One of the biggest stories in digital marketing this month is the announcement that Google will sunset Google+ by August 2019. In an official blog post on October 8th, Google cited lack of engagement and security issues as the deciding factors for phasing out consumer accounts on the site.

This was seen as a surprising move by some in the tech sector, as the company has been pushing full Google+ integration for all Google products since the social network’s launch in 2011. However, what was originally meant to be a Facebook competitor has in subsequent years morphed into an SEO link builder and niche content aggregator.

Previously, L2TMedia posted on Google+ for increased search engine ranking and referral traffic but Google will no longer include Google+ in their search engine ranking algorithm. This change will have no negative impact on dealerships.

How will this impact L2T? First, we are discontinuing Google+ posts for all ongoing client work effective immediately. We will instead shift focus to other forms of linking currently in use, including more frequent use of Google My Business posts, as well as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Reddit, Diigo, and Mix.

As for our clients, during the next 10 months dealers will be able to access their Google+ page to migrate any information with the help of L2TMedia. Google has yet to provide specific details on what the migration process will entail but plans to release more information in the near feature. As we receive updates, L2TMedia will communicate a formal migration plan for all SEO clients to ensure a smooth transition of data.