2011
Google+ is a big traffic generator, suggests early report
Many small businesses use social media as a central part of their online marketing efforts. In fact, according to a recent survey conducted by Hiscox USA, more than half of entrepreneurs (53 percent) said they used social media to promote their products or services to prospective customers.
However, because of the sheer number of social sites, small business owners often grapple with the decision of choosing which outlet to focus their efforts on. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ – each site offers a unique feature set and caters to different audiences, and many entrepreneurs often find it difficult maintain a presence on each platform.
A separate study conducted by WordStream may effectively answer that question – according to the company's research, Facebook generates the most traffic for small business websites. Surprisingly, however, Google's recently announced Google+ is proving to be an effective social media marketing tool, effectively topping LinkedIn and threatening Twitter despite the fact it's only a month old.
The data
WordStream notes that Facebook accounts for nearly half of the social traffic generated at 47.26 percent. Twitter follows at a distant second place, driving 27.51 percent of ecommerce website visits. Google+ is No. 3 at 15.42 percent, while LinkedIn trails at 9.81 percent.
"Google+, despite only being around for 1 month – and even then, being released in a limited 'field testing' mode, drove more traffic … than LinkedIn – it was roughly a third of our Facebook traffic and over half of our Twitter traffic. This was a huge surprise given how many Facebook fans and Twitter followers we've accumulated over the last several years," WordStream notes.
The disparity becomes even more shocking when looking at the user bases of the respective social networks. Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter have well over 100 million members each, with more than 750 million registered Facebook users alone.
On the other hand, Google+ is estimated to have only 20 million users. Despite having less than one-tenth of users, Google+ drove one-third of the traffic Facebook did. This clearly illustrates that Google's social network could be a marketing force to be reckoned with as it continues to develop.
The route of Google+'s popularity
As WordStream explains, the reason behind the disparity may be the high levels of user engagement on Google+.
"LinkedIn boasts five times more users than Google+, but LinkedIn may likely have lower user engagement metrics. A recent Pew Internet study showed that just 3 percent of LinkedIn users check the network several times a day, compared to 31 percent – or about 232 million – of Facebook users, or 20 percent of Twitter users. And over half (53 percent) of Twitter profiles use the network somewhere between every four weeks and never," the source asserts.
The relative youth of the platform may also be attracting the attention of users. Because Google was only recently released, many of the early members are using it more often to come to grips with the feature list.
The popularity of Facebook
Still, Facebook is hands down the most popular social network. According to Hiscox, nearly 20 percent of all small businesses have a presence on the social network, while 28 percent view it as the most effective social site for generating new customers. Meanwhile, only 15 percent use LinkedIn and 4 percent leverage Twitter.
When Google+ is released to the public, do you plan to leverage it in your marketing campaigns? Will it take over for Facebook or any other social efforts?
Sonia 