Managing all of your social media accounts can be exhausting. Between promoting your content, engaging on LinkedIn and other networks, and maintaining company profiles…it can be a lot to juggle. In order to make sure your social media strategy doesn’t get stretched too thin, it’s important to exert your efforts wisely.
If your firm is ready to take your social media efforts to the next level, it may be beneficial to build an active presence on Google+. As the second most popular social media network on the Internet, Google+ contains numerous possibilities for sharing your content and portfolio work to targeted audiences.
If you’re unfamiliar with the purpose of Google+ and some of the terms that define the social space, check out this post first. Otherwise, let’s jump into how you can use this social media platform to build your firm’s online presence.
Use Google+ to boost your brand
1. Introduce Your Firm to a Broad Audience
Many firms don’t consider Google+ a priority in their social media marketing strategy because they assume the user base can’t compete with other sites like Twitter or LinkedIn.
However, contrary to popular belief, Google+ has a large number of active members – over 150 million report monthly activity. Of those, over 50% access the site daily. With so many users, an active presence on Google+ can potentially allow your firm to reach a very broad audience.
More importantly, Google+ can help you share your content as well as your project and event imagery (a particularly important aspect for many AEC firms) to an audience that has already expressed interest in your industry.
2. Expand the Reach of Your Content
Finding targeted, AEC -specific Google+ communities in which to share your content can help get your firm in front of the right audience and drive more traffic to your website. The +1 and Share buttons provide an easy option for people to recommend and share your content on Google+ and with the people in their circles.
Since communities help put your content in front of an audience that is already primed and interested in what you have to share, you can get your content in front of more potential leads in a shorter amount of time. Google+ can work to effectively build up your firm’s online presence one follower at a time.
SEE ALSO: New Research Uncovers Biggest Business Challenges in AEC
3. Build Your Brand
Google+ communities provide a perfect opportunity to add your firm’s voice to the important conversations in your industry. By establishing your expertise on relevant issues, you can increase your firm’s brand presence on social media. Try checking out these groups to get started:
- Architecture & Architectural Photography (83,000+ members)
- Architecture & Interior Design (45,000 members)
- Civil Engineering (10,000+ members)
- Construction Pros (4,000+ members)
You can also build your own community (only if you have the time and resources, though!), which have the added advantage of helping you find your brand evangelists. These loyal advocates can accelerate your brand presence even further by sharing your content and helping you run specific marketing campaigns.
4. Improve Your Search Engine Rankings
There is a significant correlation between the number of +1s a site receives on Google+ and higher search rankings – more so than many other SEO tactics. Between sharing your content on Google+ and joining communities that further spread your content, you can give your website a boost in search engines. Better SEO means more traffic to your website, which can bring in more leads and generate more new business.
Google+ posts are also indexed immediately, which allows your content to be found quicker than traditional methods where pages need to be indexed by Google after crawlers find them. Google+ local pages are even indexed and displayed in local search results, which can provide a huge benefit to smaller firms relying solely on local business.
What’s it all matter?
The importance of a strong online presence for your AEC firm can’t be underscored enough. When we surveyed over 1,000 buyers of professional services and asked how they check out professional services providers before hiring them, 60% of professional services buyers identified “social media” as a top method of checking out a prospective firm. And three out of the four top answers involved having a strong online presence.
What does this tell us? Being more available to prospective buyers online is one of the best ways to generate more business for your firm – and an active firm presence on Google+ can help get you one step closer to making that happen.
Learn more social media tips to develop or expand your firm's social media strategy by downloading our Social Media Guide below.
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