My blog post is in response to a post on Drew’s marketing minute blog (http://www.drewsmarketingminute.com/2012/01/businesses-cannot-ignore-google.html). The blog touches on the advantages of using Google+ and argues that even though it is more of an after thought in the world of social media that it is crucial to consider it in an online marketing strategy. After reading the blog it made me think about a few marketing concepts, one of those being “place” as in the place in the 4 P’s of marketing. When a consumer and potential customer search for something on a search engine, they will most likely only look at the first page and maybe the second page. Having your website show up on the first page and especially in the first 5 links can make a huge difference in your sales. Another concept that the article touched on was the power Google has in controlling what website links it seeds on the first page. One of the ways Google decides who to put first when someone search for say “graphic tees” is whether or not they have decided to support Google+ and market their product over that medium. Essentially if they agree to support the second rate (atleast in the eyes of consumers) Google+ then Google will increase the firm’s chances of being ranked higher in the first rate Google search engine. It will be interesting to see how Google uses this power in the future. I did a search on Google for “graphic tees” and sure enough the first link www.threadless.com had a Google+ link on the bottom of the page.

First non ad option to click on google when search terms "graphic tees" is entered

Sure enough there is a link to Google+ on the websites home page even before Facebook