Everything You Need To Know About Google+

Google+ Promotion May Improve Organic Search Ranking
Stick to collecting followers instead of +1s, though, for optimal results.

Although previous studies have concluded that social media really does a shoddy job at driving traffic to your websites, TastyPlacement conducted a short experiment to assess a similar concept. More specifically, the group investigated whether social media engagement can help boost a website’s organic search engine ranking.

To see if you can really drive up an organic search engine ranking using some social media sites you may have heard of, TastyPlacement created about as controlled of an experiment as you could do within the vast petri dish that is the internet. As it turns out, collecting Google+ followers seems to be the best way to push a site’s ranking up by as much as 14.63%. Facebook and Twitter showed signs of improving organic search results but not nearly to the degree of promoting via Google+ followers (canvasing for +1s on Google+ resulted in a slightly lesser push in search ranking, but still wasn’t too bad). The only promotional strategy that didn’t seem to improve a site’s ranking was by recruiting Twitter followers.

Have a look at the full infographic detailing the experiment and its results done by TastyPlacement, and feel free to comment with any of your experience or thoughts below.

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8 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Site With Google+
03/21/2012
By Marc Pitman 

Would you like to drive more traffic to your website?

With new enhancements from Google+, you can more easily accomplish just that!

One of the biggest changes recently rolled out by Google might even be called a seismic shift in search.

Google is somewhat clumsily calling it “Search, plus Your World.” You see, Google has years of experience in the search engine business. And they are so good because they aim to deliver what people are looking for, not just what they actually enter into the search window. They have to figure out if your search on “porter” is supposed to show a lot of beer websites or websites focusing on people who carry luggage.

Part of what they’ve learned is that people want to see results based on their own personal history and social profile.

Google’s Search, Plus Your WorldGoogle search is still search, but now they are tailoring a person’s search to include results based on their social media profile.

In short, Google is now including Google+ updates and people’s +1s (“+1″ is Google’s version of Facebook’s “like”) in Google search. The “Your World” parts are indicated by a blue figure of a person’s head and shoulders. 

Powerful Social Proof for BusinessesNow when you search, you may see a post from someone you know or someone who knows someone you know. These will show up as people’s faces with search results.

Any student of influence knows that this form of “social proof”—seeing faces of people you recognize—will significantly increase the likelihood you’ll click on a link.

Don’t Miss Out on This Opportunity to Get More TrafficGoogle has said it would like to include other sites in Search, plus Your World results, but sites like Facebook and Twitter block Google from searching or indexing people’s public posts. While information from Quora and Flickr does surface, most of the social information is from Google+ posts.

Here are 8 ways to help Google drive traffic to your site with Google+.

#1: Use “Their” Keywords, Not Just Yours

Most of us have our industry-specific dialect. So we naturally try to use those words and phrases when we’re being intentional about our keywords. The problem is that most of our customers don’t use those terms or phrases.

For example, here in Maine, the State Park employees may optimize their site to be found when people search for “Ft. Williams Park.” But 99% of prospective visitors will actually be searching on “Portland Headlight” so it behooves them to rank high for that term too.

Put these keywords in the “about” section of both your page and your profile. And remember to use them when you’re posting updates and sharing images.

#2: Size Matters

In most social media training, we stress quality of engagement over number of followers or size of fan base. Usually, it’s better to have 8,000 engaged followers than 80,000 followers who ignore you. But current results indicate that a bigger Google+ following is better.

Kristi Hines did an interesting experiment on Google SEO a few days before Search, plus Your World was released. She showed that more followers affected her search rank even when people weren’t signed into their Google account.

More followers means better ranking in Google’s search. To grow your followers:

• Let people know you have a Google+ page. Put a badge on your website. Tell customers to put you in their circles. Include your link, or a prettier version of your link, in your email and print communications.
• Share your brand page posts through your personal profile. Brand pages are only allowed to follow people who have first followed them. So pushing your brand posts out through your personal profile helps your page posts receive more exposure.
• Make sure your employees have their own Google+ profiles and follow your brand page. Encourage them to share your page posts and then “+1″ those posts.

If you need help setting up your profile, check out 6 Steps to Getting Started With Google+.

#3: Train the Google Machine

Google search is constantly categorizing and indexing information. Now, in addition to search results, Google is sometimes posting “People and Pages on Google+ related to [your search term]” as a box on the right side of the page.

Not all searches have this feature yet. But the benefit of being listed there is obvious. So train Google to know how to categorize your page by keeping posts on topic and using consistent keywords.

Google says that as you post on the same topic, you’ll be conditioning Google to promote your page in that search.

4: Author Authority

Last summer, Google started supporting an authorship markup. Basically, you can tag your work in a way that shows Google your writings across the web. It also allows Google to pull them together when people search for you.

This step is bit more advanced, but can be well worth the effort. Kristi Hines gives detailed directions on how to implement the authorship feature.

#5: Web Links Both Ways

Another important way to help Google know how to categorize you is to include links between your business website or blog on your profile and brand page.

It seems Google recognizes some features, like authorship, if you include a link to your Google+ profile or brand page on your business website or blog. One way to do that is to use Google’s own badge creator or one like WidgetsPlus that offers more design flexibility.

#6: Engage and be Engaging

Google says one of the top three things to do to appear in results is to post andengage with posts.

One way to measure the engagement of your updates is through a Google+ tool called “Ripples.” This cool pictorial tool gives you an idea of who is sharing your posts and who the key influencers are. The more you share with the influencers, the more engagement your posts should get. If Google is reporting on this engagement, they’re tracking it. If they’re tracking it, you know it’s influencing search.

So be engaging. +1 other people’s posts. And experiment with posts until you find ones that consistently get shared. On Google+, two of the best ways to get shared are:

• Share something incredibly practical and helpful to your niche.
• Share something really funny.

People on Google+ tend to respond well to both types of posts.

#7: Use +1 Buttons

In most Google searches, you can now see an option to “+1″ a result. Google is specifically using these +1 results in search rank. On December 10, 2011, at the Mediapost Search Insider Summit, Google’s Laura Kelley said that +1 and Google+ pages for brands will become a significant ranking factor for Google searches.

#8: Use Pictures and Videos

You’ve probably noticed people click on pictures more than on text links. And many Google searches now include a prominent display for image search. So use images on your Google+ profiles and brand page. And make sure to use keywords in the “alt” field of all pictures on your own website.

Google Search, plus Your World means that people can now see recommendations from their connections right in their Google search results. This is great for your business. People want to see social proof—proof that people like them do whatever it is they’re about to do. Google is offering that.

This makes Google+ more important than ever for your business. Even if you don’t think your customers are yet active on Google+, you need to get on it for the SEO value. By doing some simple steps like consistently post on the same topics and grow your Google+ followers, you help Google drive even more customers to your site.

What do you think? What other ways are you finding that Google+ helps with SEO?

3 Ways Google Social Search Should Change Your Marketing
03/18/2012

By Sarah Lokitis
Published March 12, 2012 Since the introduction of Google+, Google has been redefining how it can provide more relevant search results.

Recently Google introduced Search, Plus Your World, something I’ll call Google social search.

This new enhancement has made it essential to have a Google+ profile and/or Google+ business page.

Why? Google is highlighting Google+ content in search results.

This article will share three tips you need to know to benefit from Google social search.

By the way, if you haven’t already done so, create a Google+ page for your business. Fill out all the sections with images and top focus keywords you want to rank for in search.

Once the page is created, engage with people and other businesses, share great content and post publicly every day.

What Is Google Social Search?

When logged into Google+ and searching on Google, Google social search defaults to Show Personal Results. Google has always shown personalized results based on browsing history and location. Now content that’s been shared with you through the Google+ social network is incorporated into results.

You’ll know that personalized results are appearing when you see the signs below:

The box on the top left points to a message that, in this example, says that there are “60 personal results and 5,810,000 other results” that have been found. Some of the 60 personal results will be blended into the first page shown.  Personal results are identified by the blue person icon in the left hand margin as shown above.

The box on the top right indicates that personal results are being displayed. You canselect the globe or public icon on the right to switch to non-personalized results.

Clicking on the “170 personal results” link as shown above, switches the results page to only display the personal results.

Google’s aim is to provide hyper-personalized—and therefore more relevant—results to users. Within public search results, weighted social search signals may come into play, corresponding with the growth of the +1 button.

People and pages you have circled are likely to show in Google social search results, so it’s important to build your audience on Google+. Another way to catch the eye of Google users is to appear in Google’s Related People and Pages based on the user’s search query.

Here’s what you need to do:1. Get Circled With Related People and PagesPromoting your Google+ page is important to grow reach and build a large following.

To appear prominently in Google social search, you need to be circled already or market yourself to be circled. One of the best ways to expand the number of users who have circled you is by appearing in Google’s Related People and Pages.

Google says to appear in Related People and Pages, all you need to do is:

• fill out your profile,
• post about your favorite topics and
• appear in search results.

According to Ian Lurie, “Google’s far more likely to show a plus box for broad concepts with low commercial intent versus niche terms with high commercial intent.” You cantest this by searching social media versus social media for nonprofits or fashion versus women’s clothing.

In his Google Plus Box Ranking Factors Report, Lurie examines the different Plus Box ranking factors and concludes that reach and follower count are very important. The number of +1s matter, in addition to the frequency of updates. In his study, pages or people who haven’t posted within 72 hours did not appear in the Google Plus Box.

Google will continue to adjust the Google social search algorithm, as well as the Plus Box results. However, “it now matters who has you in their social circles, and who has THEM in their social circles,” states Chris Brogan.

2. Build Authority: It Matters

Due to Google’s emphasis on +1s and reach, it’s important to build your company as an authority in your industry.  As with all of your work, focus on gaining the attention of people on Google+ with quality content.

The +1 has a lot of power, so create good content and post regularly to encourage users to +1 your material. Google will see the signal from other Google+ users that you are a quality and relevant business. You may see a boost in your ranking due to your efforts.

Use keywords relevant to your industry and expertise on your Google+ page. The description for your page in the Google Plus Box can be pulled from a number of sources, ranging from page posts to the introduction as shown below.

3. Note: Secure Search Limits Analytics

While Google is providing this new opportunity for exposure, Google is also limiting something important to businesses.

Google rolled out Secure Search for signed-in Google users in November 2011 in preparation for Google’s social search. Danny Sullivan interviewed Amit Singal, who oversees Google’s ranking algorithms, and learned that Google has been working on the encryption to protect personal results for at least a year. If results for Google social search were not secure, content that was shared on Google+ privately could be revealed publicly within searches.

All Google social search results are hidden behind https:// and no keywords will be linked to your search in any analytics programs. Many users always remain logged into Google, which limits the keyword data found in analytics software. Marketers have seen an increase in the excluded keyword data.

For one company, 12.4% of total organic traffic data was encrypted in November and rose to 16.9% in January when Google social search was released.

The encryption that Secure Search provides means that any private material mixed in with your regular results is protected, seen only by your browser and Google. While a user’s privacy is protected, marketers focused on organic data are losing valuable information. Organic keyword data will be limited, so it may be harder to determine user intent based on search queries.

What do you think? Are your search results more relevant and has your business seen Google+ growth since the advent of Google social search? Please let me know your experience so far and additional tips you would like to share! Leave your questions and comments in the box below.

Latest Google Search Revamp Brings New Opportunities For
LOCAL BUSINESS

Feb 6, 2012 at 11:06am ET by Stephanie Hobbs 

Recently, Google announced (and Search Engine Land intensely covered) what is being described as the most significant revamp to date of their basic search tool.

To sum it up from the start, the changes will likely provide local businesses with the ability to merge aspects of their search optimization and social media strategies into a unified approach via Google+, the company’s new social network.

The new opportunities presented by the revamp will undoubtedly deliver unprecedented search visibility for the products and services of proactive local businesses over time. Their success will be dictated by two basic needs: generating buzz about their offerings on Google+, and creating an effective business page on the site.
Lay of the LandAccording to the company, Google’s new ‘Search Plus Your World’ offering “transforms Google into a search engine that understands not only content, but also people and relationships” through three basic ways:

• Further personalizing results: users are now able to find personalized information – including Google+ photos and posts from themselves and their friends – within their basic Google.com search results. Additionally, they can tab out personalized results featuring content from those they’re connected to on Google+.
• Raising profile visibility: users can immediately find people they’re close to or might be interested in following in Google+, both in autocomplete and results
• Raising people and pages’ visibility: users can find Google+ profiles and pages related to specific topics or areas of interest via basic search, and follow them instantly

Relevancy To Local BusinessesMore personalized results will enable local businesses to more easily get found by users searching for keywords related to their products and services.

For example, a hungry user searching “hamburger” in their Google search could come across a post from one of their Google+ friends talking about the great meal they just had at [your] local diner.

Not only will the post get your diner’s name right in front of the hunger user – showing up right within top search results on the page – it will have added value because it came from their friend, whose recommendation they most likely trust. And right there, you could very easily have a new customer.

Raised visibility for Google+ profiles and pages via Google search could also help your local business attract new customers.

As the above example shows, users searching for simple topics like “shopping” are presented with recommendations on pages to follow in a “People and Pages on Google+” section. And as we know, once a Google+ page is followed, each time a user searches for something related to or mentioned on that page, it will receive increased visibility with the user.

It will be interesting to see how this feature builds over time. For example, I wonder if a traveling user searching “Bed & Breakfast + [location of your B&B]” will one day see your B&B’s page appear in that section. It seems that placement will be based on how prominently your page ranks in terms of followers with other pages reached by the same keywords.

What You Can Do NowThe full impact of Google’s new search offering and its heavy reliance on Google+, which itself is still in its infancy, is not yet clear. But what you can bet on is that your local business will significantly benefit from high visibility on Google+. Actions you can take now to stay ahead of the competition include:

• Create a Google+ business page. It’s simple, free, and a no-brainer.
• Incorporate your business’s Google+ page into its online presence – including its website, blog and other social media channels – as well as its advertising and offline materials.
• Similar to your business’s approach with other social media channels like Facebook and Twitter, encourage customers to follow your Google+ page for special announcements and deals.
• Update your business’s Google+ page constantly with new information, whether its links to articles relevant to your business or photos of new products, not only to keep your page relevant with customers but also to increase the number of keywords that users can search and reach you through. For example, had Domino’s Pizza not posted about its stuffed cheesy bread offering, the hungry user may not have seen it when they searched and ordered from someplace else. And obviously the newer the post, the better visibility it will receive.

Most importantly, keep your eye out regularly for additional recommendations on what your business can and should be doing to leverage Google’s new search tools. This will surely be an evolving topic that will affect how customers find you.

Opinions expressed in the article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land.

How Google+ 1 Button Affects SEO

Since the days of Google Buzz, the +1 button has been a mystery to users and content producers alike. It’s different from Facebook’s “Like” button, in that it doesn’t directly share content to a user’s social stream. But the cultivation of a social graph has long been the goal of Google, and its connection to search was likely inevitable.

Google defines the +1 as a feature to help people discover and share relevant content from the people they already know and trust. Users can +1 different types of content, including Google search results, websites, and advertisements. Once users +1 a piece of content, it can be seen on the +1 tab in their Google+ profile, in Google search results, and on websites with a +1 button.

The plot thickened last month when Google launched Search plus Your World. Jack Menzel, director of product management for Google Search, explained that now Google+ users would be able to “search across information that is private and only shared to you, not just the public web.” According to Ian Lurie from the blogConversation Marketing, in Search plus Your World, search results that received a lot of +1s tend to show up higher in results.

Google has come out and described the purpose of a +1, but hasn’t necessarily explained the direct effect a +1 has on search ranking. Here’s a breakdown of what we currently know.Does a +1 Affect my Site’s Performance in Social Search?The +1 has an indirect effect on your site’s search rank. This does not mean the more +1’s a link has, the higher rank it achieves in traditional search results. Take this scenario:

When a Google+ user +1’s a piece of content, he gives it his “stamp of approval.” Then, say one of his connections from Google+ searches for the same or related topic. Because of Search plus Your World, his friend is more likely to click on the same link the original user +1’d (when a signed-in user searches, his Google results may include snippets annotated with the names of connections who have +1′d the content). This is because content recommended by friends and acquaintances is often more relevant than content from strangers, according to Google.

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