Google+ Open to Everyone – Should You Join?

Earlier this week, Google finally opened the doors for anyone to signup for their new social network Google+. In this post, I’d like to share why I think Google+ is worth your time if you are an online marketer, and some resources to get you started in the right direction.

Google+ Open to Everyone – Should You Join?

Google has brought some of the greatest technologies to the web. Yet, has struggled to bring a social app to the web that sticks. Google+ has been their shining social star thus far, and with all the announcements and changes of late, it seems Facebook is taking notice.

Reasons Not to Join Google Plus

Marketers: If you are someone who doesn’t sell anything online, or your market doesn’t use the web to find products or services you probably aren’t in a place to leverage Google plus. Others: If you have benefited from social networks, but have no intention to start a business, and all your social networking takes place on Facebook or Twitter, you too may find Google plus of little value.

Reasons to Join Google Plus

If you are reading this far, hopefully you have a business with an online presence, or are planning on launching one. Google plus is a great platform for those interested in leveraging the Internet to establish or grow your brand, get leads, and make sales.

In the words of Vic Gundotra, Senior VP at Google, “the web is about more than pages, its about people”.

A couple months ago it was to early to tell just how useful Google plus would be for marketers.

SEO: Since using the service, I think online marketers would do well to consider Vic’s statement. Those who are continuing to ignore social and only playing the backlink game, hoping for better SEO rankings… your days are numbered. With Google integrating social sharing into search results, every Google users search results pages can be unique, personalized.

Email Delivery: It’s not all about search. There are many reasons to get started with Google plus, not the least of which is email delivery. Open and click thru rates have been in decline and a source of hearburn for many marketers over the past 18 months. Email systems like Gmail and others can recognize messaging patterns, those who have added you in their circles in Google+ will more likely have your messages arrive in their inbox than those who do not.

Email marketers can leverage this by inviting subscribers to connect with them on Google plus.

Google Plus Resources

There are many other things to consider when it comes to leveraging Google Plus. If you’ve decided to join we’d like to help you. Here are a few resources:

• Signup for Google Plus here.
• 40 Tips for getting started with Google plus.
• Video training on Google plus: currently free, I walk you through the main features of the product and how to get more traffic. There is also an option to upgrade to Premium, where I share traffic strategies, how to create a power network, and more.
• Let’s connect on Google plus, see the link below for my Google plus profile.