If you haven’t heard of Google Plus by now, here is your wake up call. If you have and are not yet utilizing to its fullest capacity, I strongly urge you to. Keep reading… Quoted from a post I initially wrote for my personal blog:
Think about it this way, Google is the most used search engine and they give priority to their services and those who use them. Not to mention, because Google.com is the most visited website, the sites they own (Google+, You Tube, Picasa, etc.) will naturally have higher search results than others.
Take a look at this screenshot below from when I searched for “social media”. There are four areas on this search that would not appear if you did not have a Google+ profile. The large area on the right is an entirely separate search result, only including content from Google Plus, from people you may or may not be following.
The two lower items on the left side are the natural Google search results, but point out who, from within your Google Plus Circles, has previously +1′d (like Facebook’s “like”) or shared this information. This is essentially an endorsement of this content, that your eye is drawn to, that your friend has already suggested is good content.
The other area to point out is on the very top, which shows you that there are another 80 search results from within your Google+ Circles. Clicking on this will show you only these results.
So, how you ask, does this bring my website more traffic? By having a profile, sharing content, +1′ing content and participating on the network, your profile will appear in these search results. Your profile popping up all over Google’s search results will bring people to your profile, who will see your website address, and thus, clicking on it and bringing you traffic. Add the +1 button to your website (in the upper right corner of this site above the Facebook like) and appear in even more results, getting more traffic.
Beginning to all come together? Here’s another reason, as of yesterday, to jump on the Google+ bandwagon. Facebook is a competitor of Google+ and they will forever be trying to one-up each other. Google Plus just changed the size for your cover photo on profile pages AND relocated your profile picture. Take a look at the changes:
Old Google+ cover photo and size: 
NEW Google+ cover photo and size: 
Here’s whats on your emergent to-do list:
- Make any necessary adjustments to your profile picture (I had to zoom out a little bit to avoid the cut off corners from the new circle image)
- Completely re-vamp your cover photo. Google is not being stingy with strict guidelines about what cannot be on your cover photo (like another network who shall remain nameless). Maximize this enormous space to show off your brand! My photo is exact size at 918×516, but you have a maximum size allowance of 2120×1192.
- If you don’t want to do anything crazy, Google does have some stock photos you can use, BUT make sure you adjust your profile picture (note my unchanged photo in the “old” image above).
- Circle me on Google+ to keep up on all of this stuff!
I know, I know, another social media network to keep in mind. Think of this one as an SEO tool. Grow your following on Google+ and when you have a new blog post or important info, quickly post it on your page and you will start appearing in Google’s search results! What do you think of Google+
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