What an incredible journey, we'll call it, when it comes to Google+.
Before Google+ was released, it was noted to be the "Facebook Killer." But, deep down inside we all knew that it was going to fail. Facebook is, and for a long time will be, the social media king.
So Google+ was released and I made an account. I found it to be, well, rather confusing. Circles are interesting but I'd rather just have a big pile of friends and call it a day. Navigating between pages wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do and it seemed as though it wasn't as "smooth" as Facebook.
It was almost like they rushed it out of production. As a community manager in an online marketing firm, I am responsible for posting on clients Google+ pages. Each post is designed to be engaging and to provoke feedback. However, even with a decent amount of fans we are still not seeing much of a response. Nobody uses it.
As a social media platform, it is an epic fail.
However, as far as SEO goes Google+ has greatly influenced the results of its searches. By logging into your Google+ account, any pages or anyone in your circles has a higher chance of popping up in the "related people/pages" bar when you search in Google. Google is ranking its pages and people higher when they create a Google+ account. Whether you're searching for a wedding dress or an iPhone case, searches are influenced because of your Google+ account.
So as far as SEO goes, it's a great way for anyone to increase one's online presence. As long you post, according to research, at least within 72 hours of each post you should rank higher in searches pertaining to you or your page. Make sure to optimize your page for increased exposure and higher SEO rankings.
Regardless of whether or not Google+ was a success or a fail, we all know it will not take down the great Facebook goliath. It will only be a matter of time when Facebook implements a very advanced search engine into its own platform. My guess is that Bing will be the mastermind behind those rankings.
Get ranking, get social, have fun!