Ever since Google+ appeared, it grew and now it has over 500 million users. Just as specialists expected from the day it was launched, the social media platform is now seen as one that is to be used by bloggers and marketers alike, despite the initial cold reception.
2014 is the year in which you need to seriously consider taking advantage of the Google+ account. Inbound marketing is just one aspect that should be considered but definitely a great one to start with.
Let us offer some simple tips that you will want to remember.
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Google Authorship – Take Full Advantage Of It
Whenever your strategy involves developing content for various sites through interviews or guest posting, Google Authorship will let readers and Google know that you are responsible for the content that was created. This brings in so many different advantages that so many people dismiss and make a huge mistake in doing so.
We have to see Google Authorship as a great inbound marketing tool that should be used. For instance, let us say that we will create one guest contribution on a related website that is really popular. Visitors are directed through Authorship to one Google Plus page. They can then visit your site. The article that we write is also published on the Plus page of that site, thus bringing in re-shares. If a re-share is done in a community that is popular, even more re-shares appear. Everything can turn viral.
One post can bring in a lot of free and relevant traffic through the Authorship system. Also, CTR in search engines will be higher and it was proven that Google Account users might see popular posts higher in search engine rankings.
Use Google Events
Whenever valuable content is delivered, people will want to see it. Online events and webinars are really popular at the moment and it should come as no surprise. Raising awareness and drawing large crowds to the Google+ page can be done with an event.
You can host a webcast, a hangout, a webinar or many other events. What you advertise can be a real life or online event. Add date, cover photo, URL, ticket sellers, time and whatever is relevant. All people from a Google+ community or from your circles can be invited. Make sure that you allow people to also invite those that they know. This will only increase engagement.
Attracting Endorsements
All reviews are great from Facebook Likes to Google +1s. What you may not know is that those +1s can increase SERP and if endorsements come from people that are seen as influencers in your industry, the effect will be even stronger.
You have to connect with the key players in the industry and develop really good content that is appealing for them. When you have different experts and authority figures with large follower numbers sharing the content you created, site entry points are increased.
What you basically need to do is target different social ambassadors and take advantage of the network that they managed to create. With good content they will not have a problem with sharing since their followers do receive quality.
Embedding Google+ Posts On Web Sites
People naturally embed a lot of content from Twitter, Instagram and Facebook on published content. Google+ is just the next big step to take. Since people visit Google+ in a growing number at the moment, more content will end up appearing. This means that you can end up with a pretty good source of information. People will surely not end up flocking to Google’s social network but that does not count much in the event that content is embedded into websites that you currently use.
As soon as you add content to other websites or your own site, visitors can just keep on reading, join conversations and watch videos from Google+. By taking this approach you can easily share content from the network with followers, which are basically motivated to spend extra time on desired web pages.
Create And Join Communities
There are so many users that will join communities that are centered round specific topics. When you join such a community, you automatically get in touch with interested prospective customers, followers and colleagues. The only problem is that the competition will surely be strong and you will need some experience in managing such an approach.
A way around the competition problem is to create your very own community. This will offer various extra advantages. For starters, you can choose how narrow or broad the group’s focus is. In addition, the size of the community can also be controlled. Public groups will welcome anyone that is interested but closed groups can only be accessible by blog subscribers and customers.
Conclusions
You will need to invest a lot of time in using Google+ for inbound marketing purposes. However, if you do have a pretty strong and loyal community on Twitter or Facebook, this process will be quite easy. If you do not, it is something that you have to consider. Don’t forget about outsourcing since this will help you to gain time. For instance, you can leave your guest posting to specialists like those on Blog For Web while you slowly create a really good marketing campaign on Google+.
Remember that most of the inbound marketing strategies that you regularly use on Facebook are also suitable for Google+ campaigns. However, you need to adapt to the platform. If you did not use Plus till now, start doing so and see all that it has to offer before actually starting your campaign.
