So Long. Fair Well, Google+

So there it is, Google+ is finally done, for consumers that is. Those that use G+'s Enterprise will continue to find success. As a consumer, small business owner or solo-preneur, can you remember the last time you actually used it? Here's a quick & dirty post.

From a business perspective, Google+ had many good components.

• Similar to Facebook: you can post & read posts from others, share blog posts, comment, & share with people in your circle, and etc. BUT it came into the social media late & was never able to pick up the momentum. It's original design was to create a similar platform that kept unwanted posts at bay but come to find out those unwanted posts & ads that consumers don't realize they want/need are what keeps social media alive. Google+ was simply boring

• Always in the search results: Probably the best of all reasons small business owners were on G+ was, when sharing, your posts always made it into search results. Then later Google changed and you had to work a little harder to show up in the results. Luckily, if you properly placed you business on Google with a mobile-responsive website, you still have leg up in getting ranked higher.

• Knowledge galore: Entrepreneurs & influencers took advantage of G+ communities. Their communities were chock full of information that was strategically organized so you can read all or just what you came for. Some communities were so big they had over 240,000 members, so you can't say they weren't reaching the masses.

Marketing-wise, I can honestly say losing G+ is not a big deal. Most casual users rarely used the platform anyway, so the reach was very limited for business owners, especially solo-preneurs. 

Need Digital Media Marketing?

SEO-wise, guess what? Same thing. No real change. Although, the social playing that contributed to online authority was helpful in the ranking signal, it was never made official. Therefore, big whoop-di-doo. 

Looking for a strategic SEO option?

Here is Google's official statement on shutting down G+:

“At the same time, we have many enterprise customers who are finding great value in using Google+ within their companies. Our review showed that Google+ is better suited as an enterprise product where co-workers can engage in internal discussions on a secure corporate social network. Enterprise customers can set common access rules, and use central controls, for their entire organization. We’ve decided to focus on our enterprise efforts and will be launching new features purpose-built for businesses. We will share more information in the coming days.”

The official start of the API shut down is January 28th with a completion date of March 7, 2019.

P.S. Don't forget to delete those unused apps. They're just using up space!