Google + is a relatively unknown entity, and a recent survey by Social Media Examiner found that 65% of marketers want to learn more about Google +.

Google + is now the second largest social network at just over 50% with Facebook still dominating at 70%. BUT keep in mind that a Google+ account is mandatory whenever a person creates a new Gmail account. This is pushing up the account ownership status. However, no other social network has Google’s web assets leverage. Let’s look at the facts:

 Google+ has an estimated 300 million active users

 Google+ has very large numbers on visits per month at 1,203 million. This has a lot to do with activity generated by visits to Google services (read Gmail) that is counted as a Google+ visit. This is providing serious skewing of the figures so don’t take the headline number of 1.203 million as an accurate indicator of monthly visits.

 Photo uploads…that is one of the things that Google+ and Facebook have in common as the most popular activity.

 Google+ remains the second most actively used social network with 318.4 million active users in 31 markets

So why should your business have a Google + page?

1) Reach –  the numbers of people joining Google+ are increasing and if you want to keep getting your brand awareness out there, there’s no reason not to be on Google +. Since it’s Google we can realistically expect those numbers to carry on rising. They are invested in making Google + work so there is a sense of inevitability to it all.

2) SEO – It’s Google. Being on there helps your website SEO. Make sure you include links in your posts to ensure maximum boosting from your activity!

3) Being ahead of the game – Having a social media account on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter is fine but everyone else has them too, which makes the competition very fierce and harder to get found on key terms. Google + is not yet saturated so get ahead of the competition and get on Google + now!

What do you think? Let us know in the comment box below.

By Harriet Thacker

Harriet is a marketing expert, social media enthusiast and Shake Social’s champion blogger. Struggling to maintain your own blog? We can help!