Google +1 Implications and Summary
Google have now officially launched the +1 button for the PPC ads. We thought it may be worth summarising the key points and giving you a few things to consider. Firstly, this is very new so there is no way to determine if this will be the next big thing or just a flash in the pan like Google wave.. (remember that.. didn’t think so). What I would say though is that Google are likely to make a good fist of this as they try to get a slice of the ever more lucrative social pie. This will no doubt tie into their new social platform: Google plus Click here to read more.
Google +1 key points
- Google +1 buttons will start appearing on the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) next to ads and organic listings
- It only appears if you are signed into Google and one of your friends has +1′ed it (friends are determined by being in your gmail, or google address book)
- There are 2 ways to +1 a page
1. Click a +1 button on the page
2. Click a +1 button next to an ad on the SERP
Once a page or add has been plus one’d
- The +1 button will based on landing page i.e. if you point a PPC ad at a page which has been +1′ed then it will potentially have the +1 logo appear next to your advert
- If the same page appears in the natural listings then it too will have the +1 logo next to it
- Comments will also potentially be pulled in from social signals i.e. if you have a twitter account and someone comment on a product and links to it, this could be pulled into the serp next to the ad or listing
Google +1 Likely impacts
- IF (and it is a big IF at this point, as a lot of things have to be in place for the +1 logo to show) the +1 badge appears then it will likely increase click through rates and subsequently impact quality score
- IF it gains momentum in the market it may encourage people to link PPC ads to SEO pages that rank in order to have the button appear for both listings
- This could be the start of Googles social integration, and could be an increasingly important factor in ranking in the future
- Maybe this will encourage more people to use Gmail and update their address books?
Take away actions
- Add the +1 button to your site on product/blog posts (1 per page, as any more is pointless) there are no downsides to this.
- Keep an eye on the impact on performance
- Potentially review the site structure if it does take off to allow for more relevant +1′s
- Start using your gmail account more, updating your address book with contacts so you can see what your pals are +1′ing?
If you found this post interesting check out our other posts on Google+1
For more details, and instructions on how to add the +1 button to your site:
Google site with the details…
Will you be using it? Let us know your thoughts
