{"id":428,"date":"2018-01-17T07:00:22","date_gmt":"2018-01-17T12:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.knownhost.com\/?p=428"},"modified":"2020-03-23T15:10:56","modified_gmt":"2020-03-23T19:10:56","slug":"google-my-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/google-my-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Ditch Google+ But Not Google My Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated January 17, 2018<\/h2>\n

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No matter how it’s branded, Google+ is a complete and utter waste of your time, unless you are selling to marketers, period.\u00a0 Google My Business, however, is a great way to get found online and takes a minimum of time and effort.<\/p>\n

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Question<\/strong>:\u00a0 How many real business owners, not marketers but real business owners, do you know who frequently use Google+ (or whatever they’ve re-named it this month)?<\/p>\n

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Answer<\/strong>:\u00a0 None.<\/p>\n

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2 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Bother with Google+<\/h2>\n

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#1 \u2013 Your Target Market Will Never Know What You Did Last Summer<\/strong><\/p>\n

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As mentioned above – unless you are trying to sell products and services to marketers, the odds of you finding sales prospects to connect with on Google+ is statistically near impossible.<\/p>\n

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It used to be the case that LinkedIn was only for recruiters.\u00a0 It also used to be the case the mySpace and Bebo were great social networks where you should have a presence.\u00a0 However, things change over time.\u00a0 Our advice from a few years ago is no longer our advice for this year.\u00a0 Skip G+ and invest that time and effort in a different social network like LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.<\/p>\n

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#2 \u2013 You Only Have So Many Hours in the Day<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The difference between plowing a field and simply raking, or strafing over it, is huge.\u00a0 You don’t plant row crops without investing some solid effort into the planting phase of farming.<\/p>\n

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In much the same way, social media isn’t a contest to see how many networks you can appear on for 10 seconds a week.\u00a0 The idea is to engage, invest in the community, participate – give and you’ll get a return.\u00a0 You can’t do that when you spread yourself too thin.\u00a0 So cut loose the driftwood (G+) and stick with the networks where your prospects frequent.\u00a0 Limit yourself to one, two or three – but don’t try to be everywhere simultaneously – it cannot be done effectively with the budgets of most small businesses!<\/p>\n

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Why Google My Business is Worth the Effort<\/h2>\n

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Google My Business<\/strong><\/a> is an online directory listing which is often prominently displayed in search results, showing your company location and information.<\/p>\n

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Unlike Google+, Google My Business requires minimal time and effort to set up<\/strong>, continues to work even when you’re offline not looking at it, and serves as a signpost for organic search<\/strong> traffic – some of the best converting traffic you’ll ever hope to receive.<\/p>\n

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Google My Business is much more than a simple Name, Address, Phone (NAP)<\/strong>\u00a0citation site.\u00a0 By the way, you can check your citation site entries and by visiting BrightLocal<\/a> – an incredible resource for managing citation site entries (and more).\u00a0 Google My Business allows you to add:<\/p>\n