How Google’s +1 Button Can Help Your Website Rankings
Filed Under Social Marketing
Google recently released its new +1 button for use on sites across the Web. This handy little tool can influence your website’s position with Google’s search results and help you rise in the ranks. Your site will be noticed by more users, drawing more traffic and increasing the number of potential customers for your business.
So what exactly is the +1 button and how does it work? This is where you’ll find the answers to questions about how this seemingly small tool can help make a big impact on your website.
What is the Google +1 button?
This button is Google’s equivalent to Facebook’s “Like” button and can be easily added to your own website.
Any time a visitor to your site clicks on the “+1″ button, your website’s URL will appear on the +1 tab on the Google profile of the user. Google wants visitors to websites to click on this button any time they find something that they want to recommend or find interesting.
What happens with the +1 click?
Anyone logged in to Google will notice that their search results will be annotated with the number of +1′s that have been clicked by the site’s viewers.
Anyone that is linked to you via Google accounts (Gmail contacts, Chat, etc.) that has clicked on a site’s +1 button will be listed next to the search result as well.
The +1 button will also influence your website’s search engine rankings. The number of clicks on your site’s +1 button, and the person that does the clicking, can influence the position of your webpage on search results pages.
Google will be performing tests with the +1 button before it will have any strong influence over a website’s search results. This is due to the expected number of spammers who will try to use the button for their own means.
This button can also have an influence on the position of your AdWords ads for the page that has the +1 button.
Does the +1 button replace Google Buzz?
This new tool is not the same as Google’s Buzz button, although many websites have replaced their Google Buzz buttons with the +1 button.
It is possible that Google will add Buzz’s functionality to the +1 button. There will also be analytics for the new tool that will show webmasters information about the location, demographics, content and search impact of the +1 button.
How do I add the Google +1 button to my webpage?
The addition of the Google +1 button to your website is very simple. It is also available in a variety of sizes and formats.
Step 1: Add this tag to the web page head or include it before the page’s close body tag:
<script src=”http://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js”></script>
Step 2: Add this tag where you would like the +1 button to appear:
<g:plusone size=”standard”></g:plusone>
If you want to use a different size button on your page, you can change the size by replacing “standard” to “tall”, “medium” or “small.”
Google has a large number of factors that go into determining your site’s ranking on the search results pages. Even though the Google +1 button isn’t having a huge influence on the position of your website in the search results just yet, it never hurts to add this simple tool to your page.
Have you added the +1 button to your webpage yet? Have you noticed any changes to your web traffic or page rank as a result? Let us know what you think about the potential impact this new Google tool could have on your business’s website.
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Dawn Pigoni, IVAA Member
