Why Google Plus is Essential for Authors

by Dana Lynn Smith

I can just hear some of you saying “not another social network to keep up with!” Bear with me while I explain what’s different about Google Plus and why authors need to use it.

Google Plus combines many of the features of Facebook (personal profiles, business pages, groups/communities) and Twitter (add people to lists called “circles” and follow them). An additional feature with potential for authors is “hangouts” where you can do live video chats.

More importantly, data from Google Plus is being integrated into Google’s search engine, which means that your activity there could have an influence on the amount of traffic that flows to your website through search results. Google Plus pages are even showing up in search results, so remember to make your profile keyword rich.

Learn More About Google Plus for Authors

Why Google+ Will be Critical for Your Blog’s Success in 2013, an excellent article by Larry Deane, explains the importance of Google Plus in more detail.

10 Steps to Developing A Niche Following on Google Plus by Amanda Blain has some great tips for growing your influence.

Are you already using Google Plus? Think about how you can enhance your profile and gain more from the site. If not, get started today!

And I invite you to connect with me on Google+.

Comments

[Fiona Ingram]

I have been using Google+ for a while and I am not sure yet if this is working for me. However, I think long-term it has a growing 'authorship' and I hope all my posts will enhance my author profile.

[Dana Lynn Smith]

Thanks Fiona. I think that G+ will continue to grow in importance over time.

[Cathleen]

Do you have any suggestions for author's who go by a pen name? I asked this at another forum and was told Google wants "real people." What are your thoughts?

[Dana Lynn Smith]

Cathleen, you can set up a "Page" in your pen name, but there may be something in the Google rules that says "Profiles" are only for real people. (I haven't researched that.) Like Facebook, their intent is that Profiles are for people and Pages are for businesses. But I guess you could take the position that your alter ego is a person and set up a Profile for her :)

[Pauline Laurent]

My book came out in 1999. I would now like to market it as ebook. I've checked out Amazon's Kindle and wondered if there were other ways to create an ebook?
Can you direct me to some resources"?

[Larry Deane]

Thank you for the link to my article Dana, most appreciated.

I've found Google+ to be the most engaging and beneficial social media platform for myself and my online business. I really great place to hang out, share content, learn and build relationships.

[Josh]

This is just what I needed, I've been trying to decide if Google+ is worth my time or not. Now you have helped me decide, Thanks!

[MaAnna]

Thanks for the shout out Dana. I'm in the process of adding more things to the course, including webinars on very focused how-to aspects.

[Dana Lynn Smith]

Glad to hear that MaAnna - I know you produce high quality training :)