Google+ may be growing, but anyone who spends time on it wishes it had more engagement with their connections and more content being shared. Unfortunately, it doesn’t. Why is this happening? It is not just lack of people, it is the lack of integration with the content marketing ecosystem. Even though there is a great mobile app for Android and iOS, it is still very web-centric. People will share content when they come across content they encounter on the web and then hit the Google+ button, sometimes it opens up a share window. Where is the amazing utility like the iOS app YouTube Capture? It makes it insanely easy to share videos to YouTube, Google +, Facebook and Twitter all in one click.
Why can’t Google+ make sharing as easy as one click for others?
That is exactly what Google needs to do. Open up the the API Write functionality of Google+ and make it easy for people to share on iPad apps like Flipboard, Pulse, and my favorite Zite. They need to plugin to web apps like WordPress, Intigi, Bottlenose and others. They need to allow people to plan posts to be shared at a desired schedule with tools like Buffer or LaterBro (right now there is a Chrome Plugin that sort of does this well – Do Share). For social engagement to really work the Google+ platform needs to be open to other read and write tools. We all saw how all the Twitter apps helped Twitter grow.
Why AuthorRank is Still Greatly Flawed!
Google+ is a significant way for Google to effect their ranking algorithm by moving away from PageRank, which was link-based, to AuthorRank which is based on an individual author rank. They are also working on PublisherRank too. Google+ has an identity problem. The problem is many people are challenged by not being able to merge their multiple Google IDs or profiles, or select a primary one for these options.
You can see the problem in the image below when I searched for Conversion Trinity:
The top listing goes to my bryan@bryaneisenberg.com Google+ profile (10,000+ followers). That is correct. The second listing goes to my personal gmail address profile (2400+ followers). That is wrong. I was able to use the Google+ migration tool to merge the two profiles together. ClickZ has linked to the correct Google+ profile from my ClickZ bio page. So why is this still broken?
I am not the only one who has complained about this issue. Many of my industry friends have as well. Many didn’t even know about the Google+ migration tool.
I agree with Brad Feld who says Google+ is in it for the long haul. They don’t have an 800 pound gorilla forcing them to move quickly to correct these issues. However, I sure hope they correct them sooner rather than later.
I understand what you are saying and agree with most of it. I like Google Plus for a host of reasons not the least of which is I find the engagement levels to be deep and that is a very good thing.
It has been a very effective tool for me.
Spot on. I ranted a bit on the same general issue today as well.
As I see it, on every other network, you create a profile for you, as an individual. On Google+, you get a profile for every email address you have. It impedes our ability to connect and it impedes sharing. It makes G+ harder to use in a day when the trend is towards easier. Major fails, IMO.
Hopefully Google will wake up and realize we connect as individuals, not email addresses. Hopefully.
Glad to see I’m not alone in feeling this way!
You can browse and share posts on Google+ with Flipboard. And you can share posts you browse on your Twitter feed or Facebook or Google Reader to Google+ with Flipboard. And vice versa.
Facebook and Google+ both want one thing above all else, and that is for us to be using their services all day, every day. The more we are tied into their tools, the more data they can collect, and the more ads they can deliver. At the end of the day, that means being able to provide users with the best social experience.
Regardless of all the other potential issues laid out above, the fact is that we online marketers hate changes like this. But Google is constantly changing, and must change, as the Web itself changes.