Sense I am one of the million or so charter members of LinkedIn I can safely say I have developed over these many years a fair assessment of what LinkedIn is all about and what it offers businesses.
Value Is Not There
What I have found from having an active presence on LinkedIn is posting content directly to the LinkedIn platform does not offer as much value to consumers as it would if that same information was posted on Google+. It concerns me to see so many people posting some rather long..OK, real long…posts on LinkedIn knowing that only a very few people see their content.
More Consumers using Google Search
Pre 2011, I received over 85% of my business from LinkedIn. Today, I get less than 1% of the business directly from someone finding me on LinedIn. Nearly all of my current business comes from people finding me through my Google+ post that show up in their Google search query.
Why do they post to LinkedIn instead of Google+?..
I can only image the reason for so many business people not using G+ being due to the feeling they have that the content they post on LinkedIn is going to be read my the other members of LinkedIn. This maybe the case, but what happens with the LinkedIn content over time?
LinkedIn Still a Source for Validation
Of course, the LinkedIn posts has some search value but does it have the same ranking in a Google search query as if the same content was posted on Google+? From my testing I show the LI post not staying as relevant to a Google Search as what the same post made to Google+. Why? Obviously, Google goes to Google+ first to satisfy the consumer’s search query and then to all other social platforms. As the LinkedIn content ages it seems to lose it’s ranking or visibility to the search results.
So, why aren’t more professionals using Google+ to post their content? I guess you will have to ask those people why. I can’t see the logic in posting a formal blog post on LinkedIn when that content would be found by more people through a Google search query if it was posted on Google+.
Google+ Is The Place to Be
I still see LinkedIn a great place to validate a business’ existence and to check on a business contact to see if they are truly who they say they are. However, as more businesses set up shop on Google+ I am finding that same validation on Google+.
Google+ has been and looks to continue to be a robust platform for businesses. Especially for businesses who are after offering consumers a long trail of relevant content about what they do for business. It just makes sense for business to create a prominent presence on Google+.
Let me know how I can help.
