Role of Google Plus in SEO

Businesses and organisations who are spending significant resources on building and managing their websites require a lot of online traffic to make this investment worthwhile. They often employ a variety of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tactics in order to get their website a top ranking in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs).

Traditionally, websites relied on link-building to obtain better search engine optimisation rankings. These rankings are now, however, being influenced by the increasing socialisation of the internet. With the advent of social media, the page rank is being modified significantly by activities on social websites.

In fact, founder of SEOmoz, Rand Fishkin recently performed an experiment to show that page ranking was demonstrably affected by the shares and retweets on Facebook and Twitter. The more the shares and retweets, the higher the page stood in search rankings. Giving the control of page rankings over to internet users seems quite logical – after all, they are whom the content belongs to.

One of the most recent and significant social media platforms affecting SEO ranking is Google Plus. Google Plus marketing is the official social media platform offered by Google for sharing on web. It offers many features that aid in sharing interests and content with other Google Plus users, including Google+ Sparks, hangouts, circles, and the +1 button.

From an SEO standpoint, the +1 button is the most significant. It is similar in functionality to the Facebook 'like' button, but it does not directly share the content on user profiles. Rather, it is a public 'stamp for approval' (as advocated by Google) by the user for that content.

There are signs that suggest that the +1 button results directly in improved SEO and a higher page ranking. However, simply obtaining more +1s for your page does not mean that your site ranking automatically improves. Rather, if a user's circle connections search for a relevant term to the site that was +1ed by him / her, they will be more likely to obtain higher ranking of that web site and will be more likely to click link to that web page (i.e. a higher Click Through Rate (CTR)). This is what Google has called Search Plus Your World.

Even users who are not signed into Google Plus receive better page rankings for the +1ed pages. This "open" search engine optimisation is an indirect effect of the +1 button. Because a more +1ed page will receive a higher CTR in Search Plus Your World, making it more likely to be shared on Facebook, Twitter and other social web sites, this will in turn increase page ranking.