We see it every day, “Facebook is more popular than Google Plus, and G+ is boring” or “Everyone I know is on Facebook“. Okay, fine. So What? Are you looking for an entertainment source or are you trying to build an online business?
This is our third instalment of the “Your Online Reputation Counts” series (See Part 1 & Part 2).
Where Traffic Comes From
Does Facebook send qualified traffic to your blog, if worked correctly? Of course it does and you should take advantage of that. So does Twitter, so does Pinterest and, yes, so does Google+. Let’s take a look at your two biggest traffic sources… Your search traffic and your referral traffic. We need to maintain a consistent balance between the two. We still want things like direct traffic from our branding but letâs stick with the two big ones for now. I’ll show you why Google Plus helps both of those traffic sources…
Referral Traffic
Referral traffic is other places on the net sending people to your blog or website. This can be broken down in detail but, basically, it’s traffic from other blogs, websites and social connections.
Search Traffic
Search traffic is more obvious, at least at first glance but keep reading, looks can be deceiving. So Google is the big fish in search, hands down – no contest. We still want other search traffic but most of us can agree that, for time being, Google is the one to focus on.
Both Search And Referral Traffic
So as big as Facebook is, they’re still not Google. The same with all of the social networking sites, they are important and should be used, but why is Google so important? Why Google Plus? Who cares about Google Plus, it has nothing to do with search or SEO, right? Wrong! A big, screaming from the roof tops wrong. Google Plus will help you with both referral traffic and search traffic. It will also hurt you, if you are not cautious; more on that later.
With Googleâs Personalized Search, we all see search results based on our history, location and dozens of other factors. Even when you’re logged out of Google, it’s been reported they use 57 personalized factors to determine which search results you are shown.
As disconcerting as the ramifications of being put in a bubble (see video) is, the fact is we are there. We’re not talking about the future of internet search; we’re talking about today – right now. I don’t like it, most people that discover it don’t like it and I’m sure there are a million SEO consultants that hate it. But, it is what it is so letâs move on and make the best of it.
Your Social Connections
So you set up your Google Plus profile, and hopefully your business page and you are somewhat active. That’s great, now what? We need people to circle us right? We all learned from Twitter the best way to get followers is to follow and hope they follow back, right? I hate to keep saying this but, no, that’s wrong. We don’t want to circle to get circled. We want to circle only those we want to be publically associated with – because we are.
Those connections we make on Google+ do influence our personalized search results on Google. Personally, I couldn’t care less about my search results; I know how to find what I’m looking for. I’m concerned about people finding me, more to the point, my content. Circles are actually a great name because that’s what’s going on… circles of influencers. We want to be an influencer and we want those we circle to be a positive influence on our brand and where it shows up and to whom it shows up in the search engine results. Remember, reputation counts and that includes association.
Your Endorsements – +1s
We think of a +1 as a ‘like‘ or ‘thumbs up‘ but we should be looking at it as a personal endorsement because that’s exactly how Google is viewing it. If you +1 an article on iPhones, you’re likely to see search results, when applicable, geared toward the iPhone or Apple. It goes deeper than that. If you +1ed that iPhone article and someone that has circled you on Google Plus makes a similar search, are they more likely to see the article you endorsed? As far as I know, Google says it won’t affect the positioning BUT they will see your endorsement on the search results, thereby generating higher clickthroughs.
Can you think of a bigger factor to your online reputation than personal endorsements? Now consider the whole World is subject to seeing those recommendations. Be careful what you +1!
The Bottom Line
Google has a clear direction, at least when it comes to search and advertising. Google wants users to get the searches results they need, even if they don’t know they need it. Eat your Brussels sprouts Tommy Billy! Google thinks we live in a vacuum and our circles of influence should help determine what we see, both in search results and ads served.
Facebook is following in Google’s footprints with things like EdgeRank, and they’re a powerful tool to master but… they ain’t no Google.
The writing is on the walls and I don’t mean Facebook walls. (Pretty clever, right? lol) Google is integrating Google Plus across their various platforms, at least the ones that fit and they haven’t kicked to the curb.
In today’s environment, if I had to choose between a Facebook page or a Google Plus page, I’d delete my Facebook account in a minute. Luckily, in this case, we can have our cake and eat it too.
I’ve been writing and talking a lot about influence and reputation lately and this falls right into that all important topic. Who we endorse (circle) and what we endorse (+1) will ultimately influence not only our personalized search, but our friends search. You can see how these little circles we’ve been placed in will affect our brand, our blogs and our online income, right?
Do you agree?
Am I way off? Are you taking Google Plus seriously or do you think it’s going on the long list of failed projects Google abandoned? I’d love to know your thoughts on personalized search, the future of search, SEO and social networks. In fact, that’s one of the biggest reasons I’m sitting here typing away with two fingers.
The Hidden Power Of Google Plus
This is our third instalment of the “Your Online Reputation Counts” series (See Part 1 & Part 2).
Related post I thought worth sharing: 7 Super Useful Infographics About Google+ and a Lesson From Each
Google Plus Related Posts:
- How To Increase Google Plus Views
- Ten Hard Lessons Why You Aren’t Growing In Google Plus – G+ Tips
- Using Your YouTube Username on Google Plus
- Send Google Plus Posts To Other Social Networks With Friends+Me
- Google Plus Content Recommendations For Mobile – Very Powerful
- What Drives You Crazy On Google Plus?
- Finding Shared Circles on Google Plus
- Multiple Admins For Google Plus Business Pages
About Brian D. Hawkins
Thanks for such a great view into what Google+ really means. I’ve been getting into a lot more social media lately, trying to promote my brand and business, and G+ is one site that I have neglected – much to my regret.
This post really shook it back into my why I need to get a better grip on G+. I’ve been having trouble getting the hang of it.
In particular, thank you for pointing out the far-reaching effects of the +1. I try to only +1 things that are relevant to my niche anyway, but I’d never thought about how much those shares could affect me in Google’s eyes.
Thanks again for this, and I’ll be visiting this blog more often! 🙂
Thanks Lindsey, I have to get busy and pick up the pace myself.
Yeah, I’m in the video so I offered my opinion there, but I do want to clear up one little thing here; this part:
“We donât want to circle to get circled. We want to circle only those we want to be publically associated with â because we are.”
First, it’s ‘publicly’. 🙂 Second, other people have no idea how many people are in your circle, or even if they’re in your circle, so that’s not the issue. The issue is that every person you put in a circle means you’ll see what that person puts up. If you don’t know someone that doesn’t necessarily mean they may not be interesting, but it’s much harder seeing a lot of content on G+ than it is on Twitter.
For instance, I can go through 500 messages in an hour on Twitter if I so choose but I doubt I could get through 150 messages on G+ because there’s much more content than 140 characters, along with images. That and I can see 10 to 20 Twitter links at once whereas I can really only see one story at a time on G+.
Sure, putting people in different circles lets you concentrate on who you specifically want to see but adding way too many people, especially when you have no idea what they have to offer could be a major time suck.
That’s all I have. 😉
Mitch, I can see how many and who you have circled and who has you circled.
When I get circled by a stranger, I go to their profile, if the hide who they have circled, I normally do not follow back.
If they have over 5,000 people circling them, then I know they are not circling everyone that circles them and are likely playing the “Circle to get circled back” game.
If they do allow you to see who they circle, I normally wait a few days and then search for my name to see i they are playing the circle – uncircle game.
BUT, I circle only a few people, because I am so picky. The best way to get me to circle you, is to post comments on my post and have your profile filled out and a nice post list.
Crap, I have now written an entire blog post on freakin circles.
Just keep in mind, much like Twitter, people go inactive regularly. I define inactive as no activity in 30 days. You don’t want to be following users that don’t show up. That makes no sense. Most people would be surprised if they were aware of the high percentage of inactive users they’re following.
Thanks Steve, are there any tools like those for Twitter that will tell us who follows back or who is active on G+?
Brian, you can’t see it anymore because I didn’t realize you could see that and I don’t want anyone seeing it. So I went into my profile and hid it; no more. lol I didn’t change the one telling how many people have me in their circles; I figure that one can help me. So thanks for alerting me to that. lol
However, I guess it’s a good thing you’re already in my circles since you have your policy of not connecting with anyone who won’t let you see who’s in their circles. I find that interesting; why does that matter so much to you, as I could care less? I mean, it’s not like the entire account is private; that’s where I definitely won’t follow someone because then you have to ask permission to see what they have to share.
Gee Mitch, I know that Brian and I look like twins to most people, but thought you could tell the difference. LOL
I want to know who people circle, just because it is easier to “judge” what a person does and their interest if you see who they feel are important.
As far as seeing who has you circled, that doesn’t play much in my decision, since you have little choice in it. Then again…what are you trying to hide????Hmmm????
Goodness Sheryl, I just assumed it was Brian who responded to me without checking the name; ugh. lol
I want people to decide whether or not to follow me based on my contribution, not on how many people I might have in my circles. Now, seeing who we both might know is one thing I don’t mind because it’s nice knowing that you know someone who’s interested in what that person might have to share. But that’s all I want others to know about me specifically that’s totally under my control. I’d rather people not know that I might not have them in one of my circles. The best thing about G+ is that it doesn’t tell who’s in which circle. I
I love it, I enjoyed that conversation as much as the video. lol Amazing what goes on while I sleep at night. 😉
I will say that I have a ‘test’ circle set up for new people that I’m on the fence with. I’ll add them and if it looks like a good match after a while I’ll move them to another circle.
I have one as well Brian, which I call “unsure”. However, my biggest test is whether people are actually participating in any fashion or not. If not, I don’t keep them in my circles long.
Google is a leading search engine, which has lead to increased importance of gmail and google plus in the last few years. Google plus works more accurately in comparison to facebook when it comes to promoting a particular business because G+ is more professional and possesses followers that are more into business than mere socializing.
Thanks Katie, I guess professional is better than “boring”. That’s what everyone was saying. 🙂
I believe you!
I use Facebook the majority of my time, and have good results from it.
Time is he bastard here 🙂
Google+ is starting to get me started to use it more.
I am highly interested in the highly targeted traffic it can bring…
Hi Samuel, I don’t know that it’s any more targeted, that’s kind of on us and the work we do behind the scenes.
I have to admit I have not seen results with Google+ but keep reading they are there or are coming. After all it is Google, right? I do find Google+ more interesting because there is more to learn there than on Facebook. I also like separating people into Google circles so on busy days I can just concentrate on a circle or two. Thanks for sharing the info on Google+.
I’m really surprised to hear that Lisa because you’re so active there. By results, are you referring to referral or search traffic? You have to be seeing referral traffic from plus.url.google[DOT]com, right?
I’m using Facebook and Google+ but I totally agree that Google+ is mandatory for anyone trying to succeed in business. It’s OK that my family isn’t on there because most of them are not in business for themselves and they aren’t bloggers. I really don’t need to connect with them on Google+. But I do need to connect with other bloggers there and now that they have Communities I am really curious to know if this means Facebook groups will become less and less important.
Thanks for the conversation!
I agree Ileane. In fact, I hope my family stays on Facebook. The drama and distractions are enough on Facebook. 😉
Brian, I am inviting your family to G+ right now! Hey, they might like you better over there. And I need to look as if I have “friends”.
Thanks for letting me know about the improtance of Google +.I love facebook for my website promotion but after reading this article I fell in love with goolge+:).Thanks
Thanks Rajkumar and good luck. 🙂
This makes perfect sense Brian so thank you for sharing this with us and I did enjoy listening to your hangout.
Like any other social site you shouldn’t be “circling” people unless you want to connect with them or are eager to view what they share. Just like any other social networking site Google+ isn’t really as different.
I admit not being as active there as on Facebook or Twitter but it’s taken me quite some time to really get the hang of it. I’m pumped about the communities now because I hate how people add me to groups on Facebook.
This is really so important to point out that the information you want to view in your searches can come up from the people in your circles. Is this really what you want to find when doing that or were you just being nice and adding them so you’ll have more friends. Huh!!!
Appreciate you clearing this up for us, great share…
~Adrienne
Thanks Adrienne, I appreciate that. I’m not as active as I should be with any of them. I actually get a lot of traffic from Twitter though.
I’m with you on getting added to the Facebook groups. It was a little frustrating for a while and then it seemed to die down but now it’s worse than ever. I used to get a lot of game invites but I think I’ve blocked most of them. At least those are invites and not forcing me to play. I’d love to have a chat with Mark Zuckerberg. lol
I have a service I use that blocks everything I don’t want to see on Facebook. I love it.
I’m with you, Mark and all his tech employees would learn a LOT if they listened to us. If only right…
I remember talking to a group of people in regards to G+ and no one having a clue as to what it would do and if could we use it for our business. But now, as it is developing, I see that it is important to jump on the G+ train because more and more people are going to get on it as well.
Hi Paul, it’s pretty easy to find people that have no idea what Google+ is, I’ll admit that.
Hey Brain,
Thanks for sharing this nice post. I think every blogger should use Google + as their default social networking.
And like the points G+ not only generates traffic from referral but also search engine.
There you go Istiak, you get it. 🙂 Thanks
Google plus is being used largely for promoting businesses. However, according to me facebook is more efficient in promoting as well as marketing a business whether new or existing. On facebook, one can target more people in comparison to google plus.
Thanks for sharing your opinion Steve, it’s true there are more people on Facebook. I don’t believe the reach is there for Facebook, especially with EdgeRank, unless you pay.
I had to remove your link, it was a 404. Let me know if it comes back or needs corrected and we’ll get that fixed. 🙂
I Plus’ed this post, does that help? 🙂
I love G+ but the challenge is that penetration in my country, the Philippines, is still vastly Facebook-oriented. There ARE G+ users but we are few and far in between, not to mention most of these are inactive. G+ needs to hit a critical mass here and soon in order to be “more powerful than Facebook” realistically speaking.
It does help Jsncruz, thank you. 🙂 That’s something to think about, I didn’t even consider that other Countries might be slower to try Google Plus.
I didn’t knew G+ had such a huge grip on SEM.Facebook is definitely a admirable traffic source but products from the big G surely has more weight in my opinion. Thanks for the info BTW
Yep, I agree. More weight when you factor in the power of search.
I use Twitter, majority of my time, and have good results from it. The amount of Facebook users are way ahead from Google +, so the amount of exposure from FB is more. You have provided some good information on Google +, thanks for sharing.
Thanks Adam, I use Twitter too and do get a lot of traffic from it. Facebook is pretty tough right now with their edgerank but that might change eventually. Facebook really does seem to be making a lot of crazy business decisions right now though.
Thanks for sharing such an informative post and i was not really aware about this fact that you have explained.Although Google+ looks boring but from the business point of view it can help you to get some serious Referral and search traffic because as this article rightly explains that Facebook however big cannot eat up Google search engine.
It sounds a little crazy Harry but I circled a bunch of comedians and photographers to liven things up. I get a lot more enjoyment from my stream now but would still work G+ if it was fun or not. Try circling a few interesting pages and people along with those within your niche; I think you’ll find it more enjoyable.
Google Plus is also a great way to keep up with news in your niche as well as things like search engine and social media news.
I thinks social referrers will work till you have a large audience to view your blogs. But if we really want to improve something we should work on search traffic. As this is a traffic that will never end. And the best is ofcourse Google.
Exactly Karan, and as long as Google is factoring in those +1s and connections Google Plus is very important.
hi,
I totally agree with you but I think facebook is also useful for increase traffic.
thanks for sharing with us…. 🙂
Absolutely Rajkumar, that’s why I say work all of the major networks, as well as Twitter.
This is a very interesting post. I have read many articles about how Google+ will never be as successful as Facebook, but the points brought up in this post are very true. Search and referral traffic drive a site forward. I personally utilize Google+ more than Facebook. I am excited to use this information in my own Google+ strategies.
Me too Dara, and it’s starting to look like G+ is growing faster than most of us thought.
They are super finicky on Google+. I posted a link to my site, which is about writing and writing only, to a bunch of writing communities. But they seem to think that all promotion is evil and threatens the communistic fabric of Google+.
Hi Andy, I guess it depends on where and how you are posting your links. I get people posting links everyday on my Facebook timeline and I always remove them and un-tag myself. That’s an inappropriate way of sharing but if someone shares something relevant in a group, I think most are okay with it as long as it’s not against their “terms”. I avoid posting wherever I don’t normally hangout just to avoid that problem. Once you’re part of a community they know you’re not just there dropping links and moving on to the next place. It’s not much different that blogging, really.
Informative post but I wanted to ask you something. Does the author rank come into all this ? I mean if I accidentally +1’ed a spammy link will it effect my author rank ?
I’m not an expert Lahaul but I think it’s going to take more than just a few bad ones to make a difference. As far as author rank, I believe it plays a role.
This is a very interesting post. I have read many articles about how Google+ will never be as successful as Facebook, but the points brought up in this post are very true. Search and referral traffic drive a site forward. I personally utilize Google+ more than Facebook. I am excited to use this information in my own Google+ strategies.
Thanks Harley, when I hear that kind of thing about Facebook I always think about MySpace. Nothing stays on top forever, not even Google.
Google + is here to stay. I am taking it very seriously especially when I noticed that my author search tag is linked to my Google + profile.
Thanks Jason, you get it. 🙂
Google+ has always been useful from the business point of view that helps to get some valuable traffic to your blog post.In this way it can help you to build your brand value.Thanks for sharing this wonderful post and it was interesting reading it.
Thanks Steve, I recommend multiple sources of traffic and G+ should be in that mix.
I personally use Facebook the majority of my time because I can work for hours through Facebook then Google + because I thorougly get entertain, and have good results from it. I think Google + works more accurately in comparison to facebook when it comes to promoting a particular business because G+ is more professional and possesses followers that are more into business than mere socializing.
All social media website are good to making presence online and engage with real people. But its true if we talk about Google+ than its sure it help to generate good traffic as well as keywords ranking on search engine.
Adding One more point, if we compare the current situation with past, Google +1 page posts will get you some traffic from search engines as well, which is more then the organic search for Facebook, thats what i have experienced http://mydaboo.com/
I always believed that because I had more friends and family on Facebook that it would be my #1 source for marketing, advertising, and connecting with my readers. I never really thought of it from a business standpoint. As of now, I am getting better results with Facebook than Google+, but of course things like this take time. I’m sure with a lot more effort and engagement I will soon get the results that I am looking forward to.
Google search engine is so huge in itself and Facebook however famous cannot beat Google’s networking website in getting traffic directed to the blog post.However people have not realized the potential of Google+ and hence it yet remains to be explored.I believe that Google+ is developed from the business point of view.
I cant say its more powerful then Facebook, Google plus works more accurately in comparison to facebook when it comes to promoting a particular business because G+ is more professional and possesses followers that are more into business than mere socializing & Facebook comes in mix baggage of marketing & Socializing.
hate to say that but google is now favoring big websites and with traffic coming in already they have more +1 in comparison to smaller and new websites which ultimately translate into big sites to become more bigger.
I think Google plus works more accurately in comparison to facebook when it comes to promoting a particular business because G+ is more professional and possesses followers that are more into business than mere socializing, I like Facebook because I can socialize & can promote business simultaneously.
wow awsme this means Google+ is great 🙂 thnks 4 sharing !!
It’s great to see someone make the distinction that “most popular” doesn’t mean “most powerful”. Facebook is popular, and it does generate traffic, but when was the last time you searched for something on Facebook? Probably never. You used Google, like everyone else. Many people don’t understand the +1. They see it as being the same as a Facebook “Like”. They have no idea how much it can affect search traffic, especially from within circles.
I think once people get a clear idea about Google+ they will surely choose it over Facebook.Google+ offers so many benefits and it is the best for driving traffic to your website based on referral as well as search.Thanks for sharing this post.
I have used Google+ recently and explored all the features.After viewing all the features i would definitely say that Google+ is better than Facebook.I just love the Hangout feature which Google+ is offering.Google Hangouts has allowed individuals to leverage live video in public space.Also Googleâs events feature is amazing.
The circles functionality is something very unique which is offered by Google and it is easier to share content with others.Google+ is the best to attract referral as well as search traffic and in this respect it is far more better than Facebook.Also the Google Hangout feature is a super cool feature.
Hi Brian – thanks for prompting me to get more active on G+ – I have a profile and some contacts and I’ve recently joined a community but have never got around to setting up a business page yet, so I’ve just added that to my ‘do’ list.
I must admit, I still find all the social media platforms complex and time consuming, but I realise it’s something I need to get my head round. Thanks for a very informative and helpful post,
Sue
This post that what i was thinking, yes Google plus is better than facebook for web publishers and Communicate each others. Google Plus is easier to use with perfect options, facebook is hard to use with lots of confusing options.
I’ve been using Google+ more frequently lately. Overall, the experience has been great and I have gotten some traffic as well :D. I’ll still be using Facebook, but I do feel that Google+ will be sticking around for a while and thus I’m going to dedicate some times towards it.
People started using Google plus as it has more local searches than Facebook. And now the present interface is much better for Gplus.
iuse facebook for personal reasons but i have not tried Gplus. unfortunately, i have no friends that are using gplus so i might need to add loads of users who are interested in internet marketing but not for personal use..
You are right about GOogle plus. But as far as my experience with Facebook media marketing we should keep in mind All three Google Plus, Facebook and of course twitter.
Google plus communities provide the best way to collaborate on topic that interests you with others.At the same time it provides marketers a great way to network, engage and build their business.Also we can create public as well as private communities.Finally we can drive relevant traffic to our website.
My answer would be a big YES.Facebook is very popular but people have not realized the importance of Google+ for directing some great traffic to your website.It can easily help to get search and referral traffic.Also it has many business sharing functionality embedded into it.There are many more reasons that i prefer Google+ over Facebook.
The best part about Google+ is that it is integrable with other Google products and this is one of the best things that has kept me stuck towards this networking website.The events and hangout features are another great ones.Thanks for sharing this post and it was quite interesting reading it.
I really love the circles feature that is being offered by Google+ that helps us to privately share our content within customized groups of people.The Hangouts on Air is another feature that is a live group chat with our customers.This could include customer tutorials, market research and even product launches.Finally the most important point of all is that this networking platform is integrable into Google products.
I agree. Google Plus is way more powerful than Facebook and avoids a lot of the failures that Facebook choose to implement. Google Plus has also managed to attract a lot of people that like to be on the new wave of technology and marketing, which makes it an interesting place to hang out and connect with others.
I love Google+ and it is any day better than Facebook.I just recently tried out the circles feature and it makes it so easier to share different content with the right people.Facebook has lists but i have never found it as easy as circles feature.Hangout is another feature that beats Facebook.
My answer is a big Yes.Google+ has huge potential to direct some amazing traffic to our website.I have recently checked out some cool features that this social networking platform provides and it was really awesome.Among the new features i have found Google hangout very cool.Thanks for sharing this informative article.
The biggest advantage that Google+ offers over Facebook is that it allows us to change and adapt without much scrutiny because people have not invested much as in Facebook.Also Googleâs interest in user feedback is another aspect which makes Google+ better than Facebook.
Google+ is any day more powerful.Facebook depends on Skype for improving its chat service along with having video chatting via the browser.This is mutually beneficial to both Facebook and Skype while Google+ depends on technology they have built with Gmail and Google voice.Another best part about Google is that their products are highly integrable.
The best thing about Google is that they have their own search engine and this is considered as the primary source of traffic to any website.Facebook definitely has integration with Bing to have social search but the results are not as powerful as Google.
I really love the user interface that Google+ offers along with their spam control measures, simplicity and total integration with other Google features.Also it is tougher on abuse than Facebook.Finally the loading time of Google+ is something amazing which Facebook does not provide.
The worst part of Facebook is the intrusion that we have to face with several vulnerable attacks that we have to face like viruses and malwares.There are many spams involved on their site.Also it is very slow.
Great Post! Brains Hawkins
The video was very much informative for me; and its first time I came to know that google search results are personalized. I also was not aware that Google counts; Plus function(that you call endorsement) in the search results of people who are in circle with us. That’s really great
I this works exactly this way, then google plus has become a must have for all bloggers.
I am much inspired after reading this post and I did had my Google plus account and some people in my circle but now I guess I will promote it properly and I hope I get some good results from it.
I also feel, Google plus is more powerful than facebook, Facebook has no impact in improving seo ranking of blog posts, But Google plus may play positive role in higher search ranking.
Google plus helps the bloggers in creating more brand image also. That’s why I more prefer to Google plus for my blogging business. Thanks.
I think you have more control of your information using Google plus than you do using Facebook.
Google+ is good for business and rank, but Facebook interface is much more popular and friendly