7 Reasons Why Google+ is Perfect for Writers

Guy Kawasak: WhatThePlus

Google+, now since over a year in the social media scene, keeps growing and growing. Google+ had 250 million registered users and rising in August 20112 and is now the fastest-growing social media site in history.

Although Facebook is currently the industry leader for social media, some think Google Plus could beat Facebook.  After all, Google has the benefit of learning from Facebook’s mistakes and creating a better social media site to fit user needs.

You might think: “Why engage in yet another social media when I am already on Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and Facebook  etc.? However, for me and many other publishers, bloggers, photographers, artists and book authors, Google+ has lots of benefits, and I am just mentioning here a few that I like best:

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1. Followers can be found much easier and faster than in any other social media network. One can build “Circles” with hundreds or thousands of followers out of existing groups which are easily identified by key words. For sample, to create my first circles I have choosen: readers, writers, publishers, photographers, librarians, book reviewers, book lovers etc. and also some “private” circles. Within days I had 5,000 people in my circles and at that time over 1,500 had already choosen to have me in their circles. Perfect for a big audience! Search for useful connections you know from the real world and other social networks to include in your  Google+ circles.

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2. Everyone can select the audience or the parts of your list that will be receiving your message through your circles and if you want to make it a public message. On Twitter for sample, messages usually can be seen by all of your followers. Google+ lets you fine-tune who reads what. On Google+, you can post one sentence or you
can post an entire article if you like. “Like” or “Share” articles or images that others posted with one single click.

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3. SEO – Search Engine Optimization: You can submit each of your blog post to your Google+ account. Google treats the information on its own platforms, aka Google Search Engine, pretty high, which means your SEO-ranking for your website or blog improves dramatically. Your Google+ profile will always be top ranked on a Google search, so just fill it in and link it to all your other sites

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4. Perfect for authors: Create a Google+ Business Account – easy and free. The Google+ platform allows for every business to act as an individual in many forms. Adding to the depth of their overall platform is the inspiring development of the local options, using the Local Google+ pages. The interface is simple, you can see everything at one go, and adding or removing a page from a circle doesn’t require you to dig deep into the system.

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5. Easy to upload images, lots of them, and video allow authors to post cover photos of their books, book descriptions, authors’ bio, their book trailer and a link to Amazon or other book sales pages. Post free book images or photos to illustrate your books’ content – if you want, several times a day – and if you have enough followers in your circle, to not bore them with your book announcements. By consistently posting on the same topics and growing your Google+ followers, you help Google drive even more customers to your site.

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6. Use Google Talk or chat with friends, customers and readers. In your left sidebar, you have an option to connect with people in through chat. It’s similar to the same chat feature in Gmail, also known as Google Talk, where the indicators will show you if someone is online and if they are available for a text chat (a green dot) or a video chat (a green video camera). When you click on their name, a little chat window will pop up at the bottom right side of your screen so you can start chatting.

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7. Google is attaching author information to Google search results. Thanks to this new author information service from Google, it will be easier for people to identify the initial or original source of a blog post or article. Google is verifying that the blog post was written by this person. Link from your blog (or your website), to your Google Profile and then, you link from your Google Profile back to your blog.

I hope everyone gets as much joy and value from Google+ as I do.
Learn more about Google+

In his book Guy Kawasaki explains “what the plus” makes Google+ special. Topics include: How to circle people, how to perfect your profile, how to craft effective posts, how to comment, how to respond to comments, and how to share photographs.

“Learn to Master Google+ in just a few hours”, offered as free download at http://www.rootswebsolutions.com. This guide is useful not only for companies, small businesses, but especially for authors and small (and big) publishers who rely the most on “word of mouth” references. One of the greatest features is the App that allows
book buyers to purchase directly on the authors Google+ business site. This feature alone helps to set Google+ high above the other social networks.

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Visit more blog posts to learn where you can show your book cover:

http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/08/16/how-to-market-your-book-on-photo-sites/

http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/06/24/5-ways-of-marketing-with-pinterest/

http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/08/01/63-top-websites-to-announce-your-book-for-free/

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And don’t forget to spread the word on other social networking sites of your choice for other writers who might also enjoy this blog and find it useful. Thanks, Doris

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