I recently wrote a post about Google+ launching their business pages – after 4 months of businesses kicking their heels and waiting, Google+ business pages were finally announced on 7th November. As with Facebook, you needed to have a personal profile first, but with that set up you could then quickly set up a business page.
On the 16 November, BrightEdge released a report with some interesting Google+ pages stats…
- 61% of top brands had created a Google+ page in the first week – 93% of them have Facebook pages.
- Only 12% of the 61% had linked to their Google+ page from their website homepage – compared with 53% who link to their Facebook page.
- Over two dozen of the top 100 brands have over 1 million fans on Facebook – no brand other than Google has over 50,000 fans, and over two dozen have no fans at all.
This tells us two things –
- There was a stampede to get a Google+ business page; and
- Not much else seems to be happening – engagement is very low.
Google+ has been called the Facebook killer, and while it may grab a slice of the pie, it is a long way from threatening Facebook’s near total monopoly. Many marketers have said that the primary reason they set up a Google+ business page is to take advantage of the positive affects having a page is bound to have on their SERP ranking, rather than as a way to engage with fans. The fact is that although there are over 50 million users on Google+ most of them are not using the platform regularly, nor engaging with brands at the same level as they do on Facebook. Whether usage and engagement will grow, or Google+ will die a death like Wave and Buzz remains to be seen.
I still feel it is worth having a Google+ business page as it will help improve SERPs, but whether it will ever become the main way you communicate with your fans online looks doubtful right now.
Takeaway Message…
Set up a Google+ business page, but don’t consider abandoning your Facebook page for it.
Sarah Ryan 