No minuses here: Google+ A journalist’s secret weapon

Google Plus For Journalists

A Newspaper SEO’s Mandate (And Challenge)

One of my main objectives for the current quarter is to get every author on staff at my publication signed up for Google+ and Google Authorship. The reasons for doing so are well-documented, but it’s still a challenge convincing people it’s worth their while to commit to yet another social media site. “Everyone uses Facebook, and no one is on Google+, and I only have so many hours in the day to devote to this stuff” — I hear that a lot.

It’s true that everyone and their dogs are on Facebook, but as it so happens, Google+ is now the No. 2 social media site by active users, outranking Twitter (incidentally, YouTube is No. 3, yet another compelling reason to have a presence there).

Read more about Google Plus for journalists and G+’s role in breaking news

I think the problem in persuading people to use Google+  is the false notion that it’s just Google’s version of Facebook. While the two have similarities, their purposes are, in my mind, quite different. Facebook is a place to engage with people you already know. Google+ is where you interact with new people and plant your content for others to find. Perhaps I’ll be proved wrong about this, but I think Google+ is an essential part of long-term strategy. You’re investing time and effort there now to reap solid search results in the future. (The same goes for YouTube.)