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Google+ is more important than you think

It’s fair to say that Google+ has had somewhat of a rocky start. What with the glut of social media sites already out there such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc, it seemed that people felt that they didn’t need yet another site to visit. However, Google+ is slowly but surely establishing itself as an important online tool and it now has apparently overtaken Twitter to become the second most active social media site behind Facebook.

There was further evidence of Google+’s increased importance when former Google CEO Eric Schmidt revealed in his upcoming book that:

“Within search results, information tied to verified online profiles will be ranked higher than content without such verification, which will result in most users naturally clicking on the top (verified) results. The true cost of remaining anonymous, then, might be irrelevance.”

As Google+ has been designed as an identity verification network, Schmidt is essentially saying that connecting your website to your Google+ account will boost your rankings in Google search results. So how do you go about using Google+? Here are a few top tips…

1. Link Google+ to your blog

If you’re a blogger or have a blog on your site then one of the first steps should be to link it to your Google+ profile. This takes only a few short steps and will show your authorship over the content. This will vastly improve your online visibility as well as adding your photo next to your links to encourage people to click.

2. Go round in Circles

Circles in Google+ are like networks of like-minded people. This means you can share information that could be of interest and benefit with other people in your Circles and vice-versa. You can have various different Circles for family, friends, work, blogging, etc, and can view Circle-specific posts as well as post to certain Circles. Another big advantage of this is that people in your Circles can see your posts higher up in Google’s search results should they wish.

3. Hangout and chat

Something that is hugely advantageous is the Hangout plugin (free to download), which is essentially a video chat tool. This can be used for bloggers to record thoughts but can also be used for business to conduct webinars and video conferencing. By using Hangout on Air, your video will also be streamed on Google+ and on YouTube and you will be sent a recording of the video. This gives you yet another resource by which to reach your audience.

Of course, these are only a few basic tips but they’re a good starting point. Google+ is growing all the time and looks set to be incredibly important in 2013 in terms of online visibility. Those coming completely cold to social media may find it all a little overwhelming and employing a company to set it all up and run it for you may be a sensible option. SEO Consult have dedicated social media professionals who know the industry inside out and can help put you engage with your peers and customers. They will work with you to develop a social media strategy and harness the various relevant platforms to put your brand and products out there. To learn more about SEO Consult’s various internet market services, visit their website now.