How Google+ Effects Your Website Marketing Strategy

The world of online marketing is evolving by the day – a world where people have to stay on the ball and jump straight on to the latest innovations in order to stay ahead of the competition. One of the major players in this circle is Google, who already has a number of great tools out there to assist people when it comes to marketing their website. In an effort of upping the ante, and in efforts of competing with some of the major social media sites, Google has now introduced another tool though to their collection, and this one promises to be one of the most exciting yet. It is named Google+ and it is a social tool for web users – however, as internet marketers know, a social tool can also be one of the most powerful marketing tools out there as well.

It’s All About the +1 Button!

Google+ has a number of different features, but the most important, when it comes to website marketing, is the new “+1” button that they have introduced. Before going on to explain how this works when marketing a website though, it is important to understand exactly what it is. In essence, it is a way that people can “like” websites, which has the knock on effect of causing the site to be displayed higher on Google’s results and also means that people get a good indication of the sites that others prefer to browse through. It is also included in both the organic and the paid results – therefore meaning that just because you pay for the privilege of being at the top of the results, it doesn’t mean you can neglect the Google+ score.

Using Google+ to your Advantage

How can webmasters use this new service from Google to increase the effectiveness of their marketing? The first way is without a doubt to encourage visitors to “like” their site – something that can be done either through prompts in the site’s content or through having a button embedded in the site. This is hugely important because it looks like Google is going to rely more and more on this to determine the rankings of the pages – therefore meaning that webmasters need to get on board early to stay ahead of the competition.

The next implication that this tool has for webmasters is in regards to the content on the site. It used to be the case that many poor sites got to the top of rankings simply through the use of SEO techniques, but this looks to be changing as well. This is because people won’t “like” a site that is poorly laid out and that is obviously uncared for – therefore meaning that the site will slide down the rankings as other sites receive more and more likes instead.

The final implication of Google+ is more technical and that involves the ability to track the number of +1 clicks that the webmaster’s site receives and also how to gauge performance against competitors. This isn’t difficult per say, but it will involve learning something new – Google has now included +1 tracking in Google Analytics, which every good marketer should already be familiar with. If they aren’t, then now is the perfect time to learn!

As you may easily see, Google+ could well have a profound effect on the way that internet marketing is carried out. This means that it is more important than ever to embrace this new tool and really ensure that it works to your advantage. If you don’t, then you could easily be left behind.

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