Experian Hitwise has some good news for Google+, as a new report says visits to the site are on an upswing.
According to the data, Google+ received more than 6.8 million total U.S. visits (excluding mobile traffic) during the week ending on November 12th. That’s their third best week since launch. Of course, the two best weeks for Google+ occurred around the time Google opened the social network to the public in September.
Comparing month to month, Google+ traffic increased 3% in October. Not only did traffic increase, but average time per visit increased as well – a solid 15% from September’s figures.
Adding to the positive trends is the share of return visitors, which is on an upswing. Defined as visitors who have come to the site in the last 30 days, the returning visitors share increased 18% in the first two weeks of November, as compared to October. In the week period ending on November 12th, 74% of traffic to Google+ consisted of returning visitors.
Another interesting finding was that Google continues to rely on Google properties to refer traffic to Google+, even more so in the recent month. Google properties made up 73% of upstream traffic last week, up from 65% during that massive week in September when they opened it up to the public.
Of course, this uptick in traffic has an obvious explanation- Google+ Pages. By opening up the service to brands, Google has let in a group that they hope will put a lot of effort into building a presence (discover more on how to make a Google+ page and tips for your business).
Figures emerged earlier this week that say 61% of the top 100 brands have quickly adopted Google+ pages. But only 13% of brands displayed a link to that Google+ page on their homepage (compared to 53% when it comes to links to Facebook). Maybe that will change with the unveiling of Google+ badges.
Last night, Google announced the new Google Music, complete with a Music Store run through the Android Market. Part of the new Google Music focuses on sharing with Google+. When you buy a song, you can share it with your followers on Google+ – who in turn can listen to the entire song for free one time. Same goes for albums, and all of this appears right in your Google+ stream.
Are you still interested in Google+? How much do you think brand pages and Google Music integration will help the social network? Let us know in the comments.
