Google+. Good for all businesses?
-
Hi guys,
My question/discussion is regarding Google+ and whether or not I should advocate creating an account for one of the websites I work in-house for.
This particular website focuses on unlock codes for mobile phones and isn't a service that consumers would really want to connect with - which is what Google+ appears to be a vehicle for. It is a one off purchase website, and not something people will use regularly.
On the face of it Google+ offers very little for a company that operates in this fashion and makes most sense for B2B businesses.
I feel that by potentially creating a Google+ presence we are in fact attempting to manipulate the search rankings because it isn't a networking site that makes sense for our business and there is actually very little real reason for us to get involved with it.
I don't think Google would penalise any business for getting involved in their product, but we would only be using it to benefit our ranking position. Surely that is against everything Google themselves stand for?
Also, what real benefits have you guys got out of using Google+? If I am to create a presence there, this is the ammo I'll need to use to convince my manager with.
Thanks a lot.
-
Purple Indigo,
Robert's right on most accounts. Something that you might also want to think about is the "Google Rel=author" tag. If you're going to be using any kind of blog on this site, using the "Rel=author" tag that's tied into Google+ can help you rank higher in the search results and also give your brand some identity. I know you've mentioned that you don't consider this a product that you would want to use to connect with your audience, however the push in the search rankings might be something of interest.
-
Purple Indigo,
This particular website focuses on unlock codes for mobile phones and isn't a service that consumers would really want to connect with - which is what Google+ appears to be a vehicle for. It is a one off purchase website, and not something people will use regularly.
Will people ever review your product/service? A small amount of info in Google + would not hurt and it can help.
On the face of it Google+ offers very little for a company that operates in this fashion and makes most sense for B2B businesses.
For me, I disagree with it making most sense for B2B. First, it is simply a way of verifying your existence and controlling it first. Then any connection. IMO it is not a marketing tool per se. Frankly, I don't even want to go down the social media marketing road here..... If you have people giving you a plus it will have a minor impact on your SEO, again, IMO.
I feel that by potentially creating a Google+ presence we are in fact attempting to manipulate the search rankings because it isn't a networking site that makes sense for our business and there is actually very little real reason for us to get involved with it.
I really don't do any networking from our corp site nor do our clients per se. So what about 'manipulating' search rankings??? As long as you play by the rules is there something wrong with wanting to get as many customers as possible? Are you doing something you shouldn't be? etc.
As to the follow on to that paragraph about what Google stands for, well they want a good experience for the user and they don't want a lot of trash on the web. I am with them on that. They compete with other companies and Google+ is, at least, a partial response to that competition. I don't think they did it just so they could hug themselves at night.
Just like with Places, you need to own/verify your listing and get the info in it. I do not see a need for a full scale spend to over brand it. Make it clean, nice, be sure info is correct, etc. That is important and your manager needs to get it no matter what.
Hope this helps,
Robert
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How google find, if google + likes were fake?
How google find, if google + likes were fake? Is there any negative effects of it? For example, I have 300 google accounts, can I manually make likes?
Social Media | | bondhoward0 -
Google + Business Page Custom url -too-spammy-long-url?
Hi to all, Ok so I was offered a custom url from Google Plus, greatly appreciated. Yet do you go ahead and add keywords when prompted? I mean if its your business page, and Google says you MUST add some sort of number or letter behind your custom url, do you add some keywords? Like ford for example sake. Would it be smart to put google.com/+ford-mustag-f350 So you add a couple of hyphens, and a few keywords? I understand the principle of shorter is better. But if your url is already like 15 characters, does a few more hurt? Or is it useless? Another example: Your Google page is tv repair man. Your Google offered url is google.com/+Tvrepairman But again it says you must add a number or letter etc. So do you add like your location? so tvrepairman-colorado or maybe no hyphen? Or go farther and go with tvrepairman-colorado-springs-co My point is, I am lost. It seems like for now its a one and done. You mess it up, your stuck with it for a while, and I cannot find any ideas online on how to work this. Maybe because its common sense, but just looking for some friendly and honest advice. Chris
Social Media | | asbchris0 -
Google Autor Profiles in Big Companies
I work for a big company and they want to use the google autor tag. The goal is to get the rich snippets and better rankings in the future from having a trusworthy autor for each topic building up followers basically. The problem is that the company does not want to pay employees to build up their own autor profiles/trust since an employee could leave the company any time and we would have to start from scratch building another autor profile. Now I know that google only wants real people in google plus bla bla ... bla bla ... How do you guys handle this problem? I thought of having our autors sharing one made up autor profile which is owned by the company.
Social Media | | Windex0 -
Can you get Klout accounts for Businesses? How do you do it?
I am new to Klout, just signed up today. I manage social media for 3 other businesses, how can I get Klout for them? Is it possible? How do I do it? The contact us page for Klout is down.
Social Media | | cschwartzel0 -
SEO relevance of Google+. Should we bother getting Google+?
I've read mixed results about the SEO benefit of having Google+ for your company. I'm sure that a very small % of my sites user base has Google+ so if we did implement Google+ into our site I don't think we would really have anyone following us...or in our circle or whatever they call it. So are you guys using Google+ for your business and if so, do you think it's worth it for me to if I know barely any of my users have Google+? Google really seems to be trying to plush Google+ for business, with replacing Google places with Google+ Business and requiring people to log into Google+ to rate businesses. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Social Media | | SheffieldMarketing1 -
I'd like some thoughts on content I'm considering producing for my discount drug card business...
I'm fairly new to SEO, but I'm trying to learn. I have a discount prescription drug card business and while it's quite new (the website was created in January) I'm not very satisfied with the traffic I'm receiving...that's putting it mildly. I'm contemplating different methods I might be able to exercise in order for my website to show value....to my potential visitors and search engines. First, while I do have a blog I find it extremely difficult to offer well-written material on prescription drugs and what not....while it is my intention to offer a good product and service it's a subject that I don't have enough experience on to write intelligent posts. I'm just not in a position to hire a writer. Essentially I have two thoughts....one, trying to find a doctor, a pharmacist or a pharmacy school whereby I could professionally videotape a presenter talking about various prescription drugs, kind of like a glossary. Which prescriptions are used to treat various ailments, etc... The 2nd idea is a little disconnected to the business of prescription drugs, but along the lines of saving money and being financially sound. In this example I would tape 30 second pieces where a financial consultant might give different lessons about ways to save money or be financially prudent. For someone looking to save money on prescription drugs...this could be very useful information. My reasoning with both of these is providing original material that could make my site more authoritative and provide rich content. Videotaping these would be a good option for me because that's my primary business. I appreciate your patience and feedback. Any other ideas or input would be most welcome! Thank you.
Social Media | | MyMeds0 -
Facebook business page
Hello Can you help me. I'm starting out in SEO and sometimes I think I miss the Elephant in the room. I have tried and tried to find our via 'Google' or 'Seomoz' articles the answer to this question. How does 'Google Panda' link a facebook business page to it's actual business website if the url is not identical eg 'www.setteeherts.co.uk' 2 'www.facebook.com/settee-herts'? As no one is talking about this I'm assuming I am missing the elephant. If you can see it can you point it out gently? ta!
Social Media | | catherine-2793880 -
How does Google 'see' Facebook shares?
With Rand's new post about the correlation between FB Shares and rankings, I wanted to ask... How is Google able to see what links are being shared? Does the profile have to be public? Or do they get anonymous info direct from FB as part of some deal?
Social Media | | brianspatterson0