5 Reasons Why Google+ Gets A +1 from Us

There are a few simple reasons that we like using Google+ at LevelTen. If you're not particularly knowledgeable of the social networking platform, or just haven't had time to use it yet, here are a few reasons why you should. 1. It’s easy to share with specific groups In fact, you don’t even have to go through any menus to find privacy settings. The only steps include adding your friends to circles and sharing individual posts as you see fit. 2. Label groups with an easy drag and drop feature Everyone knows Facebook makes public sharing easy, but sharing with restricted lists is difficult. Google+ doesn’t have any custom privacy settings. Simply go to your circles and drag and drop each user into the circles as you see fit. No one has to know which circles you add them to, and you get full control over who sees each individual post. 3. Video chat and messaging Google+ has a handy little application called Hangout. You can start a Hangout and have a quick video chat with any 9 of your friends (sorry, only 10 people per hangout). 4. It’s the official social network of geeks everywhere Yes, Google+ users are predominantly in the engineering, web/software development, design, social media, and programming industries. 5. Faster crawling and indexing = better rankings What better way to climb the Google charts than to use the Google-based social network to promote your content? Posting to Google’s own social network will certainly give your content a leg up in the searches.

What’s the downside?

Google+ doesn’t retain visitors for long periods of time. In January, Google+ visitors only spent 3 minutes on average (which is an ever fluctuating number) using the site during each visit. Compare this to 21 average minutes on Twitter, 89 on Pinterest and Tumblr, and a whopping 405 spent on Facebook. It doesn’t even compare to the 8 minute average that is spent on the dying Myspace! Even though Google+ had a faster uptake than any other social media site, reaching 50 million users in only 88 days, it takes a little extra je ne sais quoi to snag your visitors.

What does this mean for you?

You will have to be pretty slick in order to retain visitors on Google+. Instant engagement and interactive, multimedia-based posts are important. The ways to keep people on your Google+ page are similar to keeping them on your site. Give viewers something to look at and a "call to action" to which they can respond. By the way, if you’re running a Drupal site, there is a helpful module you can add,Google Plus One. Or you can download our Social Media app and be on your way to making your site Google+ friendly. While it’s on your mind, add us to your circles and discuss your opinions of Google+ in the comments.