Search Advisory   Brought to you by Prominent Placement, Inc., provider of search engine optimization services and pay-per-click advertising

I know the last thing you need is yet another social media account to keep up with – believe me, I get it!  But ignore Google+ at your own peril.  It is becoming more and more important in search engine optimization (SEO) for Google:

• Christine’s blog post earlier this month outlined how big brand Google+ pages have started taking up a lot of room in the organic results.
• Catherine’s blog post two weeks ago talked about how Google’s new “Search Plus Your World” is serving up even more personalized results than before, including yet more Google+ posts, photos and pages.
• Back in June, our newsletter described the impact of the +1 button on the search engine results visually.
• Since then, Google has stated that they often recrawl sites after a +1 button has been clicked.

We’ve covered this — why are we talking about this topic yet again?  Because we recently heard inside scoop that Google is increasing the importance of the +1 button in its organic ranking algorithm, and it eventually may count for even more than inbound links!

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We recently wrote a post about Google’s new Verbatim Search, a substitute for Google’s phased out “+” operator. In the past, the “+” operator was utilized in Google Search to apply a mandated inclusion of specific word, in a specific form. Many speculated that these changes would allow the plus sign to perform a function related to Google+.

It was only a matter of time. Google has started testing a feature called Google+ Direct Connect which helps users access their favorite brands’ Google+ pages from within Google Search. With this new feature, users will be able to type “+,” followed by a brand name into Google Search in order to be taken directly to that brand’s Google+ Page.
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Earlier this week, Google launched Google+ Pages for businesses and brands worldwide.  While some people were disappointed by the lack of exciting new features and customization options of the Google+ Pages, the impact of +1s in AdWords gives businesses a good reason to get their Google+ Page up and running.

Google announced: “This week we introduced Google+ Pages, a new way to get closer to your customers online. At that time we announced that you’d be able to link your Page to your AdWords campaigns, so that all your +1s — from your Page, your website, ads and search results get tallied together and appear as a single total. We’re happy to announce that starting today, and rolling out to all advertisers globally over the rest of the week, we’re making this functionality available with a new AdWords feature called Social Extensions.
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Christian Oestlien, group product manager for social advertising at Google, has said that business profiles are coming soon to Google+! The social network just recently opened up to the public and traffic stats soared! Previously it was invitation only. This article refers to a 1,269% spike in visits week over week when the site fully opened up to the public.

Businesses have been trying to set up their own profiles, but only Ford and General Motors have officially been allowed to set up real business profiles. Many others have been taken down by Google. A lot of the rush seems to be because companies want to be innovative with the next big thing, but also because they’re anxious to claim their real estate. Companies are afraid of imitators setting up fake profiles in their brand names. Calm down! Google+ allows one name to be registered multiple times. This is at least how profiles for people work. That means that companies won’t run into a similar situation Netflix did when they launched Qwikster. In case you didn’t hear, the Twitter handle was already occupied by what appears to be a foul-mouthed teen. So far, the teen still has the Twitter handle and tweeted “Netflix didn’t take anything this is JASON talking”. It’ll be interesting to see what Qwikster does to establish its Twitter presence.
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Reflecting its relentless drive to speed up the web, and possibly in response to grumblings about drag from the +1 button, Google has announced changes that will allow the +1 button to load up to three times faster.

The speed boost is a result of updates from Google that will make both the +1 button, and the page loading it, faster.

Google is currently rolling out changes that will increase the speed. If you have already added the +1 button to your site, Google says you do not have to make any changes. It will automatically load more quickly.

Google is also introducing an asynchronous snippet, which will further increase speed.

According to Google: “The async snippet allows your web page to continue loading while your browser downloads the +1 JavaScript. By loading these elements in parallel, we’re ensuring the HTTP request to get the +1 button JavaScript doesn’t lead to an increase in your page load time. For those of you who have already implemented the button, you’ll need to update the code to the new async snippet, and then you should see an overall improvement in your page load time.”

To generate the new async snippet, use Google’s +1 Configuration Tool.

The Google +1 button was launched June 1 and has been swiftly adopted across the web.

If you haven’t done it already, here’s how to add the +1 button to your site.

Here’s the info for webmasters and programmers who want to customize the +1 button for your site.

Confused? Here are answers to a slew of questions about the +1 button.

Tom Shivers from Capture Commerce recently interviewed me about how social media impacts search engine optimization.  This was prompted by last month’s AiMA/SEMPO Atlanta event (our coverage here).  Listen to the podcast here.

Topics I cover in about 10 minutes:

• How social media has changed the search landscape
• Google+ and what marketers think about its chance for success
• How businesses can improve the SEO value of their Facebook page
• How businesses can get more marketing value with their use of Twitter
• How Newell-Rubbermaid has pioneered product reviews to impact search rank, marketing, product development, retail shelf space and sales

Google+ (“Google plus”), a new social network, launched about two weeks ago.  Although there was much cynicism surrounding the launch (given Google’s late entry into social media and their failed efforts with Google Wave and Google Buzz), early reviews are quite positive and millions have joined Google+ already, despite the fact that it’s still “invitation only.”  We wrote last time about Google’s “+1” button and how it affects search engine marketing – the odd naming of “+1” makes more sense now that we know it’s part of Google+.

So what does Google+ mean for search marketers and how can we leverage it to drive more website traffic, leads and revenue?

On the Search Engine Optimization side…

Social media activity around a piece of content is always positive – it generates posts, links, shares, tweets, likes, +1s, etc.  So having this kind of activity happening directly on a Google property will presumably help popular content rank high organically on Google.  This is the opposite of Facebook, whose content is mostly in a “walled garden” – behind a password and unavailable to search engines. Read more…

Some of our favorite Vert & Search Discovery folks

The food is always awesome at Park Tavern!

This is the third and final post on our notes from the AiMA/SEMPO Social Impact on Search event. First up is a very interesting account from the VP of E-Business for Newell Rubbermaid, followed by a summary of the Q+A at the end of the event.

Bert DuMars, Newell Rubbermaid

It’s not common for brands to allow reviews on their websites.  One example from Newell Rubbermaid’s experience was working for two years on a product launch which allowed customer reviews to be posted to their site.  There were seven immediate responses; five of them were negative.  While this was an uncomfortable start, he said it really helped them make immediate product improvements.  Another learning was that by providing users a forum for writing their own product descriptions, it helps prospective buyers to get beyond what product managers want you to know to what actual users are saying about how they use the product.
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AiMA & SEMPO Atlanta event

Mixing & Mingling

Here’s part 2 of our notes from the AiMA/SEMPO Social Impact on Search event. To view part 1, click here.

Check out what the representatives from Google and Bing had to say about social search:

Walton Norris, Google

The evolution of the internet looks like this:

Phase 1:  Links rule the ranking algorithm
Phase 2:  Applications rule – such as ecommerce, virtual tours, gaming
Phase 3:  Now, social rules – connecting people and facilitating interactions
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The Social Impact on Search

PPI Team Members Enjoy the Event

Last Wednesday, the Prominent Placement team made its way to Park Tavern for the AiMA/SEMPO event The Social Impact on Search. We learned how Google and Bing are transforming into “social search engines” and Newell Rubbermaid shared how making their site social helped their business. We have a lot of great info to share!

Panel :

• Dave Williams, BLiNQ Media  – Moderator and Event Sponsor
• Walton Norris, Google
• Mike Ching, Program Manager of Bing Social
• Bert DuMars from Newell Rubbermaid

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