Here’s the short answer: Keep it on your radar and don’t ignore it.

Time will tell what Google+ becomes. Nobody outside of Google really seems to be convinced that it is going to be a Facebook killer, but there are a lot of signs that say this is going to be a strong force in the internet.

That being said… (I’m not going to make this into a Google+ vs. Facebook post)

As a business owner, you will want to have a presence on Google+. How big? Just like any other marketing: Test, Test, Test.

Note: Google has asked businesses to wait to build profiles until they launch their business environments.

In the coming months, Facebook and Google+ are going to make big plays to earn our business. I will never tell someone not to put their business profile on Google+. I would rather use this time getting used to both environments and seeing what there is to see. Try to see how your target clients are acting in both environments, and choose your tactics carefully.

Remember: Strategy is the overall marketing plan. Tactics is the “boots on the ground” specific actions that you take in specific areas. There will be more posting about this as Google+ and its users develop.

So the information about Google+ has been coming out slowly but steadily, and although this may not be the Facebook-killer it is supposed to be, yet, it’s got some neat features built into it and more coming.

The biggest obstacle they will have to overcome is getting people to change their habits, but time has shown that it’s easier to get people to do so on the internet.

Google+ is using a lot of graphical interfaces. Instead of groups of contacts, it’s done via circles (social circles, etc…) and instead of grouping everyone together automatically, it practically forces you to assign people to circles as you add them.

It also allows you to hide your contacts from others, so that in Google’s own words, you can “hide that weird aunt you’re embarrassed about, and show off the coolest people you know.”

They have put a lot of effort into groups.. er… circles, which to me is the most fundamental difference between Facebook and Google+, and represents the biggest required changed behavior…

…managing all the circles!

We’ll see how it goes. Google has had its share of hits and misses as it tries to expand from just being “the search engine.” With as many people who have signed on board, so far, though… it will get a fair amount of use to see what people do and don’t like.

Michelle in Birmingham asks:
Why is it so hard to be seen on Google? What do I have to do in order to climb up?

If anyone really knew the answer to this question and could create results every time they tried to raise someone up in the search engines, they would be insanely rich.

The truth to the matter is that you are competing against a bunch of other people for those top positions, and they all have the same question that you do. There are only so many top spots, and only a few people are going to get them.

Google’s formulas for determining who goes where are über-complicated on purpose. They are working against the porn industry which will use any methods they can to get people to their websites. By trying to stay a step or two ahead, the search engines can make sure that they are not getting inundated with adult links. They are also working against “Search Engine Optimization experts” who have ways of making sites show up in different places and different searches.

They’re also working against unscrupulous people who misrepresent their business or artificially inflate certain statistics in order to try to manipulate their placement on the search engines.

However, Google tells us what they want (and since Google is 80% of the search market, it’s more profitable to focus on what they say).

First, they want the website to accurately describe what the company does or what is found on the website. They want a doughnut shop to represent themselves as a doughnut shop, not a candy store.

Second, they want others to validate that the website represents the business. Links, social bookmarks, etc…

Third, they want to see a site that stays fresh… not a set of stale files. The simplest way to do this is with a blog… and Google has mad crush on blogs (at the time this article was written). Don’t know how to blog? Take a look at Blog Champions, a six week course that gets you off and rolling!