Your Personal Google+ Account Is Gone on April 2, 2019
Several weeks ago, we gave a heads up about Google+ shutting down its personal use accounts (See “Google Plus to Close…”). The search engine and internet giant followed through last week with an email announcement sent to all Google+ consumer account holders. In part, it said –
“…We want to thank you for being part of Google+ and provide next steps, including how to download your photos and other content… The process of deleting content from consumer Google+ accounts, Google+ Pages, and Album Archive will take a few months, and content may remain through this time.”
So, what does this mean to a business or service provider that has had a Google+ page? If that page is on a personal Google+ page, it will be disappearing, but do not confuse this with Google My Business. Google My Business is about connecting your business to your visitors through search terms, Google Maps and queries. It is definitely not going away; in fact it is more and more important.
Stay tuned and we will remind you of how to claim and use your Google My Business account. In the meantime, if your site has any links to Google+ personal pages, now is a good time to delete them. Remember that Axiom understands the needs of small businesses, professional practices and nonprofits. Please visit Axiom’s small business services page or call Axiom at 800-888-6348.
Webmaster Help from Google
Did you know that you can get webmaster help directly from ‘The Man’ (that is Google). There was a time when Google was very obscure about its criteria for ranking a webpage; the Google employees and the contractors who were involved in this activity were required to sign nondisclosure agreements and the ‘secrets’ were supposed to be kept hidden.
This was a counterproductive policy because it left webmasters and content creators in the dark about how to meet the needs of consumers and to rank highly in Google’s search engine results. Over the years, this policy was eased and then changed totally. Today you can read all about it from “The Boss” himself or herself at Google Webmaster Guidelines.
In the spirit of complying, here is Axiom’s original, not scraped or copied, philosophy about getting to the top of search rankings, generating web traffic and producing results in the form of new customers or clients:
- Google’s intention is to provide the best answer to the query a user enters. The highest ranked webpage should be the one that is most useful to the viewer, providing the best answer to a specific question.
- To be useful, a website must provide content that is of some value to the user. Content that is ‘syndicated,’ that is scraped or copied from another site, does not meet this requirement. Even if the copied material is relevant to the question at hand, it does not add value because it was already available elsewhere.
- There is nothing wrong with a site that is intended to influence buying decisions (that is to sell you stuff); HOWEVER to rank high in search results, the website must provide useful content to the viewer, not merely direct them to a local provider or an Amazon affiliate.
The bottom line is this – produce content that is original and useful to the viewer and adds some value to the experience. If you are a plumber, your website should provide information about the relative merits of fixtures, pipes or maintenance procedures, not just pretty pictures of showers or links to Amazon sites. An attorney’s site should contain information that helps potential clients make important decisions, not just photos of well-dressed people holding law books.
If you are capable of producing this material yourself, then by all means do so. If you have neither the time or the inclination to do this, turn the task over to an internet marketing agency like Axiom Administrative Services. Axiom has the professional skill and small business SEO skills needed to get your web presence the ranking it deserves. Please visit Axiom’s small business services or call Axiom at 800-888-6348.
Can AXIOM help me with Google Plus?
Great question and the answer is “Yes, Definitely!” Social Media Management is one of the things that AXIOM does best. AXIOM’s own page at Google+ is a great example, so check it out by clicking AXIOM on GOOGLE+. Admire the examples, and then call AXIOM at 800-888-6348 or use our contact page at CONTACT AXIOM.
