How to Use Google+ So it Aids Your SEO Efforts

This is a guest post by Bernard Naylor.

Google+ is still relatively new, the interface is unlike any other social network, and users, even though they number in millions, have not yet saturated the platform or the possibilities it offers. This is the perfect time to hop on to the Plus wagon and announce your presence in the cyber world. If you are like most people, you know that Google can't be ignored when it comes to search engine optimization. And Google+ involvement is just what you need to boost your SEO efforts. Read on for a few tips and tricks to use Google+ for SEO.

1. Unfair Advantage

Most people seem to agree that material posted on Google+ get indexed by Google faster than anything posted anywhere else. In any case, even if we don't go into comparisons, it would be foolhardy to not take the opportunity to plant a few of your links right inside Google's doorstep when you have the chance. 

About posting links from your blog, for example, don't just copy-paste links. That looks dumb. Write a few words, summarize the content, mention why you wrote the post and think of a reason to invite people to view the content on your blog. As you entice people to visit, so your ranking goes higher (we are assuming you have great content which captivates people and lowers your bounce rate remarkably).

We should probably clarify the 'unfair' part - it is not that Google is unfair, but other social platforms like Twitter and Facebook have specific policies and privacy settings that do not let everything get indexed as well as or as fast as the content on Google+.

2. Surprise! Surprise!

Did you know that the first sentence of any Google+ post is encased in title tags? That simply means your post will behave like an article with a title when it is indexed and displayed on SERP. And we all know the value of an engaging headline, right? Make sure you include your keyword, where appropriate, in the first sentence, and write it like the headline that it really is.

3. Being in the Flow

It is recommended that you tweet five times a day (throughout the day), at least, if you are going to grab attention on Twitter. We have not come across any such specification with regard to posting on Google+ but it is easy to understand that unless you post regularly, you will not figure prominently or at all in other people's feeds. Obviously, we would not ask you to post anything that comes to mind. Before you embark on a Google+ SEO boosting campaign, have a definite strategy and a reserve of materials to post. 

This is something like having a lot of articles ready to publish on a blog - you set them to be published at regular intervals without having to bother about writing a fresh one every time it is time for you to post. This kind of approach is convenient because it does not stop you from writing something spontaneously - on a current hot topic, for instance, but always keeps you prepared with ready material for posting. Having a definite strategy is important, or you will either lose consistency or run out of interesting things to say by trying to figure things out in a hurry.

4. Putting Your Best Face Forward

Google uses Google+ to enhance search engine results and ranking by showing Google Authorship along with rich snippets. Sign up for Google Authorship and let people see you - it can be your own photo or that of your brand, but this is a great way to use a social platform to create an impression and increase brand visibility. Yes, you can do this without fiddling around Google+, but refer to what we mentioned in the first point with regard to crawling and indexing.

5. Connect Further

Join communities on Google+ to further increase your connections. This way, you will get to know more people and more people will get to know you. This is true for any kind of social network, as also for bloggers in general. Be active, be helpful, be everything that you'd expect others to be in a social situation, and you will have people taking interest in you soon enough. It is a matter of time before your SEO efforts merge into SMM and reap benefits for you both in terms of traffic and, as a consequence, in SERP rankings as well.

Additionally, it is useful to make quite a few public posts so that people who don't know you can come across your content and share them, to have a Google+ button on your site (this particular share is supposed to have more SEO value than Facebook 'likes'), and to use hash tags sparingly but with care so that your content is found for your keywords. The most important thing to remember is to be social because first and foremost, Google+ is a social network, and you can make optimal use of it only when others accept you as someone interesting and fun to be with.

About the author
Bernard Naylor is an Online Manager for CJ Pony Mustang Parts - one of the Top Mustang parts and accessories retailers in the world.He also likes blogging about online strategies that are related to SEO, Content, PPC & Lead generation.