By now you’ve probably heard of Google+. If you haven’t, its Google’s new social network that came out last year. G+ is growing by leaps and bounds, nearly doubling its user base every few months and is now up to 90 million users! Yes, not quite Facebook numbers yet, but its projected to have 400 million users by the end of the year.
G+ is growing at a rapid rate and Google is promoting G+ extremely hard. The fact that Google is heavily promoting G+, in my opinion, is enough reason to at least establish a presence on the new network. Here’s why.
SEO Benefits
Google is incorporating G+ into all of its web platforms, search results, Gmail, YouTube, etc. They’re advertising G+ on TV as well. Make no mistake, they are serious about this new network!
There are many benefits to creating a profile and a business page on G+ from an SEO perspective. Google has incorporated G+ into its search engine results pages in several ways. It’s rumored that they are using +1’s in their algorithm as a ranking factor, they are including G+ personalization in the search engine results pages, and favoring G+ pages in search results.
If you’re logged-in to your Google account, your search results will be “personalized”. One of the ways Google is doing this is including links and images from your G+ network in the search results pages. Think about it, the more G+ connections you have and the more active on the network you become, the more opportunities you will have to gain a presence in people’s search results. So, just having a presence on G+ will give you more chances to be found!
Its also rumored that Google is giving additional value to websites that have been +1’d. Someone giving a website a +1 is a way of endorsing and recommending the site. This is one of the reasons why we’ve incorporated Google +1 buttons on all our BoomTown websites. Users can also +1 a site directly from the search engine results pages now. If you haven’t noticed by now, Google always seems to favor their own products so having +1’s included as a ranking factor only makes sense. Encourage your clients and brand supporters to +1 your websites for additional “Google juice”.
Also, do a search for a person or a brand. Chances are that their Google+ profile or page shows up near the top of the search results. This is powerful! Google is favoring G+ accounts in their search results over both Facebook and Twitter accounts most of the time. This is a clear signal that you and your brokerage need to establish a presence on G+.
Profiles and Pages
Creating a personal profile for Agents is equally as important as creating a page for your business or brokerage. This way if someone does a search for an individual agent or brokerage, you can ensure adequate coverage in the search results pages. Make sure each profile is filled out with information about the agent and brokerage, why they are different, and all contact information as well as links to your main websites. Also, try to include images about your business and agents. G+ images show up in search results pages as well. The more “real estate” you can take up in the results the better!
New Opportunity To Connect
Aside from all of the SEO benefits, at the end of the day, its a social network and if you have time, you should use it like one. G+ provides yet another social media opportunity to connect and converse with potential clients and colleagues.
Another Social Network, I Don’t Have The Time!
I’m willing to bet this thought crossed your mind and rightfully so. You’re in real estate and your time should be focused on activities that build your business and help your clients. This being said, the more active you can become on G+ or any social network the better, however you simply may not have the time. If you are currently stretched, at least take some time to build agent profiles and pages for your brokerage. At bare minimum, create full profiles and pages complete with information about you, your business, images, links to your websites, and contact information. Also, if you’re already posting updates on Twitter and Facebook, go ahead and post updates to G+ as well. That way you won’t have an empty stream. Establishing a basic presence will help provide you with some of the SEO benefits mentioned above.
Filed under: Search Engine Marketing Tagged: | G+, Google Plus, Google+, Google+ for Real Estate
