5 Tips for Improving Your SEO with Google
Filed Under Social Marketing
Google+ is still so new that some people are wondering if it’s really worth it to put effort into maintaining a profile on the social network. The answer is: absolutely! Google+ has such a strong presence in the Google search results that it would be a mistake to pass up the opportunity to use it.
Here are five tips that will help you make the most of Google+ and improve your search engine optimization:
1. Increase your number of followers. With Google+, it is important to have a substantial number of followers. This can go against what you know to be true with other social networks. On those sites, quality is the important thing, not quantity.
If a user is logged onto Google+ and conducts a keyword search, then any links you have shared on your Google+ account that contain those keywords will show up higher in the search results. When someone is not logged in, those results will appear further back in the results pages.
To get more followers, you can add a link to your Google+ profile on your website or blog. You can also add it to any forums profiles you are a member of, email signatures, or other social media sites. There are Google+ badges that you can add to your website. Don’t forget to draw followers from your other social sites to follow you on Google+.
2. Claim authorship for your online articles. Even if users are not logged into Google+, you can really stand out in the search results by staking your claim to any articles that you have written. If a person is logged into Google+, they will have the option to add any author to their own circles right from the search results page.
To add the authorship connection between your blog to your Google+ profile, there are two options. One is to link your blog content to your profile by specially formatting your URL. In the “Contributor To” section of your Google+ profile, add the URL of your blog.
The other way is by adding your email address to each page of your content and listing that same email address on your profile. Once you have linked your content to Google+, you will be able to complete the authorship request form.
3. Connect your website to Google+ directly. This requires only a simple scrap of code. There is also a badge that you can attach to your site for Google+. This connection will help boost your rank in search results by displaying your recent activity along with your place in the results.
4. Encourage more +1s. The +1 button can be more powerful than the “Like” button for Facebook because the number of +1s will be displayed in search results on Google, whether or not the user is logged into Google+. People will be more likely to click on a site if has been +1ed because it’s like a vote of approval.
Add a +1 button to all of your pages and blog posts. This is also an easy way for people to share links from your website on their own Google+ profiles.
5. Fill in your information completely. A lot of us tend to fill out our profiles “just enough” to get started. But then we forget to go back and do a more thorough job. Make sure that you have an answer to each question because Google sets higher priority on certain areas of your profile for search results as well as page optimization.
Keep in mind that the first 55 characters will make the most difference in Google+ search results, so be sure to make a good first impression!
How have you used your Google+ profile to improve your search engine optimization? What has made the most difference to you? Share with us!
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Dawn Pigoni, IVAA Member
