Bye bye Google Plus
Can’t say we’ll miss you…or even notice…..
From April 2nd 2019, Google Plus (Google+) will be no more. Google+ was launched as Google’s rival social network. But it never received the broad adoption or engagement with users that it had hoped for. According to one of Google’s sources, 90 per cent of Google Plus user sessions last for less than five seconds. With bigger social channels like Facebook and Twitter dominating the market, the network wasn’t able to compete.
What does the end of Google+ mean for you?
If you have a Google+ channel, it will cease to exist. To the vast majority, this just really means you have one less social network to share your posts on. Very few people were engaging and using it in the way it was intended so it’s unlikely it will have any dramatic impact on your business. If you did use it and have some useful data on there, you can download the following information:
- +1s
- Circles
- Communities
- Stream
Find out how here.
If your websites contains a Google+ share button, allowing users to share website content onto the Google+ social channel, or a Google+ follow button linking to your own Google+ account, these will stop linking and will throw up a 404 error. That’s not good for your website visitors so you need to remove these buttons (or ask your web developer to do it).
If you linked to Google+ within social media management tools, such as Hootsuite, they should automatically update and remove your Google+ profile, or you may find that you’ll need to delete the accounts – either way Google+ won’t link from them.
Google My Business
The good news is that there is a much better way to increase your visibility on Google. Many of the options which were available with G+ are on Google My Business (GMB). It gives you the ability to make posts, share images, provide general information, receive reviews and answer questions. Find out how GMB can be used to benefit your businesses, especially those with a focus on local, here.