At the end of June, Google launched Google+, the search giant's latest social network. With Google+, the social media landscape is set to become more competitive as it gives businesses another option for their social content marketing efforts.
Brafton reported last week that Google+ membership is already skyrocketing, with estimates putting the social site at more than 10 million users. Now, a new report from Experian Hitwise indicates consumers are also spending more time on Google's social network.
On Tuesday, the average visit time for Google+ grew nearly a minute over the previous week. It rose from four minutes and fifty-two seconds for the week ending July 12 to five minutes and fifty seconds for the week ending July 19. While Google's social site trails behind Facebook, which averaged 21 minutes and fifty-seven seconds of users' time last week, the fact that consumers are spending more time on the fledgling site suggests opportunities exist for social media content.
Hitwise also notes that Google+ users tend to be an ideal demographic – they are affluent (generating more than $150,000 annually) and between the ages of 18 and 34.
Although Google still hasn't rolled out official business profiles for Google+ yet, companies should still consider joining the social network sooner rather than later, as it will enable them to be more familiar with the site when the brand profiles are launched. As Brafton has reported, Google+ Pages for businesses should be coming soon.
