Google+ users with a large following and popular content are more likely to find their posts appearing in organic search results. As a business owner, you want to find and engage with the people that are listening to your message and sharing your content.
Search For Potential Fans and Influencers
To begin, search for people who are talking about your brand, topic or product. Use hashtags or keywords that are related to your business, brand or niche. Explore the related hashtags that are displayed in the search. Put the people that are talking about your brand or business in your circles. Also put people that are interested in your topic or product in your circles to introduce them to your brand.
Step 1: Search for people mentioning your brand
To search for people mentioning your brand, type your company name or brand into the search bar and hit enter without selecting any of the suggested profiles. If, for example, my brand was Dropbox, the search results will suggest profiles to follow, communities to join and people that have been talking about Dropbox.
Step 2: Add people to your circles
From your search page, you could find people that are talking about your brand and determine if they are influencers in your field. By creating a Circle for influencers, you can then occasionally share content specifically with them and ask them politely if they would be willing to share it. To create a Circle, you can navigate to the People section of your profile.
Then navigate to the Your circles tab. From here, you can click the grey circle with the plus sign to create a new circle.
You can also add a circle right before following someone by using the drop down menu that appears. You can simply click Create New Circle from the menu.
Take advantage of Google+ Ripples
Ripple is a feature on Google+ that allows users to see how content has been continuously shared on Google+. Ripples is a visualization that charts the chain reaction that occurs when content is shared on Google+. It follows the trajectory of a public post as it is shared from person to person—literally how the post ripples outwards for the user who shared it.
You can also see who has shared the posts of influencers in your field. When you find a post with some engagement, view Google+ Ripples by click down on the top right of a popular post. Browse through the ripples on other people’s content to find the influencers in your niche.
Also, if you ask influencers to share your posts, you’ll be able to tell when and if one of these individuals does share a post, and the impact that share had through Ripples.
To see Ripples, click the arrow at the top right corner of a post. If it has been shared multiple times, you will have the option to View Ripples.
Viewing Ripples will give a visual of who has shared the post and with whom.
Be Proactive with Engagement
Interacting with commenting on other people’s posts, asking questions and adding your opinion/perspective to existing conversations.
A few tips to boost engagement:
- Always end a post with a question to spark discussion
- Respond to users’ comments or questions, and ask follow up questions to continue to drive the discussion
- Develop repeatable campaigns that are easy for users to participate in and contribute to. Utilize a unique hashtag dedicated to a campaign and stay consistent.
- Use + mentions whenever possible to engage people and invite them to join the conversation
Working with people who love your brand and want to share it with their own friends and audience will transform your experience on Google+ and may improve your search results on Google.
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