The first signal Google had sent to the online community in 2011 with its “Panda Update” was “Content”. The second signal from Google is “Social”, being delivered with Google’s new initiative of the “+1”.
Understanding the way the internet is consumed, Google has been adding social elements to its algorithm constantly and introduced the “social search” aspects as well as multiple ways to be able to enables searches to be connected with the social realm.One of the best online resources, seomoz, published their findings on the way social factors affect ranking. It seems evident that the social authority of web pages and their domain are influencing their ranking. It is another clear indication of the importance Google is setting to what is happening on social networks.
At the end of March Google announced the new concept called “+!”. This is not really a revolutionary concept from Google and actually it’s an imitation of what is being available online for a while now (it is very much like FaceBook’s “Like” button, so nothing new here). However, the integration with search is new and should be looked at from a broad angle.
What is Google’s “+1”?
Google is adding to its search results an icon of “+1”. The idea is that anyone who wishes to share his/her positive attitude towards a web page on the search results could click on the icon, and with that, adding a “point” to this page. Where is Google now with “+1”?
Google is currently focused only on integrating the “+1” into the search results. Similar to other updates they are introducing, it is rolled first in the US, then English sites globally and later globally. I suspect it will take couple of month (at least) before we see that all over.
But, Google intention is not to stop as only having the “+1” in the search results. Similar to the “Like” of Facebook, they wish to see their social icon integrated on websites and web pages. Another outcome Google is hoping to achieve is to create a social network around Google, using the Google Profile (which is where you need to opt-in for the “+!”).
What does the Google “+1” mean?
At this point, this initiative looks “half baked” and incomplete, or we just don’t know enough.
However, ignoring the arguments on whether Google will be able to compete with Facebook or not, we need to make sure we are reading behind the lines. In this case, the letters are big and bold: go social!
We suspect that by the end of 2011 the impact of your social graph on your ranking and overall traffic would be huge and actually the line between search and social when applying SEO work will disappear almost completely.
So, if you are not yet engaged in Social Media, start now. Invest in creating professional profiles for your business on some of the major social networks, get yourself engaged in some social networks to follow trends related to your business and thought leaders in your industry, and set cross references from your social profiles to your website and vice versa. Lastly, enable visitors to share your webpage on their social networks.
Don’t hold back on any comments. Feedback is more than welcome!
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