Invitation For: Google +1 – Google’s New Button Added to SERPs

Google launched a new featured for it’s SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) yesterday in a hope to push more into the social side of online experience.

The purpose of this feature is much like that of the Facebook LIKE button. The concept for Google +1 is that it’s a way for users to very simply show their approval or “vote of confidence” for a site (intro video below).

To enable the new Google +1 feature, you will need to first have a Google account (gmail for example, or any other email account that you may associate with Google’s Apps or Services like Places, AdWords, etc).

Next, you will need to “opt-in” to the experiment by visiting the Google Experiment Labs.  Once you do this, and are signed into your account, you should see a small +1 icon next to the search results on Google Search Pages (see below).

Google’s +1 Feature Effecting Quality Score & SEO?

For those of you interested in how Google’s new +1 feature will effect SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as well as PPC (Pay Per Click) Quality Score here is what Google said in their blog.

“You don’t have to make adjustments to your [AdWords PPC] advertising strategy based on +1 buttons, and the way we calculate Quality Score isn’t changing (though +1s will be one of many signals we use to calculate organic search ranking)..”

This is a very important note. Considering that one of Google’s core values is to make sure users have the best user experience, we think that the new +1 feature will begin to play a big role in how your website is ranked in the SERPs (once it is more widely adopted and used).

Our suggestion, for SEO purposes, is to get this featured setup for your account as well as suggesting it to clients/customers. Make sure they are actively using it for your own company as well as other companies that they like.

Having your patrons use this feature as well as writing you reviews on Google Places will help with getting your company or personal website listed higher and higher on SERPs pages.

Future plans include the ability to implement the +1 Button directly on your own website.  That feature is not yet available but we will update you when it is.

From the Google Blog

“We want to make it easy for Google users to get recommendations from the people they trust right when they’re searching. That’s why we’re introducing the +1 button. With a single click, the +1 button lets signed-in Google users recommend the content they like on the web to their friends and contacts right when it’s most useful — on Google search.”

This post originally appeared at UBE, Inc.

For more information about this article, or to learn more about Seth Meyerowitz & UBE, Inc. please visit our website. UBE is a full service, Long Island Based, Online Marketing Company.