Impact of Google +1 on SEO

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Google launched the +1 button in March 2011, but it was available only when performing searches. This was a tentative step to introduce the concept to search engine users and to assess its impact on finding relevant results. Google later rolled out the +1 feature for webmasters to add it to their sites on June 1st. It is billed as a competitor to the Facebook Like button, but it has more significance for the future direction of SEO.

Many sites have implemented the Like button as it means people can quickly share things with friends. Other social networking services have similar offerings that let users share things. The Google +1 button has not got the same social network platform available, but it does have the potential for a much bigger impact as it can directly influence which search engine results people see when they perform a search on Google.

How Google +1 works:

1. Users click the +1 button to effectively recommend that page to their online connections.

2. When a connection performs a search when signed into a Google account, they may see a snippet highlighting the names of those who gave it a +1. This can result in those people visiting the same site instead of a different site and therefore bringing in additional traffic.

3. If no connections have given a +1, signed in users may still see an aggregated number showing how many other people have recommended it. This social element can influence which sites get visited and those with low volumes of recommendations are likely to drop down rankings.

Ways Google +1 will impact on SEO in the near future:

1. Site owners will implement the new feature hoping to attract more social awareness. If it is easy to +1 something, users may do it willingly and use it the same way as Facebook Likes. The more people who +1 a page the better the chances of that specific page ranking higher in organic search results. If you don’t consider implementing the +1 button, you risk losing out as competitor sites take advantage.

2. Site owners may change the type of content they produce in order to take advantage of the +1 feature. The new type of content will aim to appeal directly to users and get a positive reaction and bring in lots of +1s. You should consider if the content your site produces appeals to users rather than search engines. The more appealing it is for users, the greater the chances of it getting a +1.

3. Google could use the +1 data to rank certain pages for specific keywords or phrases. The more +1s appearing for a specific keyword or phrase, the higher it would rank. It is too early for this to happen at this time as SEO companies could take advantage of it and devalue the whole thing.

4. Google could use the +1 data and combine it with other similar social data from Twitter and Facebook to display relevant results for specific search queries. This is more likely to happen than Google using the +1 data solely to determine ranks. You will need to consider using Twitter, Facebook and Google +1 buttons together on your site to maximize potential exposure and remain competitive.

5. When someone +1′s a page, this can trigger a Google spider to crawl that page again and extract data such as the page title. This highlights the importance of a good title, but also means if you update older content and it gets a +1, the new version will be what other users see in annotations. This could be very powerful for some types of dynamic content sites.

The Google +1 feature highlights the shift from traditional SEO to social SEO. This shift is unlikely to turn back and is worth consideration to remain competitive. Many people will initiate things through implementing the button, but will fail to follow up. If you do implement the button it is important to monitor its usage and effectiveness for your users. It may not have a significant impact on rankings in the short term, but as it becomes more widely used it could result in dramatic ranking changes.

If you’d like to add the +1 button to your website, check out the official tool to generate your code snippet @ Google Webmasters!