You can’t ignore it any longer, Google+ is a place your company needs to be. Despite rumours to the contrary, this social network is not a ghost town for business. In fact, it is one of the fastest growing social media networks today. If you’re a small business, establishing a Google+ business page can help improve your local search visibility as well as your credibility. If you do not have a current presence on Google+, you need to start establishing one now.

Here are six hard-to-ignore reasons why you need to get your business on Google+.

1. Large Audience

This network offers your business a large audience. Currently, there are over 1.15 billion registered users (yes, that is billion, not million). Of that large number, over 350 million users are active. That number continues to grow as Google expands its place in the search engine world.

2. Search Engine Benefits

With Google+, you get the benefits of being closely linked with Google’s search engine. While Google downplays the importance of this connection, many companies with active accounts have seen their shared content rise in the rankings faster than before they had that active presence.

3. Google Authorship

Google authorship is playing a more important role in search. Authorship lets you link your Google profile with the content you publish on your website and blog. This has been seen as beneficial as listings in Google search results that have authorship are more likely to be clicked, no matter their location on the page. If you haven’t set up authorship yet, follow these easy instructions to link your Google+ profile to the content you create.

4. Free Conferencing

You can set-up online conferences for free using Google Hangouts – that’s right, free! Once you have an active account, you can create a meeting time and invite people to join you. With a connected camera, everyone can see each other and share workspaces, presentations, and any other information.

5. More Targeted Messaging

Your company can target your business messaging to a tighter audience, using Google Circles. When you add a contact, you can assign him or her to a particular circle. You can separate your friends and family from business connections and when you have a message for that circle, you can send it exclusively to that group.

6. Promote Your Business Locally

Google+ Local (formerly known as Google Places) allows you to promote your business in local search results. A Google+ business page with relevant, up-to-date information has a better chance of appearing at the top of the search results when someone performs a local search. Also, users can leave reviews and upload photos which can create credibility and trust with potential customers.

If you think that Google+ is not a place your company needs to be, think again. With its deep ties into the Google structure, it is arguably the most important social network out there for business and content marketing.

These are just a handful of the many reasons your business should be on Google+. Do you have more to add? Share them below!