You’ve probably already heard of Google+ and want nothing to do with it. Some say it is a ghost town, having only 3% of its users post once a week. Others think it’s the hottest thing since Kevin Bacon in Footloose.
Putting Kevin Bacon aside for a while, I’m not here to tell you that you should (or should not) place all your bets on Google+. However, I am going to tell you that you need to pay attention to Google’s most recent child because a lack of strategy can cost you in search engine results. Yes, as the search engines are now using social media networks to help gauge search engine ranking, Google announced its search update: Google Search, Plus Your World.
Jack Menzel, product management director of search, explained that now Google+ members will be able to “search across information that is private and only shared to you, not just the public web.” Menzel explained that Google+ results will be blended in with the traditional “authoritative results,” but clearly annotated. Type in a topic of interest, like “Dublin” and along with maps, travel info, historical references, you’ll find a post your friend wrote in Google+ about a recent trip to Dublin, Ireland. That post, though, will only appear if it’s been shared with you or if the post is public. Likewise, an image search will seamlessly blend the anonymous web with your web images and those of anyone you’re connected to — as long as they’ve shared them with you. Each image will be labeled as from “you” or with the name of your connection.
“The deep integration of Google+ in search does not stop there, though. Google+ profiles will now be a part of the search query box. As long as you’re signed into Google+, Google will try to finish your search query with the most likely in-your-Circles match. Google, in other words, is assuming that you’re looking for someone you know and not just a random person with the same name.” (Mashable.com)
If you have an account on Google+, the new search tools will weave you even deeper into your online network, assuming that you would want to see what your network has to say about the topic you are searching. This is (SEO) social search at its highest level yet and, Google feels that this allows you to get more relevant search engine results because the information comes from your trusted network.
Even though this may sound very good, remember that not all social media networks are good for every company, business, consultant or brand.At my recent event on “Why Every Business Needs a Google+ Strategy”, I highlighted some key statistics that businesses should take into account before heading over to Google+:
Google+ Statistics
Google+ has 90 million unique visitorsGoogle+ is 71% male, 29% femaleGoogle+ age ranges are: 50% 0-24, 28% 25-34, 11% 35-44, 11% 45+44% of Google+ users are single42% of Google+ users are looking for friendsTop Google+ user occupations: 1.77% Engineer, 1.02% Developer, .82% DesignerAmerica is top country using Google+ (2nd India, 3rd Brazil)Google+ Button is served more than 5 billion times a dayAfter researching Google+, you may realize that it is not the best platform for your company. If not, then create a strategy to review its marketing potential at a later date as social media networks are constantly evolving. However, if you do find that Google+ is a great marketing tool for your business, then create a plan to optimize your engagement and communications through this channel as the information that you share may come up in a potential client’s Google, Plus Your World display.
Of course, if you have any questions on Google+ or Google, Plus Your World, let me know. I’m here to help!
[Data provided by Website-Monitoring.com]
Tagged as: branding, Business, Google, Google Plus, Google Plus Your World, Human SEO, Marketing, SEO, SMO, social media, social networking, social search, social web, Strategy, video 
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