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Google Plus - Social Animal or SEO Henchman?

Martin Jordan
Martin Jordan

This document discusses Google's efforts to build up its social networking platform Google+ to compete with Facebook. It outlines Google+'s history of social projects like Orkut, Wave, Buzz that failed to take off. While Google+ now has over 400 million users, engagement is still low compared to Facebook. The document then focuses on how Google is trying to integrate Google+ more into its search and local search results to drive more users, and the strategies local businesses can take to optimize their Google+ Local listings and websites to better rank for local searches.

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Google Plus - Social Animal or SEO Henchman?
Who on Earth is Equator? We know what makes your customers click.
Who am I? Marketing Director of said large full-service digital agency Almost 20 years online 損 Been social networking online since 1992 損 Built my first website in 1994 損 Built my first web server in 1995 損 Thesis written on Marketing on the Internet in 1996 Never looked back! 損 Been doing internet marketing and spending too much time online ever since
Why am I here? We know what makes your customers click.
We know what makes your customers click.
We know what makes your customers click.
We know what makes your customers click.
Google Plus - Social Animal or SEO Henchman?
Google Plus - Social Animal or SEO Henchman?
Social is important to Google Google made $38,000,000,000 last year - 96% of which came from Adwords Targeting consumers right at the point when they want to buy Best prices Apple Ipad 3 Audi car insurance Cheap personal loan Its been a hugely successful business model one that others have struggled to beat
Social is important to Google However, thats on the decline seeing an 8% drop in revenue YOY Meanwhile, Facebook has come from nowhere to grab more than $5,000,000,000 from social advertising Facebook understands your demographics, your emotions, your relationships, your motivations and a lot more Google needs to succeed in social to get in on this But its not for want of trying
Its been a long journey
Its been a long journey Started wayyy back in 2004 a month BEFORE Facebook Been a Google project from the off - but never been a priority for them. Shares many features of Facebook including embedding photos and videos, live chat, likes and more But it never took off in the USA or Europe.but it was HUGE in Brazil, India and Estonia Now losing ground to Facebook and Twitter over 86% of its Indian audience leaving in a year dead soon?
Its been a long journey
Its been a long journey What even was Google Wave? A replacement for email? A new kind of instant messenger? A collaborative project management tool? A cloud storage tool? An open platform for new social media tools? It sort of did everything but something else did each thing better It died on April 2012
Its been a long journey
Its been a long journey Google Buzz was Gmail on steroids take all the sharing that exists on Facebook and plug it into email Not quite Facebook, not quite Yahoo Messenger, not quite Twitter but did all of this within Gmail Privacy was chucked out the window in an attempt to garner takeup Again the purpose of it was unclear and the product was far from street-ready It died on December 2011
Its been a long journey
Its been a long journey Google Plus is their BIG push into Social media Taking all the best bits of Buzz, Wave, Orkut andFacebook and removing the geeky bits The success of G+ will directly affect Googlers bonuses Theyre pulling out all the stops to make this a resounding success And its definitely got some stuff going for it.
Google Plus - Social Animal or SEO Henchman?
Is it a better social network? Integrated with other Google Services GmailDocsPicasaDrive and a lot more Circles make more sense as a way to manage your contacts The mobile app works well and is slick Privacy settings are more intuitive and easier to manage Hangouts are genuinely cool chat rooms and video meet-ups on speed Much more intuitive interface than Facebook and constantly improvements Search is not crap! More targeted ads (currently) Far better manipulation and storage of photos and videos
So is it working? Launched just a year ago it is already claiming to have over 400 million users (100Mn active) AND companies like Cadbury have garnered a million followers and reasonable interaction AND theyre attracting SOME celebs - Britney Spears has 2 million followers AND photo sharing is taking off in a reasonably big way SO it must be good news then ?
100Mn is not that many really G+ Active Users Facebook Active Users
And 3 minutes is just tragic G+ Time on Site Facebook Time on Site
Whats to be done about this ? Its clear that G+ for all its take up is not getting adopted and Facebook continues to grow Google is getting more desperate with every passing day to make G+ a success It could be argued that theyre coercing people into using it specifically businesses And theres good reason to
Where its at... Despite well documented issues (merged business info, duplicate listings etc) Google has the most complete and accurate local search database in the UK Consumers find local listings to deliver the most relevant and trusted results Ahead of PPC and traditional organic results
Where its going... 34% of Adwords budget now being spent on local keywords Google increasing visibility & creating new ad spaces in local and social markets Visible in universal results pages and in Google+ Local business pages Increasing visibility & capitalising on local and social advertising space What happened next to Google+ was inevitable
Merging the properties It was inevitable that to get people using G+ - search was the place to start And so Search Plus Your World was born. That didnt work So they got stuck into schlooping lots of important Google properties together Google Places, Local Business Centre, Google Maps & Google Local
Shifting sands
Still shifting Now you can expect to find a floating map Up to 17 results shown on Google's 1st page 7 local results 10 organic listings And now all of this relies heavily on G+ Reviews Plusses Offsite content that is linked
G+ vs. Organic Why do I want in this space? 損 For searches with local intent G+ Local listings now dominate search results 損 Over 40% of results on 1st page being G+ Local results 損 Most G+L results sit below the 2nd or 3rd organic listing Not in G+L or in top 3 spaces? Youre not in the top 10! 損 Youll struggle to catch the attention of searchers! What can a poor man do?
Can you optimise? We know what makes your customers click.
Optimising for G+ For businesses its about being found and G+ is proven to help with local search results Dentist in Glasgow Glasgow Airport Car Hire Glasgow restaurants Needs 3 main areas of focus 損 The information on your G+ Local page 損 The information on your website or webpages if you have more than one physical location 損 Offsite optimisation and authority
Needs some foundations Need a business with a physical address in city you are optimising for 損 Ideally, your business is located within 2 mile radius of centroid 損 Depends on competition 損 Proximity is one main ranking factor Before optimising G+L for generic keywords - research competition levels within your radius
Consistency is key The SINGLE best way to rank well in Google+ Local Maintain consistency with your business information Especially your business name, address & phone number Otherwise known as NAP Then its a case of ticking some more boxes
A partial view of G+L Dashboard
Optimising G+ local pages Set up account with company domain email address Ensure you have Local area code phone number on place page Get your listing verified Use service & location keywords in business title Against Google guidelines but works!
Optimising G+ local pages Use service & location keywords in place page description Think keyword focus in everything you do within G+ Place latitude and longitude coordinates in custom attributes Unexciting but works! Get Proper category associations
Optimising your site Google measures a lot of the traditional SEO signals when analysing on-site factors Such as 損 Domain authority, page authority, geographic keyword in title tag, URL, H tags, Copy etc The main unique onsite signals Google look for when factoring results for Google+ Local are 損 Name, address and phone number or NAP for short 損 This must match the details given in your Google+ Local account 損 Make sure phone number used has local area code 損 Wrap the NAP in hcard or schema mark-up 損 Add KML file to tie up coordinates with Google Earth & Google Maps
Optimising off-site Just as with organic search, Google takes into account the traditional offsite SEO signals Quality and authority of back links Quantity of back links from locally relevant websites Location keywords in back link anchor texts Business title keywords in back link anchor texts
Optimising off-site Gaining citations from local directory sites - whitespark! Gain links from locally focused business websites kills two birds with one stone Gaining reviews!
This stuff works! We know what makes your customers click.
Ranking with nothing Despite having a one page website 損 Being located 3.6 miles from centroid 損 No use of geo keyword London in the title tag 損 And no instances of the search term being used in the anchor text Agency Republic rank 1st place in Google organic and in G+L results No1 in Google For the moderately competitive search term digital agencies in London
Its all plus points Local area code phone number Location & keyword in text - albeit thinly spread Address wrapped in hcard micro format Low number of citations however, NAP is consistent throughout Google maps show as a key ranking factor even one page websites with light content In unfavourable locations And no use of search term in external anchor text links
Ranking with something Something more competitive 損 Restaurants in London 損 22,200 monthly searches Ranks well by more traditional means Ranks in 3rd in G+L
Going a bit further Close proximity to centroid less than a mile Geographic keywords in <title> Decent volume of quality links Local area code phone number Address wrapped in hcard micro format Link to Google maps Reasonable number of decent reviews (160) Address with link to maps
Is sharing worth it? We know what makes your customers click.
Not quite in the searches
But isnt Google+ a SOCIAL tool too? We know what makes your customers click.
Not quite at the races
Roundup We know what makes your customers click.
Rounding up Google+ may yet turn into a genuine social network to reckon with Itll take some doing to make it happen though However, its definitely gearing up to be a tool that can influence search And theyre still working on it If youre a business with local presences complete every aspect of everything Google gives you Use Google+ and populate it even if your customers dont Stay tuned!
GIMME SOME QUESTIONS!
How to fix inaccurate information No quick fix and no guarantee
Google+ Local Ranking Signals
Zagat Reviews
Tracking in Google
What are the pros & cons Pros 損 Chance to rank well ahead of global websites Cons 損 Wrong info *

More Related Content

Google Plus - Social Animal or SEO Henchman?

  • 2. Who on Earth is Equator? We know what makes your customers click.
  • 3. Who am I? Marketing Director of said large full-service digital agency Almost 20 years online 損 Been social networking online since 1992 損 Built my first website in 1994 損 Built my first web server in 1995 損 Thesis written on Marketing on the Internet in 1996 Never looked back! 損 Been doing internet marketing and spending too much time online ever since
  • 4. Why am I here? We know what makes your customers click.
  • 5. We know what makes your customers click.
  • 6. We know what makes your customers click.
  • 7. We know what makes your customers click.
  • 10. Social is important to Google Google made $38,000,000,000 last year - 96% of which came from Adwords Targeting consumers right at the point when they want to buy Best prices Apple Ipad 3 Audi car insurance Cheap personal loan Its been a hugely successful business model one that others have struggled to beat
  • 11. Social is important to Google However, thats on the decline seeing an 8% drop in revenue YOY Meanwhile, Facebook has come from nowhere to grab more than $5,000,000,000 from social advertising Facebook understands your demographics, your emotions, your relationships, your motivations and a lot more Google needs to succeed in social to get in on this But its not for want of trying
  • 12. Its been a long journey
  • 13. Its been a long journey Started wayyy back in 2004 a month BEFORE Facebook Been a Google project from the off - but never been a priority for them. Shares many features of Facebook including embedding photos and videos, live chat, likes and more But it never took off in the USA or Europe.but it was HUGE in Brazil, India and Estonia Now losing ground to Facebook and Twitter over 86% of its Indian audience leaving in a year dead soon?
  • 14. Its been a long journey
  • 15. Its been a long journey What even was Google Wave? A replacement for email? A new kind of instant messenger? A collaborative project management tool? A cloud storage tool? An open platform for new social media tools? It sort of did everything but something else did each thing better It died on April 2012
  • 16. Its been a long journey
  • 17. Its been a long journey Google Buzz was Gmail on steroids take all the sharing that exists on Facebook and plug it into email Not quite Facebook, not quite Yahoo Messenger, not quite Twitter but did all of this within Gmail Privacy was chucked out the window in an attempt to garner takeup Again the purpose of it was unclear and the product was far from street-ready It died on December 2011
  • 18. Its been a long journey
  • 19. Its been a long journey Google Plus is their BIG push into Social media Taking all the best bits of Buzz, Wave, Orkut andFacebook and removing the geeky bits The success of G+ will directly affect Googlers bonuses Theyre pulling out all the stops to make this a resounding success And its definitely got some stuff going for it.
  • 21. Is it a better social network? Integrated with other Google Services GmailDocsPicasaDrive and a lot more Circles make more sense as a way to manage your contacts The mobile app works well and is slick Privacy settings are more intuitive and easier to manage Hangouts are genuinely cool chat rooms and video meet-ups on speed Much more intuitive interface than Facebook and constantly improvements Search is not crap! More targeted ads (currently) Far better manipulation and storage of photos and videos
  • 22. So is it working? Launched just a year ago it is already claiming to have over 400 million users (100Mn active) AND companies like Cadbury have garnered a million followers and reasonable interaction AND theyre attracting SOME celebs - Britney Spears has 2 million followers AND photo sharing is taking off in a reasonably big way SO it must be good news then ?
  • 23. 100Mn is not that many really G+ Active Users Facebook Active Users
  • 24. And 3 minutes is just tragic G+ Time on Site Facebook Time on Site
  • 25. Whats to be done about this ? Its clear that G+ for all its take up is not getting adopted and Facebook continues to grow Google is getting more desperate with every passing day to make G+ a success It could be argued that theyre coercing people into using it specifically businesses And theres good reason to
  • 26. Where its at... Despite well documented issues (merged business info, duplicate listings etc) Google has the most complete and accurate local search database in the UK Consumers find local listings to deliver the most relevant and trusted results Ahead of PPC and traditional organic results
  • 27. Where its going... 34% of Adwords budget now being spent on local keywords Google increasing visibility & creating new ad spaces in local and social markets Visible in universal results pages and in Google+ Local business pages Increasing visibility & capitalising on local and social advertising space What happened next to Google+ was inevitable
  • 28. Merging the properties It was inevitable that to get people using G+ - search was the place to start And so Search Plus Your World was born. That didnt work So they got stuck into schlooping lots of important Google properties together Google Places, Local Business Centre, Google Maps & Google Local
  • 30. Still shifting Now you can expect to find a floating map Up to 17 results shown on Google's 1st page 7 local results 10 organic listings And now all of this relies heavily on G+ Reviews Plusses Offsite content that is linked
  • 31. G+ vs. Organic Why do I want in this space? 損 For searches with local intent G+ Local listings now dominate search results 損 Over 40% of results on 1st page being G+ Local results 損 Most G+L results sit below the 2nd or 3rd organic listing Not in G+L or in top 3 spaces? Youre not in the top 10! 損 Youll struggle to catch the attention of searchers! What can a poor man do?
  • 32. Can you optimise? We know what makes your customers click.
  • 33. Optimising for G+ For businesses its about being found and G+ is proven to help with local search results Dentist in Glasgow Glasgow Airport Car Hire Glasgow restaurants Needs 3 main areas of focus 損 The information on your G+ Local page 損 The information on your website or webpages if you have more than one physical location 損 Offsite optimisation and authority
  • 34. Needs some foundations Need a business with a physical address in city you are optimising for 損 Ideally, your business is located within 2 mile radius of centroid 損 Depends on competition 損 Proximity is one main ranking factor Before optimising G+L for generic keywords - research competition levels within your radius
  • 35. Consistency is key The SINGLE best way to rank well in Google+ Local Maintain consistency with your business information Especially your business name, address & phone number Otherwise known as NAP Then its a case of ticking some more boxes
  • 36. A partial view of G+L Dashboard
  • 37. Optimising G+ local pages Set up account with company domain email address Ensure you have Local area code phone number on place page Get your listing verified Use service & location keywords in business title Against Google guidelines but works!
  • 38. Optimising G+ local pages Use service & location keywords in place page description Think keyword focus in everything you do within G+ Place latitude and longitude coordinates in custom attributes Unexciting but works! Get Proper category associations
  • 39. Optimising your site Google measures a lot of the traditional SEO signals when analysing on-site factors Such as 損 Domain authority, page authority, geographic keyword in title tag, URL, H tags, Copy etc The main unique onsite signals Google look for when factoring results for Google+ Local are 損 Name, address and phone number or NAP for short 損 This must match the details given in your Google+ Local account 損 Make sure phone number used has local area code 損 Wrap the NAP in hcard or schema mark-up 損 Add KML file to tie up coordinates with Google Earth & Google Maps
  • 40. Optimising off-site Just as with organic search, Google takes into account the traditional offsite SEO signals Quality and authority of back links Quantity of back links from locally relevant websites Location keywords in back link anchor texts Business title keywords in back link anchor texts
  • 41. Optimising off-site Gaining citations from local directory sites - whitespark! Gain links from locally focused business websites kills two birds with one stone Gaining reviews!
  • 42. This stuff works! We know what makes your customers click.
  • 43. Ranking with nothing Despite having a one page website 損 Being located 3.6 miles from centroid 損 No use of geo keyword London in the title tag 損 And no instances of the search term being used in the anchor text Agency Republic rank 1st place in Google organic and in G+L results No1 in Google For the moderately competitive search term digital agencies in London
  • 44. Its all plus points Local area code phone number Location & keyword in text - albeit thinly spread Address wrapped in hcard micro format Low number of citations however, NAP is consistent throughout Google maps show as a key ranking factor even one page websites with light content In unfavourable locations And no use of search term in external anchor text links
  • 45. Ranking with something Something more competitive 損 Restaurants in London 損 22,200 monthly searches Ranks well by more traditional means Ranks in 3rd in G+L
  • 46. Going a bit further Close proximity to centroid less than a mile Geographic keywords in <title> Decent volume of quality links Local area code phone number Address wrapped in hcard micro format Link to Google maps Reasonable number of decent reviews (160) Address with link to maps
  • 47. Is sharing worth it? We know what makes your customers click.
  • 48. Not quite in the searches
  • 49. But isnt Google+ a SOCIAL tool too? We know what makes your customers click.
  • 50. Not quite at the races
  • 51. Roundup We know what makes your customers click.
  • 52. Rounding up Google+ may yet turn into a genuine social network to reckon with Itll take some doing to make it happen though However, its definitely gearing up to be a tool that can influence search And theyre still working on it If youre a business with local presences complete every aspect of everything Google gives you Use Google+ and populate it even if your customers dont Stay tuned!
  • 54. How to fix inaccurate information No quick fix and no guarantee
  • 58. What are the pros & cons Pros 損 Chance to rank well ahead of global websites Cons 損 Wrong info *