Three Tips for Incorporating Google+ Into Your SEO Strategy

While marketers aren’t sure yet exactly how Google+ is going to change the online advertising and social media promotion game, it’s certain that Google+ is a big game changer. Google+ business accounts have only recently become available, but there are a couple of reasons you need to incorporate this new phenomenon into your SEO strategy as soon as possible.

For one thing, Google+ is from Google, and it’s always a good idea to stay on top of what Google is doing right from the start. Right now, Google is the main authority for page rankings, so you can be sure that Google+ is going to have a big impact in the future. Plus, unlike Facebook and Twitter, links within your Google+ account are Follow links, which means that they have an actual impact on your site’s page rank (as opposed to Facebook and Twitter’s NoFollow links, which do not!). If you want to start incorporating Google+ into your SEO strategy, here are three ways to get started:

1. Use Backlinks in your posts

As noted above, links through Google+ are Follow links, so they are valuable backlinks to your main page. They act like links from a blog or website, which a spider sees and assumes that you have higher value because other sites like you.

On your Google+ page, you can link to your company in a couple of ways. In the About Me section, you can put a permanent link to your blog in. This backlink will have a lot of staying power because it will be there from one day to the next. You can also link to your site through individual posts in Google+. Because you’re running these links on a news feed, they won’t be as valuable over the long term, but they can help boost short-term rankings and get you some visitors right away.

2. Create Some Social Buzz

Like Facebook and Twitter, Google+ marketing is all about social buzz. Getting people added to your circle of followers is the most important part of Google+ right now. Get out there and talk about your business, and post relevant content that potential followers will find interesting. You can create more of a buzz on your Google+ page in a few ways. Here are couple of options:

• End posts in a question, which will invite discussion on your page, drawing more visitors to jump in.
• Use your company network to build followers by having your employees get personal Google+ accounts and join your business’s circle.
• Promote your Google+ account on Facebook, your company website, your blog, and Twitter so that you’ll get even more people to check it out.

3. Create Compelling Content

Of course, keeping people in your circle on Google+ is all about having good content. Repost your blogs here, and post interesting related blogs from other websites or industry experts, too. Add in videos, which are some of the best marketing tools at the moment. As you’re creating good content, make sure you optimize it for SEO so that it’s helping boost your SEO ratings as its drawing in new visitors to your Google+ circle.

If you aren’t sure how to start a Google+ page or get it going, it might be worth hiring a freelance or part-time marketing expert to get it started for you. It will cost money to start, but in the long run, it can help build your business, since Google+ is the next “it” thing in social media marketing.

If you don’t currently have the funds to hire someone to run your Google+ campaign, consider a credit card or traditional bank loan to pay for the costs. Ashyia Hill from CreditDonkey says, if you’re using your small business credit card responsibly, it can be easier than getting a small business loan, and you can get business credit card rewards that you can also use to further your business.

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