
There is no point in pretending that Google doesn’t have the monopoly in searching in the internet when it comes to search engines. The term ‘Google’ has even become a verified verb in the dictionary to describe the action of searching for something online. Due to this, when business personnel put their heads’ together to formulate an SEO campaign, Google is in the forefront of their minds.
Unfortunately for all those keen bodies that jumped for joy when Google started to factor social networks into their algorithms, and focused their attention to Facebook and Twitter, Google turned the whole system on its head. By integrating all their systems into Google+, they’ve created a whole new social network which ties searches together with Google-specific social interaction to create ‘Plus Your World’.
This may sound complicated but let’s break it down.
- You start a Google+ page
- You build up a following by linking to others, increasing your +1s and following other people
- This community now becomes your first port of call for all the things you need. In other words, these connections affect your searches and the searches of those connected to you.
For example, say you’re a company which provides jewelry, when someone types your keywords into Google, such as ‘pretty jewelry’ or ‘statement necklaces’, you’re going to rank nearer the top because you’re connected to them through Google+.
So What Does This Mean For Businesses?
It’s simple really, get Google+. If you’re competitors who rank against you for the same search terms have Google+ and you don’t, you’ll be left behind. They’re likely to pop up left, right and center on the first page of their connections’ Google search and you won’t.
In other words, it’s impacting SEO and you need to factor that into your campaign and be on top posting on the page to ensure your visibility for you keywords.
But How is it Impacting SEO?
Plus Your World is bringing together a community of people to share common interest as well as services. What this means is businesses connected to individuals are more likely to be seen by those individuals when searching for relevant keywords than businesses not.
What it helps you achieve as a company is a significant increase in rankings over time and therefore more visibility the public and in turn, more hits on your website and an increased brand awareness. This is an ongoing process as with more hits to your website, the higher you’ll organically rank and the more Google +1s you’ll achieve as people click through using the badge you absolutely must have on your site.
From there, more people are likely to share your posts and information with their circles in Google+, snowballing you followers, pushing up your ranks and allowing you to acquire more hits.
Not only does Google+ affect text, it also affects images so this needs to be taken into account when planning your campaign.
Your SEO Plan – What You Should Be Doing
There are three main things you should be doing on your Google+ page to boost those rankings and get more people onto your site by embracing this forward-thinking SEO tactic.
1. Widen Your Circles
There are two main things about followers on Google+ – quantity and quality. Firstly, the more followers you have, the more people’s searches are being affected by your Google+ page, and the more people will see your website. Additionally, it gives you more chance of having posts shared, commented on and acted on within the community, creating that much needed audience widening technique created through snowball peer recommendation.
Secondly, the quality of your followers is hugely important. The more well known your followers are, the more likely people are to jump on board with what you’re doing. Peer recommendations from strangers are one thing, but if Mark Zuckerberg is saying your Genesis Themes for WordPress are brilliant, that’s a whole different ball game.
2. Stuff in Keywords
Keywords are always essential to an SEO campaign and should not be forgotten in this case either. www.theschoolofinternetmarketing.com pays special attention to the importance of remembering to use keywords you want to be ranked for and ensure they’re phrases people actually search for; no industry jargon and nothing too vague or overused.
Don’t make your posts or conversations look ‘keywordy’. If people think you’re trying to rank, it’s off-putting and they’re likely to unfollow you or become unresponsive to your posts.
3. Don’t Forget Photos
Implementing several photos into your Google+ page will allow you to rank highly in image searches as well. This is more important to some businesses than others but if you have a visual element to your work, then try to promote your business through photographic evidence too.

