Since Google launched its social media platform Google+, the service has seen steady growth across the African continent. So much so that according to data from PlusDemophraphics.com, as many as 466,828 people from South Africa make use of the service.
But the service is far behind social media giant Facebook, which boasts a user count of 800-million, while Google+ only has 90 million users worldwide. South African statistics point to about five million Facebook users across the country, which is less than 10% of the population.
PlusDemophraphics.com has been monitoring the site since its inception, and views itself as a knowledgeable source on the matter. “We’ve been monitoring Google+ since it launched, and our extensive knowledge and experience has made us somewhat of an unofficial authority,” it states.
According to MyBroadband, “From the Google+ users in South Africa, 36.32% are Married; 31.92% are Single; 42.42% are looking for networking; and 39.40% are looking for Friends. Approximately 71% of users are male, while the majority of users in SA – at 37.3% – are aged 25-34, followed by 18-24 year olds comprising 35.8%.”
Charlie Fripp – Online editor
I think South African small business owners are naive when it comes to articles such as this. Google+ as well as Google Places are two completely FREE tools from Google that really can enhance your visibility in searches related to your business market segment.
Google Places offers an excellent tool to help your business appear on PAGE 1 of Google results for location based searches, without costing a CENT! Having worked in a large AdWords advertising company in South Africa if you compare the cost of running an AdWords campaign, as opposed to maintaining a completely free Google+ and Google Place page for your business, you would be shocked.
Online marketers in all segments of the industry all too often overlook the opportunities for expanding their business to offer services that market Google Places and Google+ page setup for the average 'man in the street' who has probably never even heard of either (especially true in South Africa) and hence is losing a lot of potential business