Guest post written by Josh Lloyd
Josh Lloyd is chief technology officer of ShopVisible, a provider of e-commerce software.
The answer is YES! Businesses should be engaged with Google+ if for no other reason than it is Google. Facebook may be the most widely-used social network, but Google is still the number one visited website attracting over 1 billion visitors per month. So a social network directly tied to the most-widely used search engine on the planet is definitely something worth paying attention to. Since the launch of Google+ less than a year ago, the social network has grown to over 90 million users and is the fastest-growing social network ever.
Google has a plan with Google+ to adopt users just like it does with all of its products, but with Google+ the plan is bigger than any other service it’s ever launched. Every Google service, like Mail, Reader and YouTube is integrated with Google+. For businesses, especially businesses selling goods online, the smartest and easiest step you can take is to implement the magic “+1” button everywhere on your site and every product listed on your site. Here’s why:
- Better social search rankings.
There should be an extra “S” added to SEO, because Google+ extends Search Engine Optimization, into Social Search Engine Optimization. There’s no question that the “+1” button is going to impact search results, but it is still up for speculation as to how exactly. Google is known for rewarding merchants who adopt its services. For example, when Google Checkout was launched, they gained a high adoption from companies by offering free ad words spend and free merchant use. Google’s greatest power is search rankings, so to entice online retailers to adopt and promote Google+ and the social search evolution, it developed into its search algorithm higher search rankings when the “+1” button is used, so if you enable consumers to +1 your products, and your competitor doesn’t, then you soar above in natural search rankings.
- It broadens your consumer appeal.
Unlike the Facebook Like button, the +1 button is not limited to use within the confines of the social network, but rather it’s open to anyone searching on Google. This opens up the possibility to reach a consumer audience that you were not aware of or who may not have been familiar with you and your products. It also builds the Social Search that Google is so aggressively moving towards. Google is more interested in understanding people and relationships than just content, and with the recent launch of Search Plus Your World, Google+ profiles, pages, and posts will be incorporated into search results. For example, when you search “Best Buy”, the search results for bestbuy.com shows that over 2,000 people have +1’d the website as well as who in your Google+ network has +1’d Best Buy or posted something pertaining to Best Buy.
- Potential to upsell, cross sell and just sell.
One of two actions can accompany the act of someone hitting the +1 button. They either 1) purchase the product they have +1’d or 2) they +1 your product and move on with their Web surfing. In either instance, consider the opportunities that become available to you. Hitting the +1 button is a direct action that enables you to have a direct response. Consider this: You can offer a consumer an incentive to +1 your product and to buy by offering a discount on their next purchase or free shipping. This is a great opportunity to not only build up your +1 endorsements to increase your social search ranking power, but also give the consumer an extra push to buy. Then you can capture the consumer data from the +1 endorsement, and use to send a targeted promotion or cross sell complimentary products.
The bottom line is that every business wants better visibility, so if the +1 button provides one more avenue to expose your brand and products, why not?
