Google adds more emphasis on social interaction with +1
How can content be considered high-quality, relevant and valuable to an audience?
Furthermore, how do search engines determine what is valuable content, deserving of higher page ranks over other content?
In today’s world of social media interaction, valuable content is starting to be defined by the user experience.
Google has been indexing tweets in the real-time search for years. This is one way social and search have become integrated. Most recently, Google released their +1 button, in an attempt to match Facebook’s “Like” button.
This new addition to Google’s search results shows their desire to be more social, and appears to foreshadow how Google will begin to handle search queries.
Google +1
Currently, if you want to see Google +1 in search results, you have to enable it, which requires a Google profile.
According to Google, the goal of +1 is to “publicly give something your stamp of approval.” The company has also stated on their site that, “your +1’s can help friends, contacts, and others on the web find the best stuff when they search.”
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Tips for Google +1
It’s too early to tell if Google +1 will be a hit with searchers. In a world with Facebook and Twitter, Google may have some tough competition to deal with for social supremacy.
However, there are two important pieces of information to take note of.
First, Google +1 isn’t just for organic listings; the +1 feature will be included in Google AdWords as well. This may lead to an advantage for publishers.
For instance, if you have an organic listing that has received a +1, or multiple pluses, that URL could be used as a destination in paid advertisements.
Ray Grieselhuber, founder and CEO of GinzaMetrics advised people through his blog to “start thinking about how they can integrate their paid and organic search marketing efforts with the same or similar content so they will be better prepared if +1 takes hold.”
Second, regardless of its success, +1 shows the growing importance and integration of search and social into SEO activities. User experience and opinions are greatly valued by search engines and audience members alike.
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At the Mequoda Daily, we strive to provide online publishers and content marketers tips, strategies and information that will help them do their jobs better. Some forms of written content that have received high traffic and positive user comments include how-to articles, lists and examples of the ‘best’ tips or strategy (ie: The Best Keyword Strategy – Picking SEO Keyword Fights You Can Win.
What do you think about Google +1? Will it be a hit with searchers, or will Facebook and Twitter continue to be the most popular in social media? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
