When we talk about social media we can’t go without mentioning Facebook and Twitter.
On the other hand it seems like Google’s take on networking and namely Google Plus is falling behind.
Many marketers who have high-profile accounts on other social mediums aren’t doing as well when it comes to G+.
To help you improving your presence on Google Plus, below I’ve covered four tips.
1. Post At Least Once a Day
If you want people to discover your presence on any social network you need to be active. That is especially valid when we talk about Google Plus. The reason is namely because lots of folks don’t bother to log in for weeks in a row!
Let me give you an example. You are at the shooting range. You decide to make your task difficult by firing from a very long distance at very small targets and on top of that you have a rather inaccurate gun. And although all odds would be against you, the more shots you fire, the better the chance to hit your targets!
The same goes for Google Plus. The more stories you share (i.e. the more shots you fire), the better the chance of people seeing your message, liking it and deciding that you are a person who shares useful information (i.e. the more times you will hit the target).
2. Prepare Posts To Be Shared in Advance
In order to start posting everyday, you need to be prepared.
The hardest thing when it comes to sharing content on any social network is finding it in the first place.
You’ve probably had one of those moments when you have the time to share something but you don’t know what that something should be. And instead of spending ten minutes looking for a suitable article, you decide to move on to a different task.
The above situation is obviously not what you want…
One great solution to the problem is to create a sticky note (or a Word document if you prefer). That will be your list of to-be-shared articles.
Now you need to get hold of those articles. The easiest way to discover ones is by creating an email for your RSS subscriptions, signing in once every couple of days and checking out a number of titles that seem promising.
You won’t have to do deep reading of the posts, since they will probably be from blogs you read and enjoy already (since they are on your RSS).
Whenever you find an interesting piece you copy/paste the title with the URL in the sticky note you created. That way you will always be prepared to share a story when the time comes.
Do you want a tool to help you schedule your social media posts and manage all of your accounts?
Try Hootsuite!
3. Use Screenshots for Some of the Articles You Share
Due to how the EdgeRank algorithm (the way Facebook determines how many people will see a story in their streams) works, images tend to get higher exposure on Facebook.
As far as Google Plus goes, I don’t know if the same is true. What I do know however is that visual information is perceived far easier than text.
So one way to mix up your stream a little and make it more interesting is by making a screenshot of the article’s page and sharing it that way. You basically use the screenshot instead of the thumbnail (which is generated when you copy and paste the story’s URL). Of course I am not saying that you should start doing that for every piece you share. Variety is important!
NOTE: The width that Google Plus uses for images is 495px. As far as height of the image goes best would be if it doesn’t exceed those same 495 pixels.
Are we already connected via Google+? If not, please do it now:
4. Know that Circles Are There for a Good Reason
One mistake that many marketers seem to make is to focus all of their social media presence around themselves. Even though they spend lots of time on a network building their following, many don’t actually check out what the people they are following have shared.
On Twitter for instance, following someone takes just a click of a button. That is why pretty much everyone follows lots of accounts without caring what they put out. I am doing it, you are probably doing it too.
To solve that problem, Twitter users can add people to lists…
On Google Plus the possibility to add people to different circles takes utilizes a similar principle. There you have a great way to manage not only who you follow but also how you see the shares of those who you follow. Adding folks to different circles allows for fine content filtering.
For example if you create a circle called “Great Social Media Bloggers” and you take five minutes everyday to search for interesting content there, you will undoubtedly find more than one or two quality posts – and the same won’t be buried beneath other updates, which aren’t relevant to you at the moment.
NOTE: The good thing about Google Plus’ low activity level is that when someone shares an article, more often than not that article is well-chosen and it’s actually worth the read.
Now It’s Your Turn
Hope you do try the tips I overviewed in this post and I hope that you do actually find them useful!
Now it’s your turn guys!
Do you believe Google Plus is actually worth the time?
If so, are you using the network frequently?
Hi Erik,
I used to be very active on Google plus until some months back when I became a nerd without any explanation.
My friends (including you) have been very active on it. I think the truth is that one can hardly be very active on all social media platforms. However, Google+ shouldn’t be neglected.
At the moment, I have over 8.7k followers and I think this posts whips me back to action on the platform 😉
Hi Enstine,
good to see you here.
You have a great number of followers on Google+,
that’s a good reason to be active there.
While Google+ may seem a ghost town for some marketers,
for some others it works as an effective channel to build authority and online presence.
Thanks for sharing your views and have a good week.
Hi Erik,
I always come across online companies that requests feedback via google plus and perhaps that is working for them.
For me I think, it’s about maximizing what works for you. As a business owner, one would utilize a platform that gives them more output compared to others. But having diversity is also good, even if one platform outperforms the other.
It really depends on one needs and the target audience.
Well said, Marlon.
one sure thing i know about G+ is that it builds authority and that is an element of seo
Agreed with first point, ebenezer. Not so much with your second one.
Hi Erik, I haven’t been on for some time. I just went on to share this and noticed their updated version of it. I made the switch. I’m not sure it is worth the time at this point. I find Twitter, FB and Pinterest the top 3 for me as of right now but I will play with Google+ every now and then. I used to use it daily. Do you use it daily now?
Hi Lisa,
good to see you. 🙂
I don’t use Google Plus daily, but let’s say at least 3-4 times a week.
Maybe I don’t update my personal profile, but I work on my blog pages.
You’re right, Pinterest is going strong!
Thanks for the comment, have a good rest of this week.
Google plus is something you don’t wanna miss if you are a website or blog holder and what i am doing wrong is not sharing post everyday I think I have to be more active on google plus too thank you for this article getting better day by day
Google+ is a must, Ramgarhia, isn’t it?
Hi Erik,
You have nicely explained the actionable tips to get benefits from Google Plus. I’m following the first 2 tips as you said but I understand that it would be good to share the post with the screenshots of mentioned size. I would like to implement your final tip as well.
I love Google Plus a lot and stay active on it. I share other’s posts as well at times. Thanks for writing and sharing the useful post for us, have a fun weekend ahead.
I appreciate your kind words, Nirmala.
Good to hear you enjoyed the post.
Thanks for your comment!
Using collections is a must. I only have one which Google featured and I now have more than 50,000 followers.
Nice suggestion, Natalie.
Thanks for adding it.
Hi Erik, That’s Superb Knowledge about Goolge+, basically, I do not focus on Google+, but I have read this post, I have learned it something new. Thanks A lot Erik for Shared Helpful Knowledge.
Hi Asif,
thanks for the kind feedback.
I have really enjoyed being a part of Google Plus groups. There is some really great stuff in there.
Thanks for sharing your Google Plus experience with us, Renee.
Hi Erik. First of all – thank you for the write up. Been reading similar type posts about building your G+ followers. For now I have been completely ignoring G+ which seems more and more like a mistake.
G+ work, updates, posts, following etc has just landed a top spot on my to do list.
Hi Bo,
glad you enjoyed the post and good luck with your Google+ profile.
Thanks for sharing valuable post according to me google plus good social media networking sites but its depends on the number of followers.