Last month, Google Co-Founder Larry Page noted that Google+ had amassed over 40 million users since its launch just 4 months prior. That's a lot of growth! Then again, Google Buzz had 9 million posts within 56 hours of its release...and we all know what happened to Google Buzz.
At this point, we're all keeping a close eye on Google+'s growth, wishing we had a crystal ball. Will it be another flop? Or will it take off, catch up to, and surpass the existing social networks like Facebook? Now that Google+ has business pages, it's even more important for marketers to pay attention. If you’re still on the fence about whether or not your business will benefit from having a Google+ page, here is an interesting timeline of events and growth to consider:
This timeline of events illustrates some impressive growth. But if you take a step back, it's apparent that Google+ still has a lot of catching up to do if it's going to compete with Twitter or Facebook. Even at its peak, with all of the hype of the public launch, Google+'s 15 million visits accounted for less than 1% of social network traffic. Twitter attracted more than double the traffic in that time, and Facebook attracted over 100 times the traffic, with 1.76 billion visits.
In terms of membership, Google+'s community of 40 million is already almost one third of LinkedIn’s 135 million users. That's impressive considering LinkedIn was launched back in May 2003. Facebook currently has over 800 million members, but back in April 2009 - over 2.5 years after it was expanded to everyone (not just schools) -- it had grown to 200 million users. Google+ already has 20% of that total, thanks to Google's other successful offerings.
Marketing Takeaway
This data is interesting, but what does it all mean for your business’ marketing strategy? Should you take the time to create and maintain your own Google+ business page? The answer is "Yes!" Based on the data points we've seen so far, Google+ looks promising right out of the gate. Even if Google+ turns out to fizzle, you don’t want to risk getting left in the dust. We all know Google is a search engine giant, and it's likely there will be more benefits down the road (like valuable insights about your Circles). Already, there are SEO benefits to having a Google+ business page. So what are you waiting for?
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Drewry 4:32 PM on November 30, 2011
That is a very good question, as Google plus is starting to look like they are gaining an advantage in competing head on with Facebook. Google plus has a lot of awesome features for people who create personal pages as well as create Google plus business pages. Speaking on my behalf, I having gotten into completely optimizing my page yet on the Google plus network, but looking forward to momentarily :-)
Chad Pollitt 4:50 PM on November 30, 2011
Melissa:
While I agree with you about potential SEO benefits and the numbers you sight are impressive, lets add a little more perspective to the Google+ conversation. Google+ at it's peak for daily visitors was barely passed Ning and less than half that of MySpace. That's right, I said MySpace.
http://www.kunocreative.com/blog/bid/68258/Google-Plus-A-Facebook-Killer-Try-Getting-Past-MySpace-First
I'm not seeing any post about leveraging MySpace for Inbound Marketing and in actuality it would probably lead to many more leads than Google+. . . but I digress :)
I wouldn't recommend spending any additional resources on Google+, aside from setting up a page, posting content and the occasional conversation, until it passes MySpace in popularity or if a company markets exclusively to geeks and marketing geeks like us.
While the potential search benefits are nice to discuss there is no solid evidence as to their affect on the SERPs. SEOmoz's 2011 Search Ranking Factors Report only gives social media 7% credit. Until that changes I'm not spending more then a few minutes a day on this budding platform.
@CPollittIU
chris lancaster | Savvy Entrepreneur 4:53 PM on November 30, 2011
I have been watching popular websites social buttons on articles as a gauge. Of course they will vary depending on sites but if I watch my competition I will have a good idea what people are really doing.
I've noticed that Google +1 has been slowly catching up but facebook likes are always more dominant.
Malika Patel 5:14 PM on November 30, 2011
Big fish will always eat small fish!!
Balboa Capital 6:15 PM on November 30, 2011
While it is hard to say if Google+ will take over Facebook, it is nice to have a new powerful social media application that offers businesses and brands a clean and easy-to-use interface. We really enjoy the new G+ platform.
Erika Barbosa 6:37 PM on November 30, 2011
Interesting data points in this post…
I’m still concerned about the adoption of Google+ outside of the technical/marketing space. However, perhaps it is a good sign that brands and celebrities are now adopting the platform (unlike Buzz).
@ErikaBarbosa
Stephen 7:23 PM on November 30, 2011
The numbers are certainly impressive. There are some other reasons that small businesses should be on Google +. One is to maintain their online presence. Second, the competition for viewing is not has aggressive. You have a better chance of people seeing your post on Google+.
Adam Hoeksema 9:22 PM on November 30, 2011
My blog has seen some major increases in Search Engine Ranks since I started getting active on Google+ personally and with a Google+ page. I don't know if it is coincidence, or if it could already impact SEO in such a large scale. Will certainly be interesting to see Facebook vs. Google over the next year.
Gareth 4:29 AM on December 01, 2011
It just won't happen. Google is too late, people already have too many connections, photos, videos, events etc on Facebook and it has become a part of their lives that they are happy with. There is no reason to leave that all behind.
Google is to Facebook in social what Microsoft is to Google in search. It's good to have them there as they put the pressure on the leaders to keep innovating but Google+ will never take over.
R.Gallagher 10:29 AM on December 01, 2011
How much of Google+ growth can be attributed to what is seemingly at least a moderately aggressive media campaign? The are targeting multiple age demographics on network and cable television this has to be taken into consideration right?
Ralph Thrower 11:03 AM on December 01, 2011
Great article Melissa, If Google + were to mass market themselves and allow you to import/add your Facebook friends with one click of a button then they may stand a chance. Thanks
Maria A Peagler 1:42 PM on December 01, 2011
Melissa - Good article about the traction we're seeing on Google+. I am recommending to my clients they have a Google+ brand page, even if their clients aren't on the network yet. Why? 1) Massive DIY SEO benefits 2) Without throngs of users yet, it's easy to get in touch with industry influencers; and 3) It's a great blend of blog and social network. My clients who don't want to put the work into a blog can use Google+ instead and still get benefits.
Jeune Ortiz 1:51 PM on December 01, 2011
I'm still very hesitant to spend a lot of resources on my Google+ Page aside from a few minutes a day. Google+ has some nice features, but it is so much like Facebook, I'm having trouble getting excited to add another social platform to the daily arsenal.
Building up a new social fanbase on Google+ is much slower than it was for us on Facebook. Which begs the question, why would a customer follow a company on Google+ when they can follow them on Facebook where they likely have an account already?
This is going to be a very interesting race...
Avnesh Pandya 3:17 AM on December 02, 2011
I totally agree with Jeune, I don't think it will be a case of who is the winner but how can they coexist out there with LinkedIn as well. It's becoming increasingly difficult to manage different platforms especially when they seem very similar for the moment. I think I want to wait to see what the Google+ new business pages look like and take a stance from there - until then they're to be ignored at your peril!
Kenneth Bussey 10:26 PM on December 02, 2011
whatever happens I think if your gona be serious about this internet marketing stuff you definitely have to master Google plus in able to monetize and get maximum profits check this link out http://www.jvzoo.com/c/748/105