Should UK websites expect any benefit from using Google+?
-
In several places, Google+ is talked about as something that should be used to help improve the SEO of websites and to engage better with audiences. The problem I am having with this is that these sources are usually from America, and that people I've spoken to in the UK don't even know Google+ exists.
So what I'd like to know, does Google+ give any sort of benefit to UK businesses in terms of SEO, even though it seems it's a platform used mostly in the USA?
-
Thanks Rand! I don't know many, well any, people in America so I couldn't work out whether G+ was a runaway success over there compared to here in the UK. But what you say makes total sense in regards to the communities that are heavily used.
-
Hi Mick - I'd say that if you're not finding value from Google+, I wouldn't worry about it. Google is investing less in it and unless you're in a community/niche where G+ is heavily used (travel, photography, online marketing are a few), probably best to put your effort elsewhere. The only real SEO benefit to G+ left is the personalization of SERPs, but that will only work if you have a large group following you who can be biased in their SERPs by their connection with you. Don't think it's geographically specific, but it's certainly niche-specific.
Best of luck!
-
In the 4 months we've been putting content on to our Google+ page, hashtagging it and posting on to UK communities we've had zero traffic from it. The same posts generate a good stream of traffic from LinkedIn and Twitter, so I think you're right. The information it provides to the searches are about the only use for it in my opinion.
-
Yeah I think this is the only benefit I see from it myself, that and the reviews that it provides. I know that Google deliver 2 G+ pages or posts on the first page of search results, whether the user has to be logged in to their "Google/Google+" account for this to happen I'm not sure of though.
-
You make a good point, but how would you build an audience on Google+ if you don't invest your time on there? Otherwise you're relying on bringing traffic from other platforms to build up your community on there. I can see there are active users on there, but mostly in America.
-
I don't rate Google+ all that much.
We do it because.. well, just because. Probably the same reason you do it, but I don't believe it has helped in the slightest in terms of SEO benefit. It's nice that have that hub where you can feed your company information into Google but that's as far as it goes for us.
Might be wrong!
-
Google+ is a great tool, if you are a local business. The truth is many people in the UK don't really use it as a social platform, but it is great for getting your business in front of people who are looking for a local shop or local service.
-
If experts are discussing about any tactics (that does not specify location) usually means it works for anyone regardless of location. I mean guest blogging is a tactics that allow referral traffic to your blog, no matter where you are geographically no matter what your niche is, strategy will work for you.
As far as Google+ is concern, I am one of the believers that Google+ was another fail from Google after Google Buzz. As far as SEO benefits are concern, I don’t see much direct SEO benefits from Google plus even for Americans.
I think you only should be on Google+ when you have a community around you and you can interact with them to get some referral traffic. If your audience isn’t there what’s the point of investing and wasting time there!
Just a thought!
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
-
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 -
Twitter - How to use for lead generation?
Buongiornoo from the digital glactic epicentre that is Wetherby, Yorkshires answer to Silicon valley...
Social Media | | Nightwing
At the weekend a new restaurant in my home town cleverly promoted its self on my Twitter account... heres a screen shot of the the actual message http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc53/zymurgy_bucket/twitter-feed-2_zpsdb658938.jpg My questios is, "How did they do this?" With the caveat of they didnt manually search for people in the city of York. Could it be twitter advertising as explained here:
https://ads.twitter.com/accounts/18ce53uonc3/welcome Any insights welcome 🙂 Grazie tanto,
David0 -
Purchasing a Google Plus Profile
A client of mine has the opportunity to purchase a google plus profile from a now defunct competitor. Essentially the profile is in tens of thousands of circles, so it may be a decent idea just from a marketing standpoint. When it comes to SEO I am wondering about a few things Is this against Googles rules? Has there been any proof of authorship playing a role in SERP rankings? So if there was an article where the author was in 50 circles compared to the same article where the author was in 50,000 circles would it effect the rankings at all? Have there been any studies done that show that the +1 (from Google Plus users) effects SERP rankings? Sorry for all the questions, but this is an interesting opportunity. Thanks in advance!
Social Media | | Mjstout0 -
Google+ - Is it worth it?
I've been looking at putting some of my companies on Google+ but I've just done some quick research and it doesn't seem like many of our competitors or even any in our industry is on there. I have heard that by having a Google+ presence it will help your organic search ranking. However, I'm not sure how true this is. Is it worth setting up a Google+ page if it's likely that you're not going to get much activity on it?
Social Media | | AAttias0 -
Why would Google+ send posts as 'messages' to people outside of your circles?
A day ago I uploaded a photo of a US Navy ship mooring at Bell Harbor marina, which is across from my office (near the conference center site of SMX Advanced Seattle). A rude comment was posted by someone from Germany accusing me of sending this to them personally, offended because he's anti-military: "Don't spam people pal." I blocked him. So, since it was uploaded to my public stream and shared to my circles, I have no explanation as to how this could happen. If someone in my circles shared it to him, I suppose it could look like I sent it to him, but I haven't seen that happen before. Anyone else see behavior like this? UPDATE: because this person was within one of the circles to whom I shared this photo, he received a notification that I'd shared it "directly" with him. See comment below.
Social Media | | BrianCrouch0 -
Is there any SEO benefit of adding the Facebook "Like" widget to your site?
A lot of sites put their Facebook "Like" widget on their homepage and it shows the number of people who like them. Is there an SEO or marketing benefit to having this. I could see how this can provide social proof to visitors. Are there any other benefits?
Social Media | | ProjectLabs0 -
Is Anybody Outside of SEO Industry Getting ROI from Google+ ?? Tell the truth!
I have been watching Google+ and see lots of SEOs sharing ideas and enjoying their circles. However, I have not seen anything outside of the webmaster community that I would hold up as an example of business engagement - and certainly nothing that seems to be producing a good ROI for a business. It seems to me that everyone outside of the webmaster community is on FaceBook and doesn't give a hoot about Google+. And, since FaceBook has the massive amount of people why should I open an outpost in the poorly populated Google+? I am not looking for Google+ evangelist answers. Just looking to hear if anybody anywhere has found Google+ to be a better use of their time than FaceBook and working on your website. I do believe that using Google+ as an author verification platform is a good use of your time if you have valuable content - mainly because it helps your visibility in the SERPs. Beyond that I am looking for validation. Anybody want to point to something good happening or telling a success story? Thanks!
Social Media | | EGOL8 -
Google analytics now showing social signals
Looking through Google analytics today and noticed that there is a section under top content that shows number of Facebook likes & shares, tweets, diggs, delicious book marks, etc. Anyone else seeing this? [staff note: see answers, this came from a Chrome extension]
Social Media | | prima-2535090