With all this talk about Twitter’s Vine, Facebook’s Graph Search and content being king, I found myself thinking, what about Google? This led to a discussion this morning with a colleague where I couldn’t explain the difference between a Google+ Community and a Facebook Group. I couldn’t let this uncertainty sit for long so I quickly jumped to it and developed a little clarity on Google’s Social Network.. Google+ Communities offer businesses a platform where they can quickly find a large amount of relevant people that all share similar interests.
People join these communities because they have similar interests with the founder and hope to learn, grow and build their network. Through sharing, the group becomes more knowledgeable and gains reach with every new member. Google Communities allow people to manage a public or private group where they can house an unlimited amount of members. But, unlike Facebook, when you share in your public or private GC your comments will not show up in your network’s feeds. They will only show up on your page if you allow them to. GC’s allow for unlimited discussion categories as well as events and hangouts. Members of Google+ are also permitted to participate, create and moderate within the community. An added bonus to GCs is that the network is relatively more organized than Facebook groups. With +1 you can also share anything from across the web with your community. Ultimately, GC’s are very similar to Facebook Groups, but with subtle differences, better organization and SEO benefits. It is more discrete, provides more services and if you use it, Google rewards you.
I’ve read a lot of flack on Google+’s popularity based on its adoption rate, and how it was a ploy to copy Facebook. You’re wrong. I was also guilty of believing this. What really convinced me was how much I started using Google myself. This was shortly after I found out that Google’s search recognizes +1’s coupled with the discovery of Google Authorship. Employing Google Authorship as a PR channel has proved very beneficial to Google as they are now the second largest social network, next to Facebook. I’m calling it a marketing channel because it has helped Google build their social network around business trends and technology. I mean that it is now largely populated with geeky types who write, advertise; and you know what else? Know PR like the back of their hand. These writers encourage people to check out their articles and share their work via Google+ because big media sites pay these writers by the traffic they generate. The writers are also eager to get their faces beside their latest posts in Google’s search results because it increases their familiarity, credibility and following.
Google also corralled small business owners for the purpose of showing up in Google Maps and local searches. The added value of showing up in searches requires business’s to set up a Google+ Local Business page and you need a Google+ account to do so. This has resulted in a surge of accounts and why not? As business people we are taught to opt for the win-win solution, right?
Some say that this was Google’s plan all along. That it chose to rise to the top with the “slow and steady” approach. Personally, I don’t know if I believe that, but I do believe that by the end of the year Google+ will present some exciting new features as well as a much larger audience.
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Yea , Google is a good platform , but Google+ , i feel pity , why s google trying to compete in the social media race with the poor Google+ , whereas it could enjoy the leisures of being the search engine king.! :/
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myles recently posted..How to Host a Webserver from Home PC for your Website
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They’re competing very well Myles.
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-plus-surpasses-twitter-to-become-second-largest-social-network/57740/
While people think they’ve been letting their social network suffer, they’ve actually been using very smart tact to emerge as a worthy competitor.
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As for me Google+ is much better than Facebook even. Really, it has as for me better functionality.. And I’m sure it will keep on developing… So most probably in the later future we’ll discover the new super powerful network called Google+. Or even better, Google+ integrated into Facebook or the other way round. it will be like a nuclear bomb…
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Evan recently posted..Medical WordPress Themes Best Showcase 2013
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Evan, I’ve only been on G+ for about a week now. Overall I like it better than FB too but the only thing it’s missing is- more people.
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I like your graphic. Without reading the post, one can learn a lot of information and make it easier to understand.
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Firstly, the image at the start of the post optimally signifies the journey of the Google. Google has indeed come a long way, and the future prospects are shining brightly. Personally, I prefer Google+, in comparison with Facebook. Thanks for sharing this great share.
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Thank you Aayna and Wally, I personally really liked the image as well. Aayna, I also agree with you for the comparison of the two. Remember to share this article and see what your networks have to say.
Anthony
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Google+ seems to have lots of “hooks” for getting SEO/marketing/professional people to create an account and start using it. I’m talking about Authorship, using +1s for SEO, etc. There seems to be very little to attract ordinary people. But again, people are being sucked into creating Google accounts for Search, for their Android phones, etc. Soon everyone will be sucked into Google+. But is that the same as it being popular?
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Steve Morris recently posted..BlackBerry Z10 Review at S21 (4 stars)
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I agree Steve, they are growing their numbers with marketing/professional types but they’re missing the larger pools of people. I was a little peeved that I had to make a Google account just to start my Android up 2 years ago but, now I love my G+ account. Maybe people will eventually convert?
is this the same as being popular? No.
Its guerrilla marketing with a slow start but soon, it’ll catch on fast!
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With the introduction of new features to Google; it slowed down, like in the case of Google drive. I look forward to further improvements in Google but with greater speed of course.
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