With the evolution of social networks and its movement to the forefront of online communication, many businesses and websites feel overwhelmed at maintaining a consistent social presence across multiple platforms. Nevertheless, building a passive format through which traffic and business can be perpetually attracted is a mainstay in marketing and SEO these days, and Google Plus is one of the best mediums in which to engage other users. Google Plus Communities is a specific feature within the social network that can be utilized by you to increase exposure, but how exactly does it work? Continue reading to find out how you can grow your social clout.

What Are Google Plus Communities?

Whether you are wanting to network with family, friends or in this case, users and customers of your website and business, Google Plus Communities function in many ways as Facebook Groups do. The one key difference is that Google intertwines elements of theirs into search results. Communities allow for sharing of multimedia, video conferencing and can be configured to be either public or private. Many communities already exist for various interests and are publicly viewable, unless otherwise determined by the community admin. With an array of customizations available, you can create a discussion format that caters to your visitors and keeps them in the loop on current developments.

Instant Indexing

Google is constantly pinging sites for new information so that it can update the changes in its search results. The main goal of SEO is to have search engines update your content frequently and find it favourable. With Google Plus Communities, you have the advantage of being viewed both favourably and instantly by Google’s search elements. Communities are indexed and shown in select search results, giving you more exposure. When you establish a community on Google Plus, you can rest assured that all content within its existence will be picked up and displayed by Google in select search results.

Brand Awareness

Google Plus communities can be built with brand awareness in mind – how many times have we wished to reach out to new people but are not share how to do so? By creating a community for your brand and promoting its benefits, you can attract others who will be interested in its applications. Likewise, offering special benefits and discounts via the community is another great way to convince people to join up – particularly existing or recurring customers and visitors. You can amplify the effect this will have by pinging sites that you own with information about the newly-formed community, giving it a larger audience.

Increased Linkage

Another great benefit of Google Plus communities is that you will build up valuable networking connections that bring more and more people into your realm of influence. By commenting and discussing various elements on others’ profiles and communities, you can help attract those in your niche to check our your community as well. This has a snowballing effect, and before long you will be attracting new members, customers and visitors without much effort. In the beginning, though, it is important that you remain proactive in reaching out to those who share similar interests in order to get that growth started.