Google+ and +1: How Google’s New Social Network Can Improve Your Search Results

There is a new factor in Google’s search algorithms. Unlike most factors up to this point, this ranking factor is not based primarily in the mathematical understanding of a web crawling program. Rather, this is a ranking factor which relies primarily on human interaction with the content.

Introducing: Google’s +1 Button

The +1 Button, in practice, is a lot like Facebook’s “Like” button. In fact, in many ways it is identical. When you click on the +1 button, you are making an endorsement for the product, website, or article that it is tied to. In short, you’re saying that you “like” something—just like Facebook.

The difference is that this action actually has an effect on searches conducted by Google. According to Google’s information page for +1, “Your +1's can help friends… and others on the web find the best stuff when they search.” So, for example, if you +1 a website’s chocolate cake recipe, that chocolate cake recipe (and by association the website) gains a boost in page ranking from your action. This means there is now an interactive and democratic element to Google’s search results.

+1 Means More Options for Better Search Rank

While it is still a new idea which is certain to have its fair share of tweaks before it works the way Google wants, this system seems to be set up with two main goals in mind. The first of these goals is to reward useful content on the internet. Again, think back to Facebook: If someone enjoys an article on the internet, there is a fairly good chance that they will either “Like” it or link to it on their profiles. Either way, what they are trying to do when they do this is start a conversation about information which held their interest. Google is using +1, it seems, to reward discussions about companies with better search relevancy when people are talking about a company or article in this way.

The second goal, though similar to the first, warrants being discussed separately. Google seems to want to use the +1 button very specifically as a positive discussion point. They define +1 as essentially saying “I enjoyed this.” By stating this position, Google likely intends +1 to work as a means for rewarding testimonials and endorsements. While putting testimonials on your website is a good way to help your conversion rate, until +1 there has been no way of leveraging consumer opinion into a tangible result in the page rankings. Putting the +1 button on your company website, however, now offers your consumers a means of sharing your company with their friends while also providing your website with a way to boost your search ranking.

Google+: The Network Behind the Button

The emphasis, in terms of SEO, has been on Google’s +1 button. This button promises to be an easy way to add search rank to your websites, and as part of a quality SEO campaign could prove to be very powerful. In all of the excitement, however, it can be easy to forget the rest of the story: namely, Google’s new social network Google+. Like most Google services, Google+ is a very lean, efficiently-laid out web application designed to be easily accessed, easily read, and easily navigated.

As a social network, Google+ has a lot in common with websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace. However, there is one very big difference which Google+ brings to the table. Google has labeled their “friend” aspect of their social network “Google Circles,” and it is laid out with an unprecedented focus on privacy and versatility. There are a wide variety of different “circles” into which you can place people who request to be in your circles, for example, allowing you to have a circle of friends, a circle of professional contacts, and a circle of family members. People in a circle can’t see who you have in your other circle, nor can they see which circle you placed them into. This allows for a level of confidentiality and privacy which more closely mimics how people network in the “real world” than anything found on Facebook.

While it is not necessary to be an active participant in Google+ to benefit from the +1 button, you do need a Google account of some sort in order to benefit from the widget. RevBuilders has already set up +1 buttons on several of our clients’ sites using their Google Analytics accounts, and we strongly encourage the remainder of our clients to do (or permit us to do) likewise. While it is possible for Google+ to be nothing more than a failed experiment, the potential benefits of +1, as well as the ease of setting it up, make it worthwhile to incorporate into your website.