Google + has been open to the public for some time now with more than 90 million people worldwide already signed up. Many people have been comparing it to Twitter and Facebook, saying that it will never compete. But I think in many ways Google + will play a different role in social search than its ‘rivals’ and could be very beneficial for businesses, brand awareness and information sharing.
Search Results
Already, Google is including information from Google + in its natural search results and even in the paid listings too. Let’s look at an example: say you are signed into your Google account and you search for ‘Cupcake Recipes’. If you, or someone in your Circles has +1’d a result, webpage or article previously that is relevant to that search term, you are likely to see it higher up in the search results than you would if you were not signed in. See the pictures to the side where I have searched for Cupcakes first not signed in, and then secondly signed in.
By building up a big following on Google +, it is more likely that someone will + 1 your webpages and content, and therefore more of their followers are likely to see your search results recommended. The more people do this, the more important a Google + and social media strategy will be to implement.
It is especially important for local businesses, as recommendations can greatly influence decisions made in instances where more than one option is available – e.g. restaurants, printing companies or solicitors.
In January, Google announced the arrival of Search Plus Your World. For the time being it will be only for users searching in Google.com and searching in English, however there are plans for it to be rolled out worldwide if it’s successful. Search Plus Your World will mean that when you conduct a new Google search, you will be given the option to see personalised results instead of the natural results. These will be taken from your Google + profile and might include articles you’ve +1’d, updates people in your Circles have written or even pictures from your albums if they’ve been shared.
Authorship
Another way to affect the search results is to claim authorship of any blogs, articles or guest posts you write. By verifying your email address and including a small piece of HTML code into your content, you will be annotated as the author in the search results.
This is a great way to gain extra visibility and also credibility in your field. However, currently Google is taking a long time to start showing Authorship in the search results with many people reporting that they have had to wait months for it to be included.
Circles
Circles have the potential to be very useful as a marketing tool within Google +, but this will only happen if enough people use it on a regular basis. Circles allow you to organise the people you follow into categories such as ‘Friends’, ‘Family’ or ‘Colleagues’ so that you can control which of your messages and updates each one sees.
As a business, you could take this one step further. For example a beauty therapist could organise customers by the services they use e.g. Manicures, massages or facials. This would allow them to send relevant messages and even cross-sell effectively to each group of people. This function gives you extra control over the content your ‘followers’ see to avoid giving them information they may already have and targeting them more demographically.
It remains still to be seen whether Google + will be able to compare with other forms of social media, or whether it will become an additional tool for search. By being aware of how Google + is changing and moving forward you are setting up your business for a better online presence.
By Laura
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