Comments on: Why Google+ Fails to Blow my Skirt up

By: Ti Roberts

Ti Roberts — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 20:04:40 +0000

Lol! Oh my, I loved this article, Hannah. I definitely agree with you. I see no real use for Google+ at all really. I’m actually a self proclaimed SEO rebel, so to the supposed Google ranking benefits wouldn’t do me any good. I drive all of my traffic through social media and other alternative outlets. Yeah, I do occasionally post there and share some content I come across, but I don’t really engage on it because quite frankly I find the platform to be bland, boring, and not user friendly.

You make SUCH a valid point about your friends not being on Google+. Why would they? It really holds not benefit for them. Thanks so much for sharing this awesome post with our BizSugar community. I really enjoyed reading it and I appreciate your insights!

By: Hannah Smith

Hannah Smith — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 00:29:35 +0000

@Felix – you are of course entitled to your opinion, I just don’t fancy being anyone’s bitch, particularly not Google’s.

To answer your second point – TechCrunch is Tech (naturally) and the Tech industry are fairly well represented on Google+. Seventeen Magazine might be a better example as I’m guessing that’s not Tech oriented.

Nevertheless I’m not convinced the examples you gave ‘prove’ there are millions of active users on Google+. Assuming there isn’t much crossover (and I’d assume not given the diversity of the sites in question) that totals a little over 1.5 million (ok I’m being picky) – but more importantly how many of those are ‘active’? Or even real accounts?

Lady Gaga is in 4.6 million ‘circles’ yet her ‘best’ post this month yielded only 1700 odd +1s – which is great, but again doesn’t scream millions of active users to me.

@Barry – Ruh roh. Hope Bas doesn’t read this and kick me off the State of Search team

By: Barry Adams

Barry Adams — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 10:13:59 +0000

I’m with you 100% on this one, Hannah. Can’t remember the last time I used Google+ for anything else than the State of Search editorial hangouts. And even that was after Bas threatened to kick me out if I didn’t join.

By: Felix

Felix — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 00:00:43 +0000

I’ll have to disagree with you in some aspects. First of all:

1. If you were the owner of G+, you would have needed some ” bitches ” to promote your network for free (the SEO’s). That’s the right move they should do, and they are doing that.

2. I have seen pages with lots of +1′s on Google plus, and i’ll give you just a few examples.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/+SeventeenMagazine/posts
https://plus.google.com/u/0/+TechCrunch/posts

Sure, you might say that those are huge magazines… but that proves that there are million of active users on G+. And those are just 2 examples.

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By: Hannah Smith

Hannah Smith — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 17:13:19 +0000

@Andrew

Thanks for sharing that link – really interesting. I’ve certainly looked at some of the bigger brands on Google+ and whilst it looks like they’re getting engagement, as Matt’s highlighted some of it looks a bit fake.

Totally take your point re it not just being digital marketing people there – as you say gamers, and I’d guess tech are also well represented.

By: Shaad Hamid

Shaad Hamid — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 17:03:59 +0000

As much as I agree with you, I also have to disagree with you My 5 bestest and closest friends are spread across 4 different timezones and therefore, are dependent on FB to keep in touch. Recently we decided to use Google hangouts and it was amazing! These 5 are now on G+ all the time and they tell me how awesome it is in terms of usability and value (no nagging friends complaining about how miserable their life is). I agree there’s not many on there (yet) compared to FB. But don’t completely discount it. It still should be a vital part of your SEO strategy. This is just the first step in Google’s quest to become a proper ‘Star Trek computer’ (in Amit Singhal’s own words).

By: Andrew Girdwood

Andrew Girdwood — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 16:52:59 +0000

There are plenty of gamers on Google+ – I’ve more gamer contacts there than people in the industry.

I’m not sure there’s such a thing as “mainstream”. I think there are thousands of different niche communities out there. Facebook is “mainstream” in that it appeals to a high percentage of those communities. Google+ only appeals to some but that’s one of the reasons I like it. Less clutter. Fewer baby pictures.

You might like Matt Ridout’s recent analysis of the top ten brands on Google+ (here). It shows brands with millions, tens of thousands, of followers. They’re not all from the digital marketing industry.

By: Hannah Smith

Hannah Smith — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 16:27:00 +0000

@Hannah

Thanks for your comment.

I’m not bashing Google+ because I don’t understand it; I’m bashing it because I don’t think it’s where most companies primary audiences are and, as such those companies’ time could be better spent elsewhere

Hannah

By: Hannah

Hannah — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 15:06:03 +0000

Perhaps Google+ IS too complicated for the average Facebook user, but not understanding something is not justification for constantly bashing it.

Who benefits from Google+?
I do!
So what many of my friends are not on it. If I want to ask them something, I can call, text, email..

What gives Google+ the edge is being able to connect with people you don’t know, people who share your interests, your passions, and also those with completely opposing views but who you can learn from.
Circles ensure you are only sharing with the people you want to.

I post a lot of religious posts, pictures, discussions and so on, but only to approved circles, so when you look at my profile, it only shows a few posts this week publicly, but there are many more you can’t see.

If you want help to learn how to use Googleplus, then give me a shout there.