Google+ Reloaded: Not A Ghost Town, Far From Dead

By Terrence Ngu | Social Media Marketing | 2 comments | 29 October, 2012 | 0

Have you abstained from Google+?

Are you wondering whether it is worth spending your marketing effort on yet another social network?

When Google+ was first (officially) launched in June of 2011 there was a ton of hoo-ha and dozens of speculation about what it would mean for the world of search engine and social networking.

After slightly more than a year of its official launch, Google+ is known as the most densely populated ghost town. Is that so?

Google Plus with 100 Million Monthly Active User

Table of Contents

Google+ Reloaded

Google+: 400 Million Registrations, 100 Million Monthly Active Users

Google+ Reloaded: 100 Million Monthly Active Users (Image has been altered, original image courtesy of MarcelisKhaldern)

Here are some more interesting Google+ stats:

69.4% male (Google+ Social Statistics)
Most Google+ users are mobile, not desktop users (The Google+ Developers Blog)

The snowballing volume of active visitors worldwide would disagree with the common assumption that Google+ is a ghost town. Take a look at this infographic from CircleCount.

Google+ Infographic by Country

The recent interviews by Neal Schaffer of Windmillnetworking with Top 10 Social Media Experts including Guy Kawasaki and many others revealed that it actually the best time to take Google+ seriously.

Personal Encounter with Google+

Just like the sceptics, I have qualms about using Google+ in the beginning. Being a huge Twitter fan, I was reluctant to spend much time on Google+. However, it was Guy Kawasaki’s passion for Google+ that draws my attention to it. Since then I never looked back. I am always amazed at how he built a huge following on Google+, in just a short year (that number was actually triple of what he has on Twitter).

Following his footsteps, I have tried to build up my Google+ account. Back in mid-July 2012, I started off with merely 20 friends in my circle. Today, I’m grateful to have connected with bountiful awesome people out there in Google+, sharing their thoughts and insights. It just works!

Conclusion

If you’ve known right from the beginning that Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter would become the online congregation of businesses, professionals and customers they eventually became, would you have jumped on these social media bandwagons earlier?

That is exactly where we are right now, with Google+. There are too many cool features Google+ possessed that the other social networks don’t. One of such great features is the real-time video “hangouts”, you can simply create a webinar for free, via mobile or desktop. Also, Google+ gels perfectly with all your other Google apps, like Gmail, YouTube, and so forth. Give it a try and you will love it!

I would like to reiterate, Google+ is not dead. So what are you waiting for? Well, if you are ready to embrace Google+ now, there are tons of video tutorials to help you to get started. Starts using Google+ now!

Check this out: Top 30 Google+ Video on Youtube, sorted by Denis Labelle

Spending some time nurturing your presence will not only enhance your Google+ experience, but also increase your business’s overall online visibility.

What do you think? Did you find these video tutorials helpful? How many are you currently incorporating Google+ in your social plan? Please share your comments below.

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Claire Broadley October 30, 2012 at 12:00 pm

I completely agree. Google+ has really come into its own. There are so many benefits to getting involved now, particularly in regards to Authorship. It’s nice to see the tide turning in their favour.
Leah October 30, 2012 at 1:15 pm

Great post Terrance! I’m a reluctant G+ user but I’m using the mobile app more and more.