Ask Mandy Q&A – Is Google Plus Worth My Time?

Ask Mandy is a weekly Q&A blog series. To ask your question about social media, please click here.
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To use Google Plus or not use Google Plus. That is the latest question.

Google Plus is one my favorite platforms to use. There is a wealth of information there, but many think it’s a ghost-town. This week’s Q&A question was simply,

Is Google Plus worth my time?

There is a great debate in the social marketing world about whether or not Google Plus is still of value. The platform was (slowly) trucking along until their main-guy left this past Spring. Soon after the “Google Plus is DEAD!” posts started to be published all around the web. It was like Chicken Little crying “the sky is falling!!”

Anyone who actively uses Google Plus knows that one, it’s not dead, and two, there is still a lot of value in using it.

My answer to the question above? Yes, Google Plus is worth your time.  Here’s why…

1. Content Curation

There are so many great, quality articles published on Google Plus everyday. For businesses using social media, two of my favorite people to follow for great content are Mike Allton and Rebekah Radice. I could give you many more names, but start with these two. I have found that Google Plus provides me a great opportunity to discover and share content. With the larger graphics and blog-like updates, the statuses on Google Plus are much more detailed and provide more value to the reader.

2. Quality Connections

Yes, you can make connections anywhere on any platform, but I’ve found I can develop more quality connections on Google Plus than on Facebook. There are people on Google Plus that I have followed on other platforms, but it’s here that we’ve really gotten into discussions and learned more about each others’ business. If you are using this for your business, this gives you the opportunity to really reach out to your community in a more detailed way. Added bonus – there’s not the drama there is on Facebook.

3. HOA (Hangouts on Air)

Google Plus’ Hangouts on Air are a great way to broadcast your business on the web. Imagine having your own TV show or video series. With HOA, you can make these private or public plus they are easily integrated into YouTube for later viewing. I’ve participated in a few and watched many and this is a great bonus to using Google Plus. Added bonus – you can have your name and logo along the bottom, just like on any of the news shows on TV (yes, I know this is simple, but it’s really cool).

4. Google Authorship

Despite the fact your picture does not show up in the search results anymore, Google Authorship is still important. Google Authorship links your original content with your Google Plus profile building your authorship within the search engine. This helps you build credibility as an author in Google. Anyone who blogs needs to have this set up. You can read more about Google Authorship here.

I highly suggest that everyone use Google Plus – it’s a great forum for these reasons and them some.

What do you think? Is it worth your time?

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Don’t miss out on our weekly Q&A! You can subscribe to receive these via email here.