Top Tips for Google +

Google Plus is sometimes seen as the poor cousin of Facebook.  But with 540 million active monthly users, you can not ignore this social media channel if you are in business.  And the fact of the matter is, many G+ users are not on Facebook.  While on a high level, the platform will have many similarities, you will find that the interactions and things shared on G+ have a different look and feel too. 


Here, I thought I would share some helpful hints and tips about using Google+ which I have been collecting over the last couple of months.  The tips below have helped increase my own engagement and follower numbers as well, in an organic way.

Use the Search Tool

It's Google and what do they do really well?  Search engineering!  So use the search function.  You can use the search function to look for people, pages or posts.  So search for topics that match your interests or business and then engage and interact with those posts and pages.  This will help get your name or brand out in the G+ world, and will help increase your followers in a relevant but organic way.

Mention

Use the ability to mention other companies and brands on G+ to increase engagement and following.  If you go to a local cafe and they are on G+ maybe post a photo and a mention about your visit.  If there are brands that would work well with what you are doing, then build a relationship.  In general, you need to give some love to get some.

Communities

There are tonnes of community circles out in G+ land.  Search them out and join them.  Start to interact.  Post topics on the community.  Reply to people's posts.  You will see a much greater return of +1s and interaction if you post to communities than when you put a thought out into the public stream.  Or another way to see it - stop shouting into the wind and go to a clubrooms to chat instead.

Trending or Hot

Like anything, if you keep an eye on the trending or what's hot items going on then you'll be able to tap into that and increase engagement that way.  This will show people that your brand is up with the play, and will ensure your business page appears fresh and active.

Hashtags

G+ will actually give your post some hashtags that it deems relevant to what you have written, but these aren't always relevant because it's an algorithm assigning them.  Help it out by adding some yourself.

Images

Images are usually a good draw for engagement no matter what the social media asset is.  This is no different over at G+.  Use full sized images.  A big trend there is GIFs as well.  If it moves and is funny or awe-inspiring in some way, then it catches people's attention as they scroll through their stream feed.  Those GIFs get quite a lot of interaction as well.

If you use some or all of these six handy hints, I'm sure you will see an increase in engagement and follower numbers in the near future.  If you have any other hints or tips you would like to share, please leave a comment below.  I look forward to adding to this list! 

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