Google+ and its effects on SERPs
-
Hi all,
With the recent launch of Google+ I've looked into the possible effects of +1'ing sites and whether or not it has a direct effect on other people with whom I'm connected within Google+.
So far I cannot see any direct correlation, however I running a bigger/wider experiement with more people to get a definitive answer.
What does scare me as an SEO, is that Google+ users will (most likely) use Google search whilst they are logged in, which, as we know personalises results based on a myriad of suspected metrics such as previous visits, personal +1, etc...
How is this going to effect the SEO world if/when a Google+ attracts more users.
Experienced this first hand when a client called me to congratulate a jump from position 9 on Google to first position over the weekend, which when I checked, the website hadn't shifted, the client was logged into her Google account due to the fact she had been playing with plus.
Thoughts?
Cheers
Aran
-
I'm talking about having the +1 button on pages of your website - e.g. product pages (info here). If there have been a number of people +1 a particular product then that may help the position of that page organically - I think even if you aren't signed in.
You wouldn't +1 at the SERP stage if you haven't been on the site but your friends might have done which could input into it.
All guesses though
-
Agreed CCA.
I don't get +1's on SERPs, when your google something and you get the SERPs you generally haven't visited the sites before, so why would you +1 at that point?
-
Aran,
I think that it will have some sort of an affect on the SERP (by considering your different circles) when being logged in to Google.
But also, http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1152948 shows that the +1 button at least has some impact on rankings and therefore we should all adopt it - I'm not sure it will ever be as popular as a like button, but, who knows!
-
I've conducted an experiment with several friends in my 'Friends' Circle within Google+
To start I +1'd a clients site whilst signed in to Google. Then I Signed out and went on to tweet the URL for another clients website and finally facebook shared yet another clients website (within another industry)
I asked my friends to +1, tweet and FB share a URL which I gave them.
Now when signed into Google the +1'd website (normally at 9th in Google) is now ranked 3rd with a note under the SERP telling me my firend +1'd the site. The website which received the Tweets is now 9th on Google, it is normally 12th when not signed in. Also a note appeared under the serp saying my friend had Tweeted the URL.
The page that received the facebook shares didn't change in position!
All the people concerned all follow each other on twitter, belong to the same circle on Google+ and are friends on Facebook.
Not a very well set up or executed experiement, I made it up as I went along and put into practise within 5 minutes of conceiving the idea. But interesting results all the same.
If Google+ takes off and people adopt the trend of staying logged into Google when searching, Social Metrics are going to have a huge impact on traditional SEO.
Now all we need is someone to setup a 'proper' experiement.
-
oh, you missed off Android and the efforts to takeover the mobile OS market!
Kowtow to Google.
-
Agreed, the number of personalised searches will increase if Google+ catches on. Is this the beginning of the end for SEO?
-
Google has crossed all the lines from being a pure search engine, to being the source of data. There are many people who, if you ask them, would tell you that Google has no data related to them personally. Most are quite mistaken. If a human uses a pc, Google is going to have tons of data available unless the person makes a very specific effort to avoid Google's services.
Gmail, Spreadsheets, Analytics, Desktop, Adwords, YouTube, Google +, WiFi, Chrome browser, translator, picasa photos, Google maps and I am sure there are a dozen other Google apps. Many of these services are independently very highly rated. YouTube alone is the #3 website in the world.
It really brings to reality the phrase "It's Google's world. We are just living in it." They are poised to further widen the chasm between themselves and the next closest competitor. Clearly they will leverage these resources to a greater extent in time.
-
I think that personalized search is making it much more difficult to get sales from customers who have an established history with your competitor. The introduction of Google+ will most likely increase the number of searches that are personalized.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How can I change the Facebook Page shown in the SERP
Hi everyone, got a quick question in regard to our Facebook page and its appearance on the Google SERP. We have individual Facebook pages for every country and language. Unfornately the UK site is ranking in the German SERP rather then our Germany Facebook Site. The UK site is way older and has much more likes which most likely explains why this page is (still) outranking our, fairly new site (couple of months). Is there a way, to push my German Facebook Site in front of the UK Site in Germany? Any advice or tipp is much appreciated. Thanks
Social Media | | ennovators0 -
How do you get more Google +s?
I have had a google plus page and a facebook page for my business for a long time now. I have not had any issues building a customer base via Facebook either by promoting my page or by using the pay promotions via facebook. On the other hand, I have had 0 luck of getting +s on my google page. I feel the page looks good, but just am having a hard time. Is there an effective way out there to get followers on Google+?
Social Media | | RobDalton0 -
Explanation of Facebook referral paths in Google Analytics
In the past month I have seen a huge increase in the visits + conversions from Facebook (which is obviously great). However, from Google Analytics it appears that most of my visits are not coming from my brand page. Is there an explanation of what these referral paths mean? Top Facebook referral paths: / /l.php /home.php /ajax/emu/end.php /brand - much less visits than above URLs
Social Media | | theLotter1 -
Facebook fan page does not show up in Google Search
This fan page - http://www.facebook.com/AnytimeFitnessSantaRosa does not show up in the Google search results for "Anytime Fitness Santa Rosa Facebook" (broad match search). Other Anytime Fitness pages show up in position 1 and 2 and the website for the one I want to rank the Facebook page shows up in position 5 (http://anytimefitness.com/gyms/1352/Santa Rosa-CA-95407). Also I noticed something weird (but maybe unrelated - the url has a %20 in it but shouldn't - it should be a "-" (dash).
Social Media | | Intergen0 -
Personal & Business Google+ Pages - which gives SEO juice?
Hi i set up a personal Google+ page and added a business page for my website www.over50choices.co.uk. The business page is linked to my site, but my personal profile "James Price" has the authorship and my blog, youtube, twitter accounts for over50choices linked to it - do i need to link all these accounts to my Google+ business page to get maximum SEO juice or will my personal page get picked up? Do i need to transfer all the social accounts to my business profille - help!? Thanks James
Social Media | | AshShep11 -
SEO relevance of Google+. Should we bother getting Google+?
I've read mixed results about the SEO benefit of having Google+ for your company. I'm sure that a very small % of my sites user base has Google+ so if we did implement Google+ into our site I don't think we would really have anyone following us...or in our circle or whatever they call it. So are you guys using Google+ for your business and if so, do you think it's worth it for me to if I know barely any of my users have Google+? Google really seems to be trying to plush Google+ for business, with replacing Google places with Google+ Business and requiring people to log into Google+ to rate businesses. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Social Media | | SheffieldMarketing1 -
Can Twitter really help your Google Rankings??
Hi Guys, Can anyone tell me if Twitter really does help with your Goolge rankings? If I go to the trouble of setting up a Twitter account for my business will it really help with me getting higher rankings? If so is it a case of me just posting tweets all the time and links to my website? Any help or guidance be grateful guys Thanks Gareth
Social Media | | GAZ090 -
Can you set up a Google 'author' for rich snippets using a G+ business page or does it have to be a personal profile?
I've set up an author profile for myself, but if I'm writing articles for clients, I don't necessarily want to do it in my own name. Is it possible to set up a Google author profile using a G+ business page? Obviously the idea is to try and gain the rich snippets that only recognised authors receive, but to do so in the name of my client.
Social Media | | Piranha_Solutions1