Although we’ve already gone over Google+, a recent article by Mashable brings up some valid points we’d like to address.
Mainly, is Google+ going to become a better platform for businesses?
First up, we’ll admit that the Mashable article is an opinion piece, but we’re looking at this on a smaller scale. What does Google+ mean for small businesses? It goes without saying that most brands will inevitably create pages on Google+, but is it worth the time and effort if you’re only a small business owner?
Can Google+ pull off the impossible?
The article asserts four points, and we’re taking them on one by one:
-Better Search Opportunities
Although this may be true, it’s not something that would affect any mom-and-pop store on Facebook. Of course there are going to be benefits to having a Google plus page, but when you’re not reaching 750 million users, or anything even close, it’s just not worth it.
-More Customization
Some Facebook features can be frustrating, we’ll admit that much––but it’s not as frustrating as doubling your social media efforts online. More customization is fantastic, but when you have to learn everything from the ground up, it’s just plain annoying. Or maybe I’m just one of those people that hates signing up for new accounts (I totally am!).
-Better Analytics
Analytics and metrics are invaluable when it comes social media. But you can only go so in-depth… And we’ve been pretty pleased with Facebook analytics. While they don’t compare to Google analytics (they’re not even close!), there are way more users on Facebook––and you should be focusing your analytics on that.
-Google Can Learn From Facebook
It seems like this to be a huge plus for Google+ (pun intended)… but you can count Google’s numerous failures when it comes to social media on both hands. Besides that, Facebook has a huge head start when it comes to users––and we don’t think that head start is going to wane in the future at all.
Verdict?
Stick with Facebook for now. We don’t even know what Google+ offering is the businesses yet––so stay tuned in the future, and remember that this is all just speculation. We’d love to have Google+ trounce Facebook, and offer better platform to advertisers, but it’s not looking good so far.