Smart Traffic Review of the Google +1 Button for Websites
If you have been operating an online business for some time, chances are you are already employing a search engine marketing technique (SEM) of some kind. Your site might already be sitting comfortably on page one of Google SERPS for a particular set of keywords. All looks good but you should know better than to sit back and relax. A solid presence on the Web is not permanent once you have achieved it. Rankings do not necessarily take care of themselves. Given that the virtual world is a constant state of flux, it is a must to know the latest trends to stay in the game.
Let us move on to social media. Although it is still a fairly recent compared to the concept of SEM and SEO it already has a lot of plenty online marketers hooked. But I will not bore you with the particulars (as you probably know it that too!). Instead, I will talk about Google +1 button. This add-on functions in pretty much the same way as other kinds of social media buttons. It allows you to show your stamp of approval on web content and recommend it to others. However, there are some elements that make it unique.
• Fully customisable as you can have control on how the +1 button appears on your site. For more information, click on http://www.smart-traffic.co.uk/seo-blog/googles-1-button-add-it-on-your-website.htm.
• Enables you to see friend recommendations for certain types of content via Google SERPS. When you are engaged in Social Search through your Google Profile, results for a certain query would also include suggestions from friends in your Google Social Circle.
• The website traffic and user behaviour can easily be tracked. As Google +1 button search data information is specifically presented in Google Webmaster Tools and Google Analytics, it is now easy for you to see which aspects (e.g. Search Impact) you need to work on. Learn more here http://analytics.blogspot.com/2011/06/1-reporting-in-google-webmaster-tools.html.
While this new feature hold much promise, the science behind it has not been perfected yet. Questions have been raised about the security since all the things that get +1’d are public. And since your Google Social Circle includes contacts from Gmail and a host of other social networking sites like Twitter, it would be hard to filter the best buddies from the mere acquaintances. Hopefully, these red flags may be addressed before Google fully rolls out the complete +1 Project. It would be a shame for a product with great potential to fall short of what is expected of any social media service.
