The Google Plus team graced us with their presence at the Kansas City Search Engine Marketing meeting this evening. A team of twenty-something Googlers in their Google t-shirts and jeans, sporting scruffy beards and tattoos, they exemplified the cool vibe that we’ve come to associate with Google.
They were there to tell us about Google+. So they walked maybe the most G+ knowledgeable group of individuals in the KC area through how to set up a profile page to how to share circles to how to run a hangout – all stuff that we have all probably intuitively figured out on our own. Yes, I learned about Ripples and I didn’t realize that G+ used hashtags like Twitter, so that was news to me. But for the most part, it was an unimpressive attempt to promote a product that we should all be excited about but aren’t.
There were some outspoken Google “fans” in the room who shared ideas on how to make G+ better (It should work for Google Apps users and there are problems when a person has multiple gmail addresses.) But the vibe that I was feeling was that no one wanted to have to pay attention to ANOTHER social network or have to REBUILD their current networks. (Hey Google, my Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn all talk to each other. Why can’t you play nice?!)
So you’re probably asking how am I possibly going to support the title of this article, “Might As Well Embrace Google+. They’re Going to Win.” when I’m clearly not a fan myself. Here’s your answer:
Google Plus CANNOT be ignored, because it’s going to have a major impact on search.
The main Googler who spoke referred to this article. It points out six things you don’t know about Google+. I’ll recap them for you briefly. They are:
- It’s not a social network. (They call it a social platform.)
- Adding the +1 button will boost your SEO rankings.
- Active Google+ users dominate search results.
- Google+ is great for reputation management. “…if you have a comprehensive Google+ listing, you can almost certainly get a top spot under searches for your company.”
- Google+ gives you more real estate. “…the more content you feed Google, the more it can index and produce in search results–helping your visibility, traffic, and SEO.”
- Google+ isn’t about to disappear.
Four of those points directly impact search. Any business who wants to rank on the almighty Google simply cannot look at this list and think, “I can ignore Google+ and I’m sure I’ll rank just fine.”
The sixth point simply points to the fact that Google is investing heavily in G+’s success. It’s been integrated into their other products, its on TV and now they’ve got cool, young Googlers hitting the streets to preach the Gospel+. (see what I did there? LOL)
Face it. They’ve got us. Whether you’re a fan of G+ or not, if you’re interested in ranking on Google, you’re going to have to play by their rules.
Thanks for reading.
David McBee
[Read: Two Good Reasons to Use Google+]
[…] Use twitter and facebook and other social networks to share your information. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT FORGET ABOUT Google+. By placing a link to your new content on Google+, you are cementing yourself as the original author (in case someone duplicates your content) and you are signaling the Google ‘bots to crawl your site. You’re basically saying, “Hey Google, look over here–fresh content on my site. You know you want it!” I won’t even go into how Google is favoring heavy Google+ users in the SERP. […]
Yuck.
Well, I can just chalk it up to a business thing. But I’m definitely not giving a crap about my personal one.