Why Google+ will surpass Facebook for business

I’m weary of the whole “Facebook is where my business clients are, so that’s why I still use it” and “Your company doesn’t exist if it’s not on Facebook.”

Seriously?  Have you bothered to check out Google+ for your business?  When your clients (and every other business or consumer on the web) start realizing certain things about Facebook, they’ll be arriving here, en masse.

What’s poor about Facebook when it comes to business?

► Facebook has no page rank compared to Google+ business pages because it hides its data from search engines

► More “Likes” does not equal more engagement on Facebook (likes do not mean an “opt-ins” to content), and do not even count in Edgerank, whereas a +1 on Google DOES and;

► Promoted status updates are proven to be a waste of money, however, targeted ads on FB are still effective, if you’re able to spend the time and money on them

What are the benefits of using Google+ for business over Facebook?

► Your posts are instantly indexed by Google.com’s search engine and hold a higher influence on search engines than a Facebook status would (in fact, most FB statuses are invisible to ALL search engines);

► Google+ Local is basically Google Maps + reviews, on adrenaline, so if you’re a brick and mortar shop or any kind of service that gets reviewed and lists locally, this is a boon to your business;

► Let’s not forget face-to-face video Hangouts with up to 9 other people around the globe, which you can now tie to events that folks can RSVP to in advance, not to mention do your Hangouts on-air live to YouTube.com AND answer questions from viewers in real-time during your broadcast.

I’d like to think Google+ is really poised to be the best place for business and frankly, for everything social, as well, considering Hangouts, Communities, Places, and Local. “I saw [your business] post on Facebook”, used to be a thing small businesses might hear from a new customer or client when asked how they found you, but that was more common when Facebook was the only viable social social space businesses to do more than 140 character status updates (Twitter) or post a video (YouTube).  What about LinkedIn?  It wasn’t really very social back then.  People who call themselves marketing experts, like Mandy Edwards make me laugh when they say that they doubt Facebook will ever be topped as a business marketing option in the social arena.

Along with the others I mentioned previously, the “My family and friends are on FB, so I can’t quit using it” are bullshit excuses in my opinion (trust me, I used that one for 2 years before quitting). The people who matter KNOW how to get in touch and catch up with you, truly.

Stop the madness, please, or prove to me how FB is better than G+ for business, and I’ll show you that you’re wrong. For every single argument you can come up with, I am willing to bet there are folks here on G+ who have seen benefits with their own businesses being here compared to FB (or who have clients that can attest otherwise), and probably can do so with actual data.

Also, this blog post points out some interesting data, as far as comparing benefits of having your business be on G+ vs. Facebook.  I’d like to see this data revisited.  Does anyone here have a link to something newer?

What are your thoughts on this?  Got any examples of why you think one or the other is BEST for businesses?

[image credit: makeuseof.com]