Switchfast Blog: The Future of IT
Google Plus 1 and Small Business Marketing
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 by Michael Lewis
Just a few weeks ago I blogged about
Google's Blocklist Extension and how it will effect small
business's online marketing efforts. Since that post went up, there
have been two other major developments for personalized search.
First, Google dropped the ability to 'star' search results. Then, a few weeks
later, they introduced Google +1. +1 is Google's most recent entry
into the social bookmarking/social media realm.
The idea behind +1 is a simple one. In search results, and later
directly on websites, searchers will be able to up-vote search
results they like. These sites will be bookmarked on your profile
page. When the same site appears in the search results of a friend,
a tag will appear underneath the snippet indicating that you liked
it. Google will show you +1's from your contacts in Gmail, Buzz,
and Google Reader.
Does that sound familiar? Digg, Reddit, Facebook, and dozens of
Delicious clones have been doing this for years. Google believes
that putting the ability to up-vote content directly in search
results and AdWord Ads will make searching more social. In an
interview with Mashable, Google spokesman Jim Prosser said, 'People consult their friends
and other contacts on decisions. It's a very easy and lightweight
way to make search results more relevant. +1 lets Google cut out
Facebook's well established social recommendation effect by putting
the 'likes' directly into the search stream.
+1 is currently available if you have turned on the
'experimental' mode in Chrome. It can also be enabled from Google's
Search Lab control panel. It will be rolled out over the next few
months for all users.
So why are we talking about this now and not when it rolls out?
It may have long term implications for digital marketing in general
and SEO in specific - especially for small businesses. Facebook,
Yelp, and Twitter have all proven themselves as recommendation
engines and taste makers. But the downside is that they are all
walled off from a wider audience. In Twitter's fire hose of
updates, it can be very easy to miss a friend's update. Facebook
walls off updates and does not allow you to connect them to other
services. Unless you and all of your friends and family are active
Yelp users, they may not see your reviews. By inserting
recommendations directly into search results, suddenly Google
becomes the arbiter of taste.
As for SEO, +1 will likely be another signal Google will be
integrating into the algorithm.
Also See:
Google+ for Small Business Networking
Until next time -
Mike Lewis
Switchfast Technologies
Chicago IT Support &
Consulting
Rochester IT Support &
Consulting
Outsourced Marketing
Services
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