In a world full of useless numbers, rankings and egos, how many of you have noticed the Google Plus Views on profiles and pages? The Hot Blog Tips G+ page used to have a very impressive (in my mind) 8.something thousand +1s. What that meant, or even how we got them… I haven’t a clue. I suspect it meant very little and I’m certain it meant even less to me.
Now there are new numbers being boasted by the masses, Google has views! A little over a month ago Google Plus switched to “views” rather the +1, neither of which should be mistaken for interaction or any type of relationship measurement. You can turn the visibility of those views off to others, if you so choose, but many plussers are feeling pretty good showing their impressive counts.
Mark Traphagen says, “Follower counts are so yesterday!!! Viewz iz the future of Google+!!!” [Sarcasm]
So, in case you haven’t caught on yet, I think it’s a mistake to get wrapped up into these types of numbers, even though I always say, “Numbers do count”. BUT, that’s just my two cents and I fully understand others might feel the need to work on increasing their Google Plus view count. No worries, to each their own and I’m here to please. With that, let’s look a couple of things one might try to increase those magic numbers.
A Picture Is Worth A Thousand… Words
You thought I was going to say a thousand views, didn’t you? Well, a picture very well could be worth a thousand views, and more, if played right and shared enough. We all know by now that great images do better than boring text and links in social media; or just about anywhere for that matter. Here’s the thing though; if you don’t have the following and no one is viewing your stuff to begin with, your Google Plus views are going to remain pretty dismal. That brings us to hashtags…
Hashtag Hijacking
About 10 days before the recent Google Plus “views” change, this fantastic blogger that I know and love wrote an amazing piece on Hashtag Hijacking https://hotblogtips.com/hashtag-branding. (dat dude was me). So hashtags can mean something in the world of G+. Today was actually the official Star Ways Day. Being the clever guy I am, I created a cool graphic, added a Yoda quote, along with our branding watermark, and put it up on Google Plus using the two trending hashtags and… not much at all, unfortunately.
Oh well, it happens. I don’t know why some things are accepted more than others, I just know I love bacon and so does everyone else on social media. And cats too, we can’t forget about cats. Oh, and apparently Dr. Who. Check out my little Dr. who image.
Just a little photo of a Dr. Who cup my daughter bought me, along with the #drwho hashtag and it brings in over 90 +1s. Hey, did I mention how important +1s are? That’s right, I didn’t.
Friends+Me
Enough about hashtags, let’s move along to other ways of increasing our all important Google Plus views. Back in October that great blogger I mentioned a minute ago did this piece on Friends+Me. Basically, it’s a tool that automates social posts from Google Plus to other platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Generally speaking, I’m not a huge fan of automation but I’m also not a fan over staying up 20 hours a day so we do what we have to. Here’s the thing about Friends+Me; whenever I post something on G+ that’s in turn sent to Twitter or Facebook, for example, it links to the original Google Plus post. That’s frustrating if I’d rather the link go to a relevant blog post but for something like a pic of Yoda, it’s actually better not to send that traffic to Hot Blog Tips. Why? Because it’s not relevant and they’d just click off. We only want blog visitors that want to be there so sending them to the original image on Google Plus is perfect. Oh yeah, that’s views baby!
Feel free to take my transparent Yoda and use it to create your own image for #starwarsday… http://t.co/0kuexoWvXx pic.twitter.com/zWs2nyxV5R — Brian D. Hawkins (@HotBlogTips) May 4, 2014
Don’t Forget Pinterest
Sheryl Loch was kind enough to set-up a special Pinterest board where we pin images (only our own) directly from our Google Plus page. Those images, including any unedited repins, link back to the original image posted on Google Plus. Anytime someone clicks on the image pins, they are directed to our G+ page and views are increased.
The Real Truth
The truth is, just as any other social media network, nothing can replace true interaction and relationships. I know I sound like a broken record but, it’s true, relationships take work, on and offline and shortcuts won’t help. The other truth is statistics can’t measure relationships.
Recap/Takeaway
- Google Plus views mean very little unless I’m wrong or numbers do count.
- Great images can be very sharable and those that are independent of our blog are well served on Google Plus, increasing view count at the same time.
- Hashtags can be a great way to increase exposure even when follow count is low.
- Posting Google Plus images on other social networks, either manually or using something like Friends+Me, can drive traffic to our Google Plus page or profile. NOTE: Be sure you post those images to Google Plus publically or none of this matters.
- Relationships take work and Google Plus views can’t measure that.
Your Thoughts?
Do you think higher Google Plus views are important? Any other thoughts on how to increase your views? I’d love your comments and opinions so feel free to leave them below in the comments.
Google Plus Related Posts:
- Ten Hard Lessons Why You Aren’t Growing In Google Plus – G+ Tips
- Using Your YouTube Username on Google Plus
- Send Google Plus Posts To Other Social Networks With Friends+Me
- Google Plus Content Recommendations For Mobile – Very Powerful
- Google Plus Is More Powerful Than Facebook – Your Online Reputation Counts: Part Three
- What Drives You Crazy On Google Plus?
- Finding Shared Circles on Google Plus
- Multiple Admins For Google Plus Business Pages
About Brian D. Hawkins
Hey Brian , Thanks for this tip. This article showed me ways to get more plus on my Google plus post.But Can you write how to get more Google Plus followers?
I think the number of views indicates that how engaging the page is… has, the more the views the G+ page has, which means the followers are returning frequently to view the content we are publishing or sharing.
That’s one way of looking at it Jayashree and I’m all for engagement and returning visits. The numbers can be very deceiving but I doubt a perfect “social measurement” solution can be developed on any network.
Thanks Brian for this tips. This article showed me ways to get more plus on my Google plus post. But you forgot to tell about “hashtag”. I usually use hashtag (#) when i post my new content to get more traffic.
Hi Hai, It’s hard to understand how you missed the heading “Hashtag Hijacking” and the use of Hashtags to increase exposure in the “Recap/Takeaway” section. Hashtags was also covered in the audio version.
Nice post
Initially Google + was not so popular among all social network sites. But then Google showed some results were active on Google + among the top SERP’s .From then onwards Google + has become one of the important tool for online marketing.
Google + is slightly different from other social networks. It is far more wide open to users and do not have many constraints. The above post explains on how to increase Google plus views. The basic for getting more views is that the page should be active. Posting should be done on it regularly with images , contents, descriptions with hash tags. I surely believe that Google + views are important.The only way to increase views according to me is regular posting, gaining more followers, sometimes posting other posts not only relevant to business will also be a good change for followers .
Thank you for sharing.
HI Brian, Before I came to your site, I had been banging my head all over Google to find a definitive solution for Google +. Your Idea of Using Images and Hastags has helped me a lot. Thanks a ton.
Google+ views is a great metrics, and as for me actually even more important than plusses. And as to the hashtags I fully agree with you that they are really important in nearly all social media today. It is one of the best twitter ideas that has proved its convenience and is now everywhere, even in blogs as tags
Really helpful tips to increase the views on Google Plus profile. Sharing a picture is best way to increase the view count, I’ll follow other ways suggested by you. Thanks for sharing valuable tips.
Thank for the information brian. I agree with your point, i like the point of mingle up with the other social media mainly with Pinterest , twitter etc. Apart from this we can use the communities too. It will surely work out to get more traffic.
Great Share! I think that Google+ Views are important for those who also have a business page. But either way, to increase your posting views you do have to post funny pictures, especially those with the writing on them, like a dog giving advice. Thanks
Thanks very much, some great idea’s there – am still trying to wrap my head around Google+ so this was very helpful. Tracking is actually an important method of increasing your rankings. If you don’t track your progress, how do you know you are moving in the right direction? How will you know whether to increase, decrease, or alter your strategy in some other way?
Yeah , I do agree.I had been using google+ posts to drive traffic on to my blog.But i didn’t knew this much as you explained about it.Especially about hashtags.Thanks a lot for the advice.Coming to Pinterest I do not know about the automation tool.
Thanks for the post.
Great tips to increase the views on Google Plus profile. Sharing a picture is best way to increase the view count. I like the tip on hashtags. Thanks for sharing valuable tips.
great tips for increasing google plus views! i agree with Larry that sharing the picture is the best way!
The numbers can be very deceiving but I doubt a perfect “social measurement” solution can be developed on any network.Great tips to increase the views on Google Plus profile. Sharing a picture is best way to increase the view count.
Thanks for this post. I’ve been struggling with Goolgle+ lately and whether it adds any value. Just got into using hashtags (when I remember) these past few weeks.
nice informative article Brian.Google+ equally important as facebook and twitter to increase their site traffic.. Mainly using community is the best idea, i try this way. It will surely work out.