Yes, you do need another social media platform. Why is Google+ different than having a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and (insert newest and trendiest social media site)? The simple answer is other social media options do not offer you SEO benefits like a Google+ account can!
Disregard your impression or previous knowledge of Google+. In the beginning, it had a reputation as a wannabe Facebook, created for geeks obsessed with the golden touch of Google. However, in the past few years, things have change in the Google+ universe. No longer are techno-geeks and Google employees solely roaming the platform. Rather, business professionals, businesses, celebrities and even your friends are now occupying this social network.
These professionals write articles and posts like on other social media platforms, with the difference that these articles and posts are informational in nature and targeted towards a demographic with a higher vocabulary. Thanks to the reputation of the earlier versions of Google+, young teens generally haven’t jumped on the Google+ bandwagon, unintentionally making this social media network an adult-only mega-platform. Now, I am not saying teenagers are unwelcome here, but you won’t find any grammar mistakes, partying pictures, 9gag shares or other junky posts. No, this platform is reserved for professionals who actually have knowledge to share with others.
Back to my point about SEO benefits. Everyone with basic knowledge of websites and blogs knows that a website lives and dies by its SEO ranking. It shouldn’t be any surprise that Google is now taking more SEO ranking from its social media platform, Google+, than other social media platforms. Indeed, Google makes it clear that they have been ranking content from their own platform more highly than content from other popular platforms like Facebook or Twitter.
This is a huge alert to bloggers and website owners. Google wants to make its search engine better; after all, it is what Google is most famous for! However, it also wants to promote and link to its other services, like Google+.
You increase your odds of being organically found on Google’s search engine if you have a Google+ account. The more Google+ activity you have, the more Google sees you as a viable source, resulting in your website and blog appearing in more search engine results. In other words, the more popular you are on Google+, the better your SEO ranking will be!
Now do you see why neglecting Google+ is backfiring on you? Here you are, trying to increase your SEO ranking when you could have been sharing content and gaining followers to reach the same results! Below are tips on how to quickly optimize your Google+ for SEO benefits.
- Bio
Writing about your website or yourself not only allows followers to easily understand you, but Google also uses that information as your Google+ meta description in search results.
Gently fill your description with keywords of your products, services or information about you. However, don’t overstuff your summary with keywords! Not only is it annoying to users, but Google will pick up on it and may punish you by decreasing your SEO ranking or worse, potentially blacklisting you. The later consequence is extremely rare though.
You can also leave the link to your website in your summary for followers to easily click to your website, which is another positive SEO ranking tactic.
- Link with your other Social Media Accounts
Like other social media platforms, with Google+ you can link all your other accounts together, creating more views, followers and sharing ability for users across multiple social media platforms.
The more links you have, the more authority you have in the eyes of Google, so don’t be afraid to add all those social media accounts and websites!
- Share content
I recommend sharing content that you find of value or related to your website. With every share, you create a link back to your Google+ account and, therefore, potentially back to your website. Google will pick up on your content and shares and reward you for it, finding more authenticity in you and your website.
If you have a Gmail account, link your Gmail account with your Google+ to find followers who could follow you back. This is the easiest way to quickly find friends, family and contacts who also have Google+ profiles.
- Interact with Others
You can’t just update or start your Google+ profile and hope that it gets picked up by Google, because it won’t. You need to become an engaged member of the Google+ community to maximize your SEO ranking and benefits. The more shares you have, the more authentic Google will find you and your website.
If you interact with others, they are more likely to share your content as well, exposing you and your profile to more followers around the Google sphere. Simply leaving comments can help bring others back to your profile and most likely your website.
If you really want to optimize your Google+ as quickly as possible, get your friends, family members and other contacts to post links to your profile and website and share your content. This is the fastest way to legitimize your profile for quick SEO ranking benefits.
Google+ has changed dramatically in the past few years. Once seen as a Google employee-only zone, it has now become a legitimate social media platform. The difference between this platform and the other social media platforms is that this site can dramatically help you and your website in the search engine battle. All you have to do is share, engage and increase your followers to increase your SEO ranking!
