Is Google +1 The Future of Social Search?
Google recently rolled out their new Google +1 button. So what exactly does it do? And how does it affect your business?
Google +1 Explained
Here is Google’s official explanation:
“The +1 button is shorthand for “this is pretty cool” or “you should check this out.”
Click +1 to publicly give something your stamp of approval. Your +1′s can help friends, contacts, and others on the web find the best stuff when they search.
In order to +1 a listing, you need a Google Profile. Then, you can help friends see what you recommend by clicking +1 next to the search listing.
This feature reminds me a lot about the new Bing commercial…
In my opinion, Google has been paying close attention to Facebook’s “Like” feature. This new Google +1 button is their first venture into this new hybrid social/search world. If you haven’t noticed, they’ve also recently launched their new, invitation-only, beta Google Plus social network.
How Does Google +1 Affect Your Business?
I believe that Google is moving their search network into a socially influenced search results platform. So, if you happen to be logged into a Google Profile, you’ll see preferred recommendations from friends that co-exist on Google Plus. If you’re not logged in, Google will continue to show you the best results in accordance to their existing algorithm. There will be one major difference, though. In the near future, I believe Google will use data from their +1 databases to further improve their search results and deliver even better, more relevant websites.
So, if you’re running a business, I highly recommend grabbing as many +1′s now as possible. One day, they might be the difference between showing up on page 1…or not showing up at all.
Google provides the code to add to your website’s HTML for free.
If you’re a non-techy WordPress website owner, you can easily (and atuomatically) add a +1 button to each post using this Google +1 Plugin. This will let users +1 your domain by showing a button on each post and page.
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