As nobody can deny, Google remains the authority over the land of search engines. Google+ can help your SEO strategy if you understand which types of content it likes to share with people who are browsing the web. First of all, you must be creating content in the first place, which many business owners simply do not have time to do. As an entrepreneur, you already have a lot of responsibilities, so crafting sharable content is often one of those things that may get pushed far down the list of priorities.
However, in order to maximize the effectiveness of Google – and more specifically – Google+, it is essential that you make the time to do it. Alternatively, you should spend the money to either hire a marketing firm to handle it for you, or at least have someone on your staff/team who is in charge of sharing relevant content on Google+ on behalf of your business.
Once you have made a commitment to do this, here are several SEO tips to follow for effective Google+ SEO Optimization:
Publish Content to the “Big 4” and More
After you create a great blog or content for your website, it is not enough just to share it on one outlet. You may make mention of it on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, but you should also be posting everything on Google+. This is one of the most essential steps! To make your life easier, there are systems that can do this for you. Or, people… such as the great marketing team here at iVelocity Marketing.
Make Sure Your Google+ Page Matches Your Brand
If you set up a Google+ page for the business, then after thirty days you can request a custom URL for the page. Make sure you have at least ten followers (even friends, family or staff members) and establish a complete profile. This will make your Google+ stories easier for people to share!
Set Up Links to and From Google+ to Your Website
Incoming and outgoing links to Google+ are like little “referrals” to make it easier for traffic to be directed to your pages. Consider these to be similar to road signs that direct traffic to the right direction. Without them, people might become lost and just click elsewhere.
Remember Image Captions
Google+ uses the featured image as the primary visual aid for people to notice your content, so make sure to include a caption on every image you use within your article. The other important reason for doing this is just in case someone opens your article from a different web browser that is unable to view the image; having the caption in place will at least tell them what should be there. It will also be a good reference tool for you later on, after you have long forgotten about that article or image.
Put Keywords Within the First Two Lines of Your Content
Google+ recognizes the first 120 characters (more or less depending on your web browser) as the page title of your post, so you should optimize the first couple of lines. Keep in mind this is what people will see and it should be enticing enough for them to want to read more.
Remember to Claim Your Own Content Through Authorship
When you sign up for Google Authorship, or when your “authors” writing the web content for you do, it helps improve your SEO performance and establishes credibility. If you have a picture in your Google+ profile, this will also appear. This is especially beneficially if you have multiple websites.
Remember, you are your business’ best champion. In truth, it’s not easy hiring and continually keeping staff motivated, but rather, making sure they can see the big picture and are excited to work towards that picture is the best tactic you can use to ensure a successful business.