Blogtober, Day 10 Breaking News! Google just announced that they will be shutting down the Google Plus platform because of the massive data breach it experienced and decided to keep quiet. The majority of Internet users didn't even blink at the news. But as a business owner, you should know Google Plus was and still is a valuable asset to your SEO and content marketing strategy.
What happened?
While the whole world was pointing a judgemental finger at Mark Zuckerberg for his inability to protect user data, the same kind of data breach was happening at Google. The difference? Google decided to keep that information to themselves to avoid media outburst and having to deal with the press. Not very responsible I would say. More than 500,000 user accounts were affected and over 450 apps may have had access to the personal data of these users and their friends!
What is going to happen?
As a result of the data breach, Google announced that they will be closing the platform for individual users after 31 August 2019. However, businesses will still have full access to the features of the network and services like Google My Business will continue to be available.
Why is Google+ Important for Business?
The short answer is for SEO. You see, the network never got as popular as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. In fact, many people considered it Google's biggest failure. But those who have a little bit of knowledge on SEO know that it benefited their optimisation efforts. Any link you share to Google Plus is a do-follow link. For those that don't understand what I am talking about, do-follow links are the high quality backlinks you want to be building in order to rank higher in the search results. What is more, sharing your pages and blog posts on Google Plus increased your chances of being found in an organic search. G+ posts get indexed within seconds, while your website may take several hours to a couple of days! Read more: Why is Google Plus Important for Powerful SEO
Are you an active user of Google Plus? Are you going to miss the platform when it's finally put to rest?
Comments