The Latest Google Plus Profiles Update

The new Google Plus layout is coming under scrutiny for several reasons. First, social media users tend to abhor change, and do all they can to keep it from happening. Second, the massive amount of whitespace has been both ridiculed and groaned at by users. However, despite all that, the changes made are actually very good, and they may be able to help marketers in several different ways. The changes are attempting to increase interactivity and user retention, which Google Plus is sorely lacking in, and they are making it easier for users to get used to Google Plus.

Aesthetic ChangesGoogle Plus accounts have gone under some heavy aesthetic changes. The most visible difference is the huge increase in whitespace. This has actually made a lot of people with larger screens angry, as they see the most whitespace. At the same time, others believe this gives the profile a cleaner look, and it does look nice on an average to smaller screen.

The top toolbar has also been changed. It is now on the left side, and it contains several useful buttons that function as hotkeys. These are the most commonly used functions, so it will make it much easier to navigate between all the different tools. The toolbar includes:
-Pages
-Profile
-Home
-Photos
-Explore
-Circles
-More

Lastly, there is now an emphasis on the account’s photo. The photo has been enlarged from its original size, so make sure you are using a high-resolution photo, especially for marketing yourself. Low-resolution photos look very blurry in the new size, so if you haven’t been on Google Plus for some time, then make sure you check this out.

As a side note, many people are saying the layout looks like the Facebook Timeline layout, and those people would be right. Google is doing this to make it easier on people to feel content on their system, and so it can diminish the new and lonely feeling some people get when they first sign in.

Increased InteractivityAside from changing the look of the profiles, Google Plus has also tried to improve interactivity. There is a major reason for this: most people don’t interact on Google Plus. In its battle of the numbers, Google Plus is quickly gaining steam against Facebook, and many people are looking at this metric.

However, an often overlooked metric is the amount of time each user stays on the account. For Facebook, the average user is logged in or active about 8 to 10 hours a month. However, Google Plus is pulling in less than 10 minutes. The new interactivity changes will make it easier for marketers to connect with people, as they will stay on their account.

Google Plus is attempting to increase this figure with several methods, but the most popular are the tools found within the “Explore” heading. Before, this tool didn’t show much about Google Plus members, it just allowed you to explore Google and your friends.

Now, the Explore page allows you to see topics that are trending and it shows you hot topics from your friends. By instantly seeing this, it increase the chance that people will stay on Google Plus and talk with their online friends, which means there is a better chance for you to capture them with marketing.

Marketing ToolsBeforehand, Google Plus showed you that people +1ed your account or website, but it wouldn’t say who did it. This anonymity made it difficult for marketers to really capture their market, so they would have to keep trying to do things that made people happy.

Now, Google Plus will show you exactly who +1ed you, and it will show you who shared your posts. This makes it much easier to build up a demographic, and this invaluable information eases the lengthy task of finding out why people like your website.

ConclusionThere are many new changes to Google Plus. While they don’t revolutionize social media marketing, it will make it easier for business users to build up a demographic. Also, since the changes are aimed at making people more interactive, it will be easier to reach users that are interested in your business