How do you believe Google's +1 service is going to affect SEO? What can we do?
-
So Google just announced the +1 button, which is there answer to Facebook 'likes' button:
http://searchengineland.com/meet-1-googles-answer-to-the-facebook-like-button-70569
http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/30/google-plus-one/
They should begin showing up now on Google US. If you aren't seeing them, you can turn them on here:
http://www.google.com/experimental/
I want to know? What affect do you predict these are going to have? Is there anything we can do from an SEO point to begin leveraging +1 right from the outset?
-
I'm not sure I see the motivation for people to +1 something. For Facebook, social connection is a big motivator: people want their friends to see what they 'like'. How many people actually view other Google profiles like we do Facebook? Why would anyone use the +1 in Google? I think understanding the motivation might be a key to understanding how to leverage it better.
-
Excellent question. The answer to this (at least for me) is that big statement you hear so often about the most important tactic and principle of SEO. Developing great , interesting and unique content. Our entire SEO process is evolving to start with a creative approach, using content and then moving to what I would call traditional SEO tactics.
The gaming concern is one we all share, but can not control. We are hoping that by helping our clients develop better and more interesting information, 1+ will take care of it self.
-
It has been rolled out to English Google.com but is due to be rolled out in time. Also only shows if logged into Google account so for many people they won't see it anyway.
-
Has Google +1 been rolled out on just google.com? It doesn't seem to appear on .co.uk
-
There are 2 aspects to consider when you discuss gaming it. The first is the effect it has on the SERPs for everybody, the second is for how it affects it for social users and what the effect on CTR is.
For the 1st, the answer is - the same way they do with links. Check for cliques, for lots of unused accounts +1'ining the same sites, etc. etc. We'll see how effective that is.
For the 2nd, one important fact is going to be you can't game people's networks. You can create a bunch of bogus accounts, and create +1 groups for circular +1'ing. However, none of that matters if you aren't in people's networks. Currently it seems that +1's only show up if at least one friend/contact has +1'd the site. Then you see the total count (see attached image), otherwise at it stands you aren't going to affect people's CTR (which itself will be a signal).
-
From the Google Adwords blog adwords.blogspot.com (emphasis mine):
"You don’t have to make adjustments to your advertising strategy based on +1 buttons, and the way we calculate Quality Score isn’t changing (though +1s will be one of many signals we use to calculate organic search ranking)."
So it definitely IS going to be used as a signal.
And they're going to keep people from gaming this ... how?
-
I agree about Google's previous efforts, however I think +1 is finally going to be their breakthrough. They are going to push it hard, and unlike the other efforts, there is no real effort from the user to learn about it. I mean - most people never bothered to try to understand Google Buzz, whereas the concept of a 'like' button is really simple and widely known.
Currently, you cannot embed them into your website (it is coming, but not for 'months'), so that aspect isn't yet in play.
If you consider this - Google know that social is becoming increasingly important and is going to keeping growing. Furthermore, they seemed to have reached a limit with using links to determine what results to show, and are in need of new signals.
Everyone knows social signals are becoming more important, and Google really doesn't want to be relying only on signals under the control of others. I think +1 is here to stay, in one form or another.
However, currently you can only +1 a site from the SERPs, so it makes it hard for companies going to leverage this. Yet, I'm sure people will find a way.
-
Aside from adding the +1 button to your sites I doubt it will be that big. Most of Google's attempts at adding social features don't ever take off like they do for Facebook or other sites. I imagine the effect will be similar to that of how Facebook likes affect search engine results. It will help but not too important of a factor.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Best Twitter for SEO Accounts
Every few months I clean out my Twitter account to cut the noise and refocus on SEO. Please help me by leaving feedback for your top five SEO related Twitter accounts to follow!
Social Media | | RLG0 -
Google+ for photographers
What do you think is the best approach when it comes to using Google+ as a photographer? The images have no real SEO benefit, but the ones I post seem to get shared more, +1ed more than posting a link to one of my blog posts with a preview image. What do you think is the best way to approach this problem?
Social Media | | IoanSaid0 -
Google & Social
Hi Folks It's been made very clear to us that Google is paying attention to social signals. My questions are: How would I check that Google is aware of my Facebook activity and similarly of my Twitter and Pinterest work? If Google is not aware of these what are some steps I can take to inform them that a particular account is related to a my business site? Finally any must read articles on this topic would be appreciated. Thank you for your time to help me out
Social Media | | PHD1 -
Best SEO Practices
I've been doing SEO for quite some time now but with the recent updates I've been told that I'm doing some things wrong now. I just want to make sure that I'm not missing anything from a SEO standpoint, let me know what your thoughts are. On-Page
Social Media | | nusani
Max of 3 keywords on homepage linking to internal optimized pages
Links to these pages on other pages using your keywords
XML and HTML sitemaps
Using only WWW or no-WWW version of the site, make sure this is also set in .htaccess and google webmaster tools Each optimized internal page should have this:
content is king, write for readability
max 2 keywords per page
keyword in slug or html page name
keyword density of 3-5%
keyword 2 times in title and meta description (preferably at beginning and end)
keyword in bold, italic, and underline
keyword in h1
keyword in h2-6 if possible
keyword in image alt tags
low code to text ratio
valid HTML Off-page
Link directories
article directories
social media links and likes/+1s
web 2.0 links
forum profile and signature links
pdf links (slideshare, google docs, pdfcast, scribd)
social bookmark links
blog comments on related sites
yahoo answers
edu and gove links
authority sites carry much better link juice
build backlinks to your backlinks From what I understand forum profiles and web 2.0 aren't as powerful as they used to be, is all of this correct?0 -
Various question re SEO and social media
Hi all: It is time for my semi-annual “I don’t have a clue” question. Actually it’s questions since there are three although they may overlap. I am confused about the intersection of social media and SEO. A couple of years ago it seemed like one of the better procedures for link building was writing articles and having them published on Isnare, Goarticles Ezine and the like. Now I am not sure if this is effective anymore. It seems like all of the emphasis is being put on social media sites. Not just Facebook, Twitter Pinterest, and blogs, but big ones (that I don’t have a prayer in the world of getting on) such as Mashable, Reddit etc. How are my efforts best served at this point? Should I still submit articles to article directories or should I concentrate on guest blogging (which isn’t so easy if you want a reputable blog) or try something that I can’t even think of? Second, my blog is a Wordpress Blog that is no big deal and probably isn’t read much. It can be accessed either at Wordpress or through my site. It is listed in my Google Merchant Account, but I can’t imagine anyone reads it. It’s about gifts and products that we sell and is not going to stimulate anyone’s mind. Two things here: First (and I don’t know if anyone will know the answer to this) my site is hosted by Yahoo. There is a tab at the top of my site that takes you to the blog, but Yahoo also has some way to integrate the blog with the website. Does anyone know if this will make any difference? Second, the last several times that I ran by backlinks on Open Site Explorer my Wordpress blog has not shown up. It always did previously right at the top. Any guesses as to why it no longer shows? Finally, in the last couple of months I have had a precipitous drop in orders and visitors to my site. The only thing that I have done is to lower my budget for Google Adwords, but it was never that high to begin with and shouldn’t account for the change. Given the holiday season traffic should be picking up but it is going in the other direction. Does anyone know what is happening here and what to do about it? Anyone with really good insights might get a gift certificate from us (is that permitted on SEOMOZ – if not then forget it). The website is www,uniquegiftsanddecor.com. Here’s a thought – buy stuff from us. (ignore if this is spammy). Many thanks. Don
Social Media | | uniquegifts-2778790 -
Google+ Ranking Factors - Are Keywords meaningless ?
Hello Mozers! On the Conversation Marketing blog, Ian Lurie published a lengthy article called Google Plus Box Ranking Factors Report. In it, he claimed amongst other things, that "Keyword relevance of your posts: Totally meaningless. Write whatever you want. Seriously. Just make it good." What say you? Are keywords really meaningless? Thanks in advance!
Social Media | | ShivaS1 -
Google+ and Google Search Plus Your World. Are the results served actually the best results?
I recently started a discussion on Google+ and thought I would get some feedback from the SEO community. https://plus.google.com/106060287111641282262/posts/Hpak5R6uY47 This article suggests that Google Search Plus Your World does not improve search quality for users. When a search is performed, I can imagine that results would be skewed to Google+ content and +1s from people in your circles. Doesn't this mean that if you only follow not-so-influential people who share and +1 not so quality stuff that your new "world" results are just going to be low quality? Doesn't this mean that SEO and traditional linking methods are dying? This would mean that the bigger chains will have more advantage just like what happened after Panda. How does the small business compete with this? Any insight would be of super appreciation.
Social Media | | itrogers0 -
Facebook competition: what's the best way to do it
Taking some advice/ideas from this seomoz blog post http://www.seomoz.org/blog/99-ways-to-build-links-by-giving-stuff-away-and-improve-your-brand-too-14029 I decided to launch a facebook competition were you like/share the product you want to win. The question is should I be looking for share or likes? From what I have read Share are more valuable than likes, but Likes would be easier to get I think (ie we could get a lot more of them). Here is an example of one of our product pages: http://www.lovefurniture.ie/sofas-furniture/corner-sofas-l-shaped-sofas/rihanna-corner-suite-with-sofabed We already have a like, tweet +1 buttons, but not a facebook share, should it be there? Any feedback or advice would be appreciated
Social Media | | eunaneunan0