Google is Integrating Google+ With Search Engine Results

google+ concentric circles

google+ concentric circles

Google is changing the whole landscape of Internet search through integration of Google+ with organic and paid search results.

A number of prominent Internet marketers have reported recently that they are seeing this integration of Google+ in the search results and have screenshots to prove it.  Mike Brooks, for example, shows a screenshot where a number of paid search results are shown above the organic search results, but on the right hand side are the results from Google+:

Game Changer: Google Plus Changes Search and Social Media

He points out that Mari Smith, because of her Google+ activity, holds the number one spot in the right hand column for the search term, ‘Internet marketing’ – a spot usually held by people who pay $100 per click via Google Adwords.  It is likely this positioning of Google+ results will change.  However, it shows that Google is experimenting with the integration of Google+ with its paid and organic search results.

It also means that Google is seeking to give prominence to its own social network as a source of quality information.  This understandably is upsetting both Facebook and Twitter.  It is interesting that my own observation, and that of a number of my connections, is that the information shared on Google+ to date is more focused and of a higher quality than that shared on Facebook or Twitter – it tends to be enlightening, educational or practical.  From what I have experienced from the circles I have created, Google+ posts tend to challenge my assumptions and expand my thinking.  This may be a function of the fact, that because it is early days, I have been able to include people in my circles who are prominent elsewhere but excluded from access because of their number of followers.

[Image source: Pixabay.com]

The Implications for Small Business Marketing of the Google+ Integration with Search Engine Results

As many commentators have pointed out already, the implications of this Google+ integration move by Google are not entirely clear for a number of reasons.  We do not know what the final configuration will look like – only some people have access to the new format which is in a testing mode at the moment.  We do not know how Facebook and Twitter will respond, but respond they will!   We are uncertain whether the Google+ results shown will be just those from your own circles or those from Google+ generally.   What we do know so far is that a lot of old assumptions and processes about search engine optimisation (SEO) will need to change. 

We can also assume that some of the implications for small business marketing will be:

  • if you are not on Google+, you will be at a considerable disadvantage when it comes to search engine results in the future – you may actually disappear from the search results that you are currently achieving
  • when you share on Google+ via your stream, you need to ensure that your content matches the primary niche(s) or keywords that you want to be visible for in search engine results
  • it will no longer be enough to be on Facebook only – it is interesting that Mari Smith, known widely as a Facebook guru, is prominent in the new Google+ search results (she has around 50,000 people in her Google+ circles)
  • Google+ is effectively integrating  list building with search engine optimization (SEO) – through Google+ you will not only build your list, you will also increase your chances of appearing in Google’s integrated search engine results
  • Google’s shift from page rank to people rank is happening in earnest – another level of integration will be when Google integrates Google+ results with organic search results based on people rank
  • small business owners will no longer be able to ignore social media if they want to appear in Google’s search engine results
  • your Google+ business page will assume greater importance in terms of how often your business will appear in search results and what keywords/search terms will influence the search results for your small business
  • your images on Google+ (photos, graphics, illustrations) will feed Google’s integrated search results and feature in its increased focus on multimedia
  • the Google+1 button will assume even greater importance because of its indication of how your content is valued by your connections
  • your personal profiles on social networks will become even more important (you need to integrate them into your Google+ profile to strengthen their capacity to demonstrate your social connection)
  • social connections along with quality content will assume even greater importance – it will not be enough just to create quality original content, you will also need to be connected to people who “value” that content.

As Mike Brooks commented, a core meaning of the integration of Google+ with search engine results is that we are facing the era where “content and connection is king”.

We have moved over time from thinking of Internet marketing as a linear process to a circular process (with web rings, blog rings, lens rings, etc).  I think we now have to visualize Internet marketing like concentric circles formed when a drop of water lands in a pool of water (as the image above shows).   

Internet marketing can now be visualized as concentric circles formed when content is dropped into (shared with) our pool of connections.

The integration of Google+ into Google’s search engine results has profound implications for small business marketing that cannot be ignored by small business owners.

Postscript: Since I wrote this blog post, top Internet marketer, Bill Guthrie, has come out with his Google+ Manifesto, where he asserts that, “We’re witnessing the quick death of SEO as we know it” and that “Google+ is now mandatory”.  He released his PDF Manifesto as a Warrior Special Offer (WSO) which explains the principles behind Google+, their implications and offers heaps of tips and ideas to take advantage of this massive change which will change small business marketing and affiliate marketing.  You can grab your copy at the WSO discounted price here:

http://www.warriorplus.com/linkwso/4kbjzp/7888

Grab your copy now so that you can get in on the ground with the game-changing Google+ which will influence the course of small business marketing into the future and have a serious effect on your search engine results.

Free WordPress Plugin: All in One SEO

Free WordPress Plugin
Wordpress plugin

 

All in One SEO Plugin is a free WordPress Plugin that enables you to very easily optimize your blog posts for the search engines.  It also forms the foundation for the analysis and research conducted by the more sophisticated WordPress Plugin, SEOPressor, described in an earlier post.

As you can see from the image above, there are three main sections of the All in One SEO plugin you need to complete for each blog post to enable the search engines to readily locate your content.  The three main aspects of this free WordPress Plugin are keyword, title and description.

Keyword for All in One SEO WordPress Plugin

It is really important to decide the primary keyword for your blog post (and the Free WordPress Plugin). The primary keyword should determine the title and the description. The keyword chosen should be governed by the content and the purpose of your article and your market research.

Title for the All in One SEO WordPress Plugin

The title should include the primary keyword and, where possible, another related keyword. However, it is important to avoid keyword stuffing otherwise your site will be penalized by Google. One of the real benefits of the All in One SEO WordPress Plugin is the ability to provide a catchy, “sexy” title for your blog post to engage the reader and then to have a more SEO-aware title for the search engines.

Description for the All in One SEO WordPress Plugin

The description should contain the primary keyword at least twice but needs to be conversational in nature – it has to be a meaningful sentence(s). The important thing with the description is to keep the reader in mind – who are they and what do they want in relation to your blog post? What problems or issues are you solving with your post?

Not only does the All in One SEO Plugin help you with your title and description, it also gives you a recommended length for each based on how search engines treat these aspects of blog posts.

The free All in One SEO WordPress Plugin can help you make your blog posts reader-friendly and, at the same time, improve the search engine  results for these posts – thus boosting the marketing of your small business online.

WordPress Plugin Guaranteed to Boost Search Engine Results for Your Blog

SEOPressor is a WordPress Plugin that enables you to achieve great search engine results for your blog posts and website pages.  The Plugin is easy to install and it provides you with a means for ensuring that your blog posts are optimized for the search engines; that is, they will rank highly in the search engine results for their targeted keyword.

What the SEOPressor WordPress Plugin does

I’ve used SEOPressor to score first page results  on Google for my blog posts.  What this WordPress Plugin does is help you to improve the onsite SEO for your website – it identifies what aspects you can improve with minimum effort to gain better positioning in search engine results.

SEOPressor does all the work of analysis and research and reports an overall SEO score for the post/page being analyzed.  It also identifies how you can improve your use and placement of keywords, font emphasis (bold, italics and underline), images and the key markers that tell Google what the post is about.

What you can do with the information from this WordPress Plugin

With this information you can improve the ranking of your blog post/page by implementing the minor changes recommended.  SEOPressor will then recalculate your overall SEO score for the blog post.  In this way, you are able to gain better results for your writing through higher placement in search engine results.

The Plugin also educates you so that you can consistently achieve improved traffic from search engines irrespective of what blog or website you are writing for.  This is an easy way to maximize the return on your investment of your time and energy in writing.

The SEOPressor is a WordPress Plugin that improves your writing, boosts your search engine results and brings increased targeted traffic to your small business blog or website.

RedGage: Social Bookmarking with a Difference

RedGage Social Bookmarking

 

Social Bookmarking is designed to create online bookmarks that store information about your small business.

Sites that provide social bookmarking often have a high Page Rank with Google so information bookmarked on these sites can provide quality backlinks to your own small business website/blog.  This, in turn, increases the value of your own site in the “eyes” of Google.

RedGage is a social bookmarking site with a difference:

  • it combines social bookmarking with social networking
  • enables you to earn a (small) income just from sharing your content
  • provides bookmarking for images, photos, videos, blog posts, and other web content
  • provides a blogging platform to enable you to add blog posts on site

When you share your content on RedGage, you can build links to your own online content so that you generate traffic from within RedGage and via Google’s search results.

As with other social networking sites, RedGage provides a “profile” panel where you can add information about yourself and create links to your website/blog.

You could feature your small business products/services through RedGage by way of images, videos, links and by creating blog posts on the site.  The blogging platform is really an excellent addition and underutilized by most RedGage members.  It has all the edit features you would want and enables you to embed images and videos.

The RedGage community is very supportive and appreciates quality images and uploads.  Like other social networking sites, you gain visibility by commenting constructively on other people’s content and by regularly adding your own content.

For more information on RedGage and its marketing potential, visit my Squidoo lenses:

RedGage can be a valuable addition to your social bookmarking and an integral part of your social media marketing.