Tag: Google Plus
May 14, 2019 / / Google

The Benefits of Google My Business

Since pulling the plug on Google +, Google has been putting more effort and focus into providing businesses with more options to maximize their exposure through its platform.

Google has created Google My Business and in the past year they have been adding more options to improve the ability for businesses to be discovered online.  Google My Business is particularly effective for small, local businesses.

What is Google My Business?

Google My Business is a free tool that allows you to promote your Business Profile and business website on Google Search and Maps. With your Google My Business account, you can see and connect with your customers, post updates to your Business Profile, and see how customers are interacting with your business on Google. (Google) read more
April 2, 2019 / / Google Plus

So Long and Farewell Google +

It’s the end of an era today, Google + is finally done.  April 2, 2019 is the day Google has officially shut down its venture into Social Networking with the end of Google +.

Creation of new accounts was disabled in February, and current Google + profiles were able to grab their information, images, saved items until today, when the platform will begin deleting all content.

“On April 2nd, your Google+ account and any Google+ pages you created will be shut down and we will begin deleting content from consumer Google+ accounts,” the company said in a notice in late January. read more
February 4, 2019 / / Google Plus

So Long Google +, Hello Google My Business

As we reported in October 2018, Google is phasing out it’s Social Networking Platform, Google +.

Businesses need to understand that just because Google + is no longer an option for marketing, branding, and improving SEO, there is an alternative.

Google My Business

Introduced in 2014, Google rolled out a way to manage a Business Profile (or at the time it was called a Business Listing.)  The Google My Business dashboard provided a basic homepage with an info page and an insights page.

However, now that Google + is no longer a Social Marketing option, Google My Business has improved the dashboard and now provides several new features that will help businesses manage their Google information and post updates. read more
October 9, 2018 / / Google Plus

Google Killing Google+

Sending shock waves through the Social Media world, Google announced Monday that it is killing off Google+, their Social Networking site.

Google+ was widely regarded as one of Google’s biggest flops.  Though Google+ still had active users and groups it was primarily used by business professionals and hobbyists.

The Decision to End It All

After completing a review of its platform, Google decided to shut down the site.

“This review crystallized what we’ve known for a while: that while our engineering teams have put a lot of effort and dedication into building Google+ over the years, it has not achieved broad consumer or developer adoption, and has seen limited user interaction with apps,” Google said in a statement. read more
February 16, 2016 / / Facebook

7 Tips to Help Auto Dealers Use Social Media to Make Sales

Social Media is an important part of an auto dealer’s marketing plan. 69% of people who use Facebook in the auto purchasing process said that a friend’s favorable post about a dealership positively impacted their opinion of that dealership and 45% of Millennials in the US do most of their car-buying research on mobile.

A study of auto dealers and how they use social media and consumers who purchased a vehicle in the last 6 months found that:

  • There is a 43% chance that consumers will search Facebook for local dealers
  • There is a 59% chance that consumers will trust reviews from Facebook Friends
  • There is a 45% chance that consumers will view Dealer updates in their News Feeds

 Is Your Facebook Page Stuck in 2009? 

In 2009 Facebook had 150 million members and had just added a “like” button on Business Pages.  Social Media experts were telling people that Facebook should not be used to sell things and that posting too often would annoy people. read more
September 18, 2015 / / Google Plus

Why You Should Add Google Plus to Your Marketing Arsenal

A few days ago I wrote a blog about Facebook’s Business Page Updates.  Besides posting it on my personal blog, I submitted it to an online magazine (Business2Community) where it garnered a lot of shares.  In fact, it was featured on B2C’s home page under the heading “Popular Today.”  Cool.

Want Page 1 Google Results?

Because I was a little curious about whether that “popularity” would translate to high rank on Google, I put the phrase “Facebook Announces Business Page Updates” in the Google search box.  I thought the B2C article or my blog post might end up near the top, even though this announcement was very well covered in many Social Media Blogs, Magazines and other media. read more
September 17, 2015 / / Social Media Marketing

Customer Retention: The Overlooked ROI Measurement on Social Media

ROI is tough to measure on Social Media.  Many businesses have a difficult time allotting a budget for Social Media for this reason.  They don’t think post updates is going to help get business or think that the updates posted by employees here and there are enough.  Though posting updates does help with SEO and visibility, Social Media Marketing goes beyond just updates and must include an advertising campaign to be fully effective.

Understanding the importance of Social Media in every business plan is crucial to success.  Of course, the main goal and measure of success for the majority of businesses using Social Media is revenue.  Obviously businesses are in business to make money.  That is just common sense. read more
September 17, 2015 / / SEO

Internet Search is Changing: The Future of SEO (and Google)

I still remember when just putting a website up in a certain category practically guaranteed Page 1 results on Google (and other search engines when they still mattered).  As time went on, I registered my  “brick and mortar” and other local service clients on Local Google and Local Yahoo.  Again, practically guaranteeing first page display – especially in and around our medium-sized city.

In the beginning, most search engines were obsessed with “key words” and we did whatever it took to get key words into our websites – some of these tactics were later classified as “black hat,” but back then, most of them just seemed clever. read more
August 25, 2015 / / Social Media Marketing

Quick and Easy Guide to Decide Which Social Media Sites to Use for Your Business

Social Media Marketing is how marketing is done, and with Facebook fine-tuning its advertising platform and the other Social Networks adding advertising components it is fast becoming the place to advertise as well.

However, many small to medium sized businesses have not committed to a consistent campaign. Assigning a budget for this is still hard for them to do, not to mention the confusion of where they should focus their efforts and, of course, how to even use the sites for marketing and advertising. read more
July 17, 2015 / / Social Media Marketing

Many Small Businesses Still Not Using Social Media

  • 47% of Small Businesses don’t actively use Social Media
  • 25% of Small Businesses have no future plans to use Social Media
  • 53% of Small Businesses that do use Social Media plan to devote more time and money to their Social Marketing

Research firm Clutch polled small businesses of varying sizes to determine Social Media use and importance in Small Business.

If you are one of the small businesses who have no interest in Social Media your business is missing a great opportunity.  Your customers are using Social Media, your potential customers are using Social Media and your competitors are using Social Media.

This means that your competitors are likely grabbing customers that potentially could have been yours.  Not using Social Media when your competitors are basically translates to giving them business, while you lose it. read more