Google+ is consistently found to have the greatest comparative effect of all social media platforms when it comes to how a website ranks in search results. In short, posting on Google+ has big search engine optimization benefits. The underlying reason for this, which is no secret, is that Google designed their social network with searching in mind, and this is reflected in a number of areas. This means that it differs from other important social networks like Facebook and Twitter in a number of ways that further contribute to SEO.
- Posts on Google+ are indexed almost immediately giving them higher visibility right from the start. Whats more, it has been found that any links that are shared in a post also tend to be indexed much faster than usual, meaning any new content on your site will appear in search results much faster!
- Shared links (those that appear beneath a post) are followed. This means that they actively help your page rank, as they pass on what is known as link equity.
- Google+ posts are structured in a way that is very similar to normal blog posts on a website, meaning that semantic relevance is taken into account. As such, each post has its own URL, the first 50 characters form the title tag for the post, re-shared posts accumulate internal links, and various studies have shown a strong correlation between longer posts and higher rankings.
Great! What can I do to improve the performance of my Google+ page for SEO?
Five tips:
1. Put a link to your web page in your about section. Unlike other social networks, Google+ allows you to create a followed link with whatever anchor text (the blue link text) you like! This is great, not only can people click through to your site, but it is also a free backlink from one of the top social media sites on the web, which helps organic search ranking. The more people that engage with you the more valuable this link becomes.
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2. Embed links into your posts, Google+ allows you to put in as many as you want and if a post is popular and goes viral, generating many +1s, links and shares, the links will increase in value.
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3. As mentioned earlier, title tags are formed from the first 50 characters of a post, bear in mind that it will be the only part most people see, so make it catchy and include important keywords.
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4. Take advantage of the fact that you can edit your posts at any time. This is important if your post is popular and you want to make updates and changes or add media at a later time.
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5. Be social! Connect with influential people within Google+, take a few minutes a day to use the +1 button on interesting content, comment on some of it, circle interesting people and encourage people to circle you.
Website growth as social media marketing specialists have been working on Google+ and all the most important social media sites since their initiation. We have helped a huge range of Beverly Hills businesses harness the power of social media, driving sales growth and online brand presence. To see how we can help your business optimize its social media efforts, contact us today.