Google+ has been around for a while now, but is still a mystery to some. Should you be on Google+? How is it different to Facebook? Will it work long term? Our new “Tech in the City” columnist Lisa B explains the link between a “+1” and your websites future Google ranking.
What is Google+ really? Well, it’s a social networking site, and also an identity verification service. An identity verification service is used to establish a real person’s online identity with their real life identity. This can be used to give credibility to a person; and then in turn give credibility to their online articles or information (think SEO or Search Engine Optimisation!).
Why does Google want to verify us online? It used to be the case that in order to create backlinks to websites, various “black hat” SEO techniques were employed including people trying to “beat” Google by setting up fake identities. People then used those identities to comment on blogs, YouTube videos, and other Web 2.0 sites to give the perception that there was a lot of activity on a site. This technique was helpful in ranking with Google.
Google’s search ranking algorithms now include the ability to allow traceability to real individuals, so it gives the author a lot more credibility. Also, when you have everything that is Google, attached to your account (for example your YouTube account, your Blogger account, a Gmail address) then there is no real question about your identity.
Google+ was launched in June 2011 in its “beta” version, so it could be tested with a small number of potential users. These users were allowed to invite friends to join. There was an unbelievable response with people joining in droves. Weirdly, Google’s response to this was to close the doors and not allow more people to join, until in September 2011 they opened to almost everyone over 18. Unfortunately, those that had to wait felt some of the novelty had worn off. It’s possible that it didn’t get the legs it would have if it were open to everyone right from the beginning.
It’s not too late though. With the amazing benefits of cloud technology, we can see other reasons why Google+ may make huge headway in the future. It’s actually all pretty clever. With Gmail being a fantastic offering for email, and Google Apps for business (that are very similar to iPhone apps), you can have everything connected via your one Google business account. Google+ won’t replace Facebook, but it will be another place to connect, help with our SEO strategies and help promote and pitch our businesses. To give you an idea of numbers, in January 2012 it was documented that Google+ had grown 90 million.
In November 7, 2011, Google introduced Google+ Pages. This is a similar concept to Facebook business pages, which a large number of Real Estate businesses have already set up.
In the future, this presence will likely be very important to your business, particularly with the way that “Circles” work. When you first connect with someone on Google plus, it asks you which circle (or group) you want to add your connections to. All of my contacts are nicely categorised giving me the option to easily communicate with one group of people rather than broadcasting to everyone. You can also video chat with groups using “hangouts” (just think if you have three owners to a property, you could speak to them all at once in a video chat – very impressive!)
But I think that the most exciting thing about Google+ is the “+1” button. This allows anyone to recommend websites and pages, similar to Facebook’s ‘like’ button. Currently, the “+1” button is used more than five billion times a day. The idea is that if someone in your circles +1’s a website, when you search that topic, it will come up on the Google search page with their +1 recommendation. You are probably more likely then to choose a website that has been recommended by your friends, which again, carries greater weight in search engine rankings or your ability to attract new prospects.
For this reason alone, I encourage you all to set up a personal profile page, and a business page on Google+, get familiar with some of the cool features, and encourage your circles and friends to +1 your website.
