Google+, with its 540 million active users a month, boasts one of the largest user bases of all the major social media platforms. Coupled with its business-friendly features and the tie-ins with Gmail, this site can be as useful for networking as business-specific site like LinkedIn. With 70% of business brands now present on Google+ it is important to take the time to make yourself visible and memorable to prospective clients and other companies.
In this article, we will discuss some of the best ways to maximise your engagement and increase traffic to your Google+ profile.
The best way to promote your Google+ profile is to make it easily findable. Like all social media sites, if your customers don’t know that you have one they probably won’t look for you. Simple things like adding a Google+ badge to your website or sharing icons to your company blog, for example, will make it simple for visitors to engage with you directly.
One of the most useful features of Google+ is the ability to organise your followers. Circles are an effective way to manage your different interests and relationships, simply use keyword searches to identify other people or pages that would benefit you in terms of engagement or content and add them to your circles. As well as keeping current relationships with existing customers up to date, Circles is also a great way of building new relationships with fellow companies and potential clients. By organising your networks it is easy to stay connected with the right people.
Content is the big one. To keep your followers 
interested it is vital that your keep your account topped up with relevant and entertaining, content. Prioritising visual content such as infographics, images and videos is a winning strategy for most social networks as you are able to promote sharability and stimulate engagement with your followers. Opting to post large, visibly-compelling images rather than using the small, auto-generated thumbnails that come up when you upload videos for example is a great way of getting people interested.
Engaging text content is also really important. Content that could potentially solicit large numbers of, likes, comments or shares need to be information-rich and address a certain query or need. Larger, text-based pieces are perfectly acceptable if they’re useful but try breaking them up with an image.
Hashtags aren’t just for Twitter and Instagram! Although you do not need them to search for content, adding relevant hashtags to your Google+ posts will enable other users to find related posts or join trending topics and conversations.
Sometimes the only way to grasp engagement is to be proactive in seeking it. Ask questions on your posts to 
start a dialogue with other users. Interact with other people by commenting on their posts and adding your own opinion to conversations. If someone is particularly interested in some content that you have posted, reply to their comments by using +mentions. Tagging individuals in replies will encourage conversation to continue.
Google+ has two very exciting engagement-centric features with Google+ Communities and Hangouts. Designed specifically to connect users, participating in these features will help you gain a strong online presence.
With over 50,000 communities, spanning interests from SEO to otters, there is something for everyone. Joining Communities specific to your company, whether it links to the products you sell or the area that you trade from will help you engage with other, like-minded people. Try to participate regularly in these Communities; post links to your content, maybe even your blog posts, or actively answer other people’s questions.
Both Google+ Hangouts and Hangouts on Air (HOA) offer businesses the opportunity to build or enhance engagement with users through real-time interaction. Access to these live-streamed videos and real-time user participation are perfect for engaging key audiences. HOA videos are automatically recorded and can be posted to a company Youtube page for further engagement.
The key to keeping your profile interesting and engaging both existing and potential customers is to keep your content enticing and relevant. Sparking discussions will enable you to build and cultivate relationships.
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