorati.com, and Bizjournals.com

 

Filed under: Social Media Marketing