Google Plus is something of a neglected social media site. It lacks the glamor of Instagram, the huge network of Facebook, and the easy connectivity of Twitter, and many have passed it by as another one of Google’s not so successful forays into new areas.
Don’t be fooled, though. This is a solid workhorse that offers major benefits, especially if you have an online business – or even a brick and mortar shop that needs some local SEO loving. In fact, Google Plus is insanely overpowered when it come to SEO rankings, so don’t miss out on some easy points.
What you want to use is Google+ Pages – now managed through Google My Business. If you don’t know what this is, it’s the map with company locations that pops up when you enter a search term like “business in city” – think “coffee shops in NYC” and the like, and you’ve got the right idea.
This gives you the keys to appearing at the top of the search engine on a silver platter: what more could you want? This also gives you a lot of authority and credibility in the eyes of people searching your keywords, as well as long-term SEO value simply for having such a high placement.
This isn’t the only benefit that using Google Plus offers, but it’s the most significant, and one that no business should ignore. There’s simply nothing else out there on the market that can put you on the literal map online and offline as quickly as this, and unlike most SEO efforts, this doesn’t require a complex degree and constant learning to stay on top of ever-changing trends in SEO.
