What is Google+?

A late edition to your author platform could be Google+

It is being tipped as the next big thing ahead of Twitter (and Facebook) which is why I'm going to post about it today.

I'm still learning having only recently set up my profile, but here's what I know so far...

• Facebook uses "likes" and "shares" and Twitter uses "retweets". Google competes with a +1 button
• Google has social "circles" and unlike Facebook, is a search engine with a global reach
• It offers free, business pages
• You can construct targeted groups to market using Google "circles" - the potential reach is far better than Facebook
• Your blogs, articles and websites can be linked back to your Google+ profile to establish your authority in a specific area of knowledge
• Use the "contributed to..." area on your author profile to link out to your work
• Use the "other profiles" area to link to your other social media accounts
• Make full use of the "Introduction" section and any full URL you write will turn into an active hyperlink for people to click through to (could be your website)
• The content is quality content. It's rumoured some communities (circles) are kicking people out if their content lacks substance. They prefer to know WHY you think something is valuable and worth the time to read
• The circle system is great if you have different friends in different industries. I can keep my travel content separate from my photography content and writing related content - targeting interested parties much more effectively
• As a freelance writer, you can search out potential clients. More on this to come...
• Potential to use Google Hangouts to network with fellow writers (even hold a conference!)
• You can share circles you've created
• The more +1s you get, the higher you move up the search engine rankings within Google. Excellent SEO! A social media that is also a search engine !!!
• The visibility of content is much better in Google+ ie. more people will see what you post
• Now for the most important detail: "Google Authorship and Author Rank" - the capability to verify your identity with Google and connect your Google+ profile with content you have written all over the Internet. This is your opportunity to make ALL of your content work hard for you as it will ultimately count towards your expert status in your chosen field/s. This raises your original content higher up the search engine. And when you set up your Google Authorship (use this link to help you), your profile image will appear besides your results in Google search. Pretty cool eh!