If you’ve ever complained that Facebook takes too much time or isn’t a high even return-on investment, I have good news and bad news.

The good news is that Google+ is in many ways a better platform.  The bad news is that you want another social media account like you want another hole in your head.

But there are compelling reasons to get involved with G+ right away.

Let’s get this party started

Google is a rockin’ search engine, so it owns the playing field.  If we were all still kids, Google would own the playing field, the parking lot, the ball, and the air.

So, Google makes sure that G+ integrates across a number of Google products, including Google Buzz and Google Profiles.

Try this experiment.  If you have a fairly distinct name and you type it into Google, your Facebook page will probably rank fairly high.  But, if you have a Google profile, it will rank higher than your Facebook page.

Oh, and you probably have a Google profile even if you haven’t created one.  Why?  Because Google created one for you if you have a Gmail account.  When I discovered my unadorned Google profile a while back, it ranked higher than the Facebook that had been established for years!

Started in June 2011 as a test version, its popularity has grown by leaps and bounds. Google+ notices are posted inside users’ Gmail inbox, so it’s 100% real-time Gmail deliverability.

When you write about a subject on Google+ and your circle friends Google that subject, your comments and links are displayed automatically on page one of Google. No back-linking, no on-site optimization, just free traffic!

Still not convinced to use Google+?

Bill Douglass (bill@wsiwebsalesnow.com), a marketing expert at WSI Web Sales Now, has written about Google+’s interesting features and benefits:

•    A focus on targeted sharing within subsets of a social group (or what Google calls ‘Circles’).

•    A section specifically for viewing, managing and editing multimedia. Google+ includes an image editor, privacy options and sharing features.

•    ’Hangouts’ is becoming very popular. Instead of directly asking a friend to join a group chat, users instead click ‘start a hangout’ and they’re instantly in a video chat-room alone. At the same time, a message goes out to their social circles, letting them know that their friend is ‘hanging out’ and that they are invited to join.

Google+ is a terrific for Internet marketing

Just like with Facebook, you can create a business page after you create a personal profile page.  Businesses are beginning to see the value of Google+ with the new Pages feature.

The new Google+ brand Pages look similar to Google+ Profiles, except for the little square icon that indicates that it’s a Page rather than a Profile.

Users can add brands to their circles, check out their information, and browse their photos. When users add a brand to their circles, it helps increase that brand’s follower count.

Here’s what you need to know about starting a business page on Google+:

•    Before you can create a Google+ Page for your business, you need a Google+ Profile. The ‘You+’ link on your Gmail dashboard will direct you to the Profile creation page.

•    Choose a category to begin. Local businesses is good for smaller, less well-known businesses. Product or brand would work for companies and larger known businesses. Company, institution, or organization is mainly for businesses that don’t directly sell something, mostly not-for-profits.

•    Personalize your page with a photo/logo and tagline. You can continue with an introduction, information, and contact information, and finish with a photo strip of five different photos.

•    For your business Page, you can create circles (networks), start posting information and news through your feed. You can also add your Google+ Page details to your existing website and share it via other networks.

Google+ is a lot of fun, too!

If you have your own website or online business, an efficient social profile Page using  Google+ will let you explore a whole new world of social media marketing, that is not only fun, but easy and profitable.

•    Google+ posts sent to “public” rank fairly well in Google search results. Merging Google properties into Google+ and integrating it with the search engines has a tremendous impact on where your company appears in search engine results pages (SERPs).

•    You can manage circles-distribute clients into specific categories and share different posts, news or deals with different circles accordingly. This is a great way to connect with fans and share information with clients.

•    ”Hangouts” is another great way to engage your customers and colleagues. It’s a high quality video chat that allows you to interact with your fans face to face. This interaction will allow you to get to know them, answer questions as well as get live product/service feedback. Businesses can also use “Hangouts” for video conferencing, to push live events and seminars to customers.

•    Use the Google+ badge to promote your site and your Google+ page. Google+ badge links your website with your Google+ page and lets others know you’re here. When a visitor likes your site and clicks the icon they will be taken directly to your Google+ page and will be able to share and follow your posts.

•    Google+ Direct allows people to simply enter a ‘+’ before your company name when searching on Google and get directly to your Google+ page.

•    The +1 button on Google+ is an ideal way to have customers spread the word about your business and its presence on Google+.  You can also connect your +1′s from your website to your +1′s on your Google+ page. People tend to trust recommendations from people they already know.

•    ”Ripples” is a Google+ tool that allows you to watch your posts and information as they travel across social networks.  You can easily determine who is sharing your content and who is paying attention to it.

•    With “analytics,” you can get information about your page’s followers, visitors, and the general traffic and social activity around your business.

Google+ is a game-changer

Google+ for business is unique in that it has blurred the lines between personal social networks such as Facebook, and business networks like LinkedIn.

Linkedin, by the way, has long been associated as one of the “Big Three” social media platforms.  As of last week, Infusionsoft (my CRM and a major player in the industry) announced that it’s social media integration will include a new Big Three:  Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.  Linkedin is being left out of the picture, at least for now.

I’m making Google+ an important part of my Internet marketing activity.  See you there!