Trends in content and SEO marketing seem to come and go faster every year. Social media, the internet, and even how you reach out to potential customers are all clearly adapting to these tides. Yet, you might be overlooking some advantageous mediums for advertising simply because you think they are outdated or unpopular. Google+ and Google Maps may have hit turbulence, but both are important tools that can accelerate your business’ growth and profit.

Why You Need Google+

First, since the major redesign of Google+ in 2015, this platform is much less of a social media platform and more of an extension of Gmail. This email service has over 900 million users around the world. Before you think that Gmail is useless when it comes to targeting mobile users, remember that over 60% of those mobile users are making buying decisions. When you have a Google+ and Gmail account, you are getting direct access to nearly 900 million people.

Why? Because Google loves it when you use their services to promote your own services. So when people make searches pertaining to what you are selling, and Google sees you have a Google+ account, you automatically rank higher than a business that is not. According to Optify, everything you post on your Google+ for Business page is automatically indexed by Google—and since that means you appear on the front page more often, you can get up to 54.8% more clicks than your competition.

Another benefit of Google+ is that the reviews people post on your Google+ for Business page (now managed for Google My Business) are going to be shown before Yelp reviews.

Lastly, if you are using video advertising, keep this in mind: YouTube processes over 3 billion searches a month. YouTube is owned by Google, meaning your YouTube account is actually a Google account. By uploading your videos to both YouTube and Google+, you exponentially increase your chance of exposure.

Integration with Google Maps

Because all of Google is interwoven, when you make a Google+ for Business profile, you have a chance to get on Google Maps. Once your business is verified, your business will show up faster on Google Maps when people search locally.

For example, if someone searches “Web Designers in Ottawa,” Google+ listings are going to be at the top of the search with a map and all the relevant information. Though many of Google Maps searches are based on proximity to where the user is located, there is also ranked searching.

Ranked searching is not necessarily based on customer reviews (though the more 4-5 stars you have, the better). Here is how you can increase your ranking on Google Maps: you enter correct information on your Google My Business page.

Next, you avoid the following mistakes:

  1. Avoid a “false” listing.
  2. Do not keyword stuff your business name. If your business name has a keyword in it, great; but it is nothing to fret over.
  3. Use only 3 categories. Less is more. Also, be careful to put your business in the correct categories. If you are a travel agency, you should not be in education, okay?
  4. Do not add more than one address. Other locations should have their own page.
  5. Do not mismatch the name and phone number across the web. If you have your address, name, and phone number written one way on your website, it should be displayed the same on your social media accounts and Google+ profile.
  6. Avoid incorrectly placing your map marker. This will not go over well when people are actually searching for your business and wind up at a completely different location.

Google gives you amazing tools for promoting your business without much effort. By simply making a Google+ account and providing the correct information, you are getting the power of Google supporting you. This is one important facet to your marketing campaign, so do not underestimate Google+ and Google Maps!

Would you like us to help you get set up with Google+ and Google Maps? Contact us now.