Google Plus SEO: The Business Benefits

Google Plus offers business opportunities available nowhere else.

The social network run by Google — the gateway to your business — is a game-changer. It ties together several Google products and delivers many rewards for brands. Vic Gundotra, the head of Google+, has said, “It’s really the unification of all of Google’s services, with a common social layer.” Google+ places a heavy emphasis on search engine optimization (SEO), which differentiates it from other social media networks like Facebook and Twitter. 

Google Plus and social signals

Sharing things on Google+ and encouraging others to +1 your content works essentially the same way as Facebook “likes”, but the impact is more pronounced because Google Search favors sites that have received more social credibility from others. Although Facebook and Twitter are essential to marketing efforts, both impede Google from accessing much of their data, which limits their SEO effectiveness.

According to a study by Searchmetrics, social signals — recommendations through Likes, tweets and Google+ — account for 7 of the 8 most highly correlated ranking factors in Google search results. Social networks are used by real people who reveal what they genuinely like and think is important via sharing, liking, retweeting, and +1′ing, so it’s not surprising that search engines track these indicators. Google +1s have the highest correlation, followed by number of backlinks, Facebook shares, and Facebook total (summary of shares, likes and comments).

Google Plus and PageRank

Google+ posts are crawled and indexed almost immediately. Google Search treats Google+ profile and pages just like “regular” websites, so they have PageRank and can be just as powerful as other websites in terms of ranking. Web pages with higher PageRank rank higher for search terms than those with lower PageRank, and higher PageRank pages deliver more authority to sites that they link to. It’s important to note that Google+ posts can indefinitely retain ranking, which helps brands capture more real estate on SERPs (search engine results pages).

Key points about followed links:

• When you share a link on Google+, the anchor text becomes the title of the page you are sharing.
• Only shared links (the links that show up beneath your post) are followed. Links in the post body are “nofollow”, so they don’t pass any authority/equity.
• Most links in your Google+ “About” page are followed and do pass link equity.
• Uploaded images don’t pass external link equity. Good images may increase a post’s popularity and click-through rates, but these posts do not pass link equity.

Google Plus and Web influence

The larger your Google+ network, the more directly or indirectly you influence the search results of the people who have you in their circles. Google Authorship, which I discussed in my post Use Google Authorship to Improve SEO and Drive Traffic, is a powerful tool that helps people connect your content creators with all of the content they produce — I highly suggest that you follow the setup steps in the article so you can begin reaping its benefits. Google’s nascent rel=publisher connection for brandsenables Google to verify a connection between your brand’s site and your official Google+ page — this produces a “verified site” notation that shows up on a brand’s Google+ page.

Google Plus and Local SEO

Google+ Local is a part of Google+, and focuses specifically on businesses and their locations. These pages are similar to Facebook business pages, but include a many more features geared to help businesses connect with local consumers on a social level. Here’s a page from a local pizza restaurant in Seattle:

The benefits of Google+ Local include:

• More online visibility, enabling consumers to find a link to your website, what your business has to offer, and any other information you think they should have.
• More customer engagement via its social features.
• Direct access to customers so you can connect on a more personal level, encourage feedback, and ask for reviews.
• Higher page ranking through posting fresh content on a regular basis. See my post A Beginners Guide to Content Marketing to learn more about its importance.
• Integration with Google maps, which enables consumers to find pertinent contact information like your phone number, address, directions, and hours of operation.

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Make Keywords Fit a Marketing Messaging

Informational vs. Commercial Searches

Your user research will tell you a lot about how people actually search, but you do ultimately need to run what they gave you through Google's Keyword Tool to get an idea of traffic and Moz's Keyword Difficulty to get an idea of what it's going to take to see the fruits of your labor.

Traffic isn't the last stop in the vetting process, though. Next, think about the type of query your keyword triggers. Users search because they're looking for an answer to a question, and that comes with some sort of action. The two biggest are:

• Informational: Your user is still researching and just wants more information about a topic.
• Commercial: Your user is looking for a business and ready to buy.

You don't want a commercial-based page ranking for an informational-based keyword because you're failing to reach people at the right phase of the buying process.

Lastly Go To Google

Ultimately, you want to ensure you're comparable with the company you keep, meaning the companies who are using your potential keywords should be your actual competitors, not just your search competitors. So, search for your keywords and see who's ranking.

Look for similar things that your company and these share, like:

• Target audience
• Services or products
• Price points
• Messaging and positioning

For example, "web design company" has much more traffic but "web design agency" brings up a higher quality of businesses. This was further validated by our market research when we found more C-level marketers use agency over company or firm, and those are the people we are trying to reach.

Summary

Even if you aren't going through a complete rebrand, you need to keep an eye on your keywords and ensure they still fit with how you do business. Users will continue to get savvier, search engines will become more sophisticated, and your company's priorities will change, and making sure your keywords bring more to the table than just a high search volume will make sure you're always positioning yourself right to your users.

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Google Officially Launches Local Results Carousel

The Google Local Carousel beta test that we saw last month is now rolling out to all U.S. users, Google announced. While the carousel has been used on tablet devices since December 2012, the carousel style results being available on a desktop is a much newer change.

With the new style of carousel listings, when a user searches for a local results, such as a restaurant or hotel, instead of the traditional vertical listings most users associate with Google search, there is now a horizontal carousel which features thumbnails, ratings, as well as the number of Google+ reviews. Users can then scroll sideways through the listings to see more results.

One of the positive things to this new carousel style for local results is that businesses who might not rank in the top two or three required to see the results above the fold, can now see their business featured very prominently, complete with an image. However, there is no guarantee that your business will be one of the ones chosen to show in the carousel. Google search ranking algorithms also apply to the listings in Google Maps in determining which businesses are featured in the carousel.

This will also mean it is that much more important for a local business to ensure that the thumbnail used for their local business listing is one that not only represents their business, but is eye-catching enough to draw searchers to their listing. Interestingly, Google’s algorithms will also decide which photo is used, although exactly what algorithms are used as unknown at this time, but they do suggest using high quality images on your Google business listing.

Google's local carousel is only available in limited verticals at this time, with hotels, restaurants, and bars being amongst the verticals included. They do say that they are looking to expand this by experimenting with different designs and interfaces.

This is currently being rolled out in the U.S. only at this time and is only available in English.

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SEO versus User Experience: The Problem and Solution

For any small business looking to get involved in online marketing, this is the age-old dilemma. User experience and SEO should, ideally, work hand-in-hand, but that never seems to be the case. Company owners and Webmasters have to make changes to their websites in order to please the search engines, but this doesn’t always coincide with what readers want to read. So why not just write for the readers? You should, but how will they ever find you if you can’t make it to the top of search engines?

As time continues, this catch 22 only seems to get stronger and more annoying. Businesses have to ask the inevitable question: How can I find that balance between SEO and user experience?

Why SEO and User Experience Don’t Always Work Together

It’s first important to understand why the two have a hard time working together in the first place. There are a few different reasons many Webmasters have found:

• Visuals. The Google algorithm bots cannot see visuals the way that humans can, and this poses a problem. Humans like to see graphics more than they like to see text, and many time graphics take some interpretation. This is something that a Google bot cannot do, and therefore websites are torn between creating an awesome graphic versus awesome keyword-rich text. For this reason, both are necessary to succeed in most cases.
• Choppy Text. Readers like to read choppy text online. In other words, they like to read text that is broken up into bullet points and subheadings so that they can skim across the page. This is fine for Google bots to understand, but Google bots need a lot of content to be able to really get a feel for the page and how the page should rank. With many choppy online texts, there isn’t as much content to work with (of course this doesn’t have to be true, but it’s something many writers need to learn, which can take quite a bit of time and training). In other words, writing for both is really a developed talent.
• Keywords. Google says that you can write naturally and your keyword should naturally appear, and while this might be true, we all know that a little bit of extra help can’t hurt. Webmasters and content writers are always going through and adding keywords into headings and titles to give it that extra push whether readers like it or not.

Still, don’t forget that SEO and user experience CAN, for the most part, work together. It’s not easy, and there are going to be these certain situations (discussed above) where you’re going to have to lean one way or the other, but overall it’s not impossible.

How to Bridge the Gap Between SEO and User Experience

When it comes time to think about how to solve this age-old dilemma for your business website, I like to think of three different situations:

The best solution: The best way to bridge the gap is to think about your readers first and SEO second. This doesn’t mean that you’re ignoring one completely, but you’re putting your readers first, which is the most important thing. A few things to keep in mind:

-       You don’t want to have doorway pages, or pages just for search engines, so the only thing you can do is create great content for every page. If that means a lot of graphics, try to couple it with a lot of great content.

-       Teach your content writers how to be thorough without being overbearing

-       Do some keyword research so you know that what you’re writing about (for your readers) is something that has a good chance of ranking on a SERP (usually based on search volume and competition).

When SEO should come first: This is the real question that many Webmasters have to ask. Is there ever a time when SEO should come before your readers? Not really. Google hates this and readers hate this. Although doing so may put you to page one, it isn’t going to mean much if the content isn’t engaging.

A case study: Ian Wortley of Webshed recently wrote about his decision to use javascript to make his homepage a slideshow. He explained that “users get movement and interaction (which are plusses) while having the information broken down in such a way that they are more likely to read more of that text.” It’s the perfect medium between pleasing readers while still allowing for a lot of content for the bots.

(VIA)

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Inorganic vs. Organic Backlinking Strategies: Getting Back to Basics

The backlink within the practice of SEO is an ongoing topic of conversation for marketing, sales, delivery and reporting of SEO services. Even in a post Penguin world, SEO professionals are still asking questions such as:

• What’s the best way to build backlinks that will have a positive long-term impact on a web presence?
• Is quantity better than quality?
• Should I buy backlinks?
• How do I protect a web presence from future Google algorithm changes?
• How do I know how many organic backlinks versus inorganic backlinks my web presence has?

SEO Strategies & Backlinking Strategies

An SEO strategy is about one thing: being found organically by your customers and prospects for highly converting keywords; keywords that are relevant to your audience. Relevance of content is earned when diversified, relevant content sources with authority and influence reference your content. Or, in other words, link to it.

A backlinking strategy is simply about these three concepts:

• Relevance: Is this link coming from a relevant source that further supports the relevance of my content?
• Authority and Influence: Was the source of this link written by an authoritative, influential person or business?
• Diversity: By adding this link to my web presence am I diversifying and adding value to my digital footprint?

Every backlink you build should pass the RAID test.

If you're able to answer yes to these three questions, then you likely have an organic backlink that is going to positively impact your organic search visibility.

If you can't answer yes to these three questions, then you have an inorganic backlink that will have no impact on organic search results and may even penalize your web presence at some point in the future.

The Origins of the Backlink Pre-Search Engines

In the academic world, when content is published in the form of a thesis there are citations within the content that point to other relevant content from authoritative sources that support the content, thus making it more relevant to the reader. Sounds like a backlink.

Google's origins are academic in nature, having started as a research project at Stanford University. Larry Page was focused on, “the problem of finding out which web pages link to a given page, considering the number and nature of such backlinks to be valuable information about that page (with the role of citations in academic publishing in mind).”

The research project then went on, “to convert the backlink data that it gathered into a measure of importance for a given web page.” The output was, “for a given URL … a list of backlinks ranked by importance” or relevance.

That was 1996. Seventeen years later, relevancy is still at the core of Google's organic search algorithm, especially when it comes down to backlinks.

How Do You Get Relevant, Authoritative, Influential & Diversified Backlinks?

Roll up your sleeves and get to work. The really great organic backlinks that are going to add long-term value to your web presence, digital footprint and organic search positions and conversions won't happen overnight by buying or trading them, or submitting to directories. Remember, inorganic backlinks don't pass the RAID test.

Building organic backlinks takes a lot of heavy lifting in an approach called Optimized Content Marketing. Publishing fresh, relevant, optimized content on a continuous basis through industry blog sites, press releases, white papers and case studies that demonstrate knowledge and thought leadership, plus socializing the content through your social networks will create a strong inventory of organic backlinks over time.

This long-term approach to SEO will also protect you from any future Google algorithm changes and will make it extremely difficult for your competitors to outrank you.

Reporting Data for Organic vs. Inorganic Backlinks

Great SEO services and results start with great SEO data. Accurate, timely SEO data is required in order to make great decisions about what to do next to a web presence in order to make improvements for organic search.

Be wary of SEO backlink data sources that include inorganic backlink data in their data sets. It is irrelevant to report on backlinks that are inorganic and have no impact on organic search. Reporting on a growing backlink count over time when those backlinks are inorganic is useless and will create unrealistic expectations with your clients.

Summary

Backlinking strategies within an SEO strategy are often overcomplicated. It doesn't have to be this way. Practice an optimized content marketing strategy and test each backlink with the RAID test and your web presence will excel over the long term in Google.

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Another Google Penguin Update for SEO Helps Social Media

At least these SEO updates have cute names like Panda and Penguin. The latest Penguin update has been released and it reportedly effects 0.3% of all English websites. For you social media managers you should be thanking Google for Penguin as the Penguin Update helps social media by increasing the quality of content out there. It means your hard work isn’t going unrewarded.

Now 0.3% doesn’t sound like a lot of websites because it totally isn’t a lot of websites. Odds are your website was not a direct hit from the penguin update, but you should still care. The Penguin update helps social media and is committed to increasing the quality of websites on the internet.

Most social media managers don’t believe me when I say there are websites out there flooded with links and spam people land on everyday. I guess they would like to just live in the Matrix or assume they’re too smart to ever land on one of these websites. How foolish. Google has been monitoring the space for years and a simple google search (oh the irony) will showcase how people have manipulated and twisted SEO practices in the past for their personal gain. Did I say personal? I meant profitable. Highly profitable. Like millions and millions of dollars.

There isn’t a fool-proof solution to fixing this and the penguin update focuses on content, but what about the other factors? Consistency? Links? All that jazz? Enter Google Panda who protects us from all the crap that can’t escape the power of the Google algorithm. We’ll get to that later.

It’s important for those in social media to know SEO and enforce social SEO, but we’ve been over that. If you’re there than you know why the penguin update is great, but just in case; The SEO Penguin update ensures the best content is on the web. Keep your social media presence strong and keep your content plan tight. Google has your back as long as you give the web something fantastic.

They might be going after websites pretty slowly, but Google is not to be trifled with.

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Rise of Mobile & Local, Google Updates Top Concerns for Search Marketers

The rise of mobile Internet use and changes to Google’s algorithm were the most impactful trends and technologies for in-house search engine marketers in 2012.

Forty-seven percent of company respondents to SEMPO’s recent State of Search Marketing survey indicated changes in mobile use are highly significant in the context of their search marketing efforts. An additional 41 percent pegged mobile as significant, for fully 87 percent finding it a concern overall.

Eighty-seven percent also felt Google algorithm updates were significant to their search marketing strategy, 39 percent saying highly so.

On the agency side, mobile was again most impactful. However, agencies overall are more concerned with the rise of local search than Google algorithm changes.

When considering entering new marketing channels, search marketers are most influenced by the cost to implement (58 percent), the ability to manage it in-house (51 percent), and the time it will take to implement (51 percent.) Lesser concerns include:

• Cost per lead or acquisition.
• Cost to manage.
• Ability to report.
• Ability to target.
• Learning curve.

Not surprisingly, paid search gets top marks for the ability to calculate ROI. Just 15 percent of in-house respondents report their company is “Good” at measuring social media ROI.

Said the report, “To some extent this is simply a problem of time and investment; companies would love to have a better idea of ROI, but aren’t willing to implement the technologies and processes it would require, not to mention the staff.”

Agencies practicing SEO are most often using it to generate leads and drive traffic to the client website, said respondents. SEMPO/Econsultancy note, “Although SEO has changed significantly with the Panda and Penguin updates, goals haven’t. There is a drop in the blunt objective of driving traffic, but it’s still a key goal. More interesting perhaps is the doubling of agencies citing brand/reputation as a goal, up from 5% in 2011 to over 11% in this year’s survey.”

The metrics used most often to measure success in SEO by in-house SEOs/companies are:

• Number of sales/leads (49 percent)
• Traffic volume (47 percent)
• Conversion rate (41 percent)
• Return on investment (32 percent)
• Keyword rankings (30 percent).

(Not equal to 100 percent as survey respondents were asked to select the three most important metrics.)

The most important SEO metrics looked slightly different on the agency side:

• Number of sales/leads (42 percent)
• Return on investment (41 percent)
• Traffic volume (40 percent)
• Keyword rankings (40 percent)
• Conversion rate (38 percent)

Overall, companies have increased their SEO budgets over the last three years, though 2 percent of respondents said they spent nothing on SEO at all.

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