TechStudio

This week, Google announced some big changes to its search engine results page (SERP) — Google+ results will now be incor­po­rated, chang­ing the way results are pri­or­i­tized and deliv­ered to the user.  From now on, users will have the option of allow­ing per­son­al­ized social data to be dis­played in addi­tion to their reg­u­lar SERP.

Dubbed “Search, Plus Your World,” it gives users the option of hav­ing social media results mixed in with the nor­mal SERP. These new results can include any­thing from Google’s other ser­vices such as blog posts, Youtube videos, links, pho­tos from Google+ or Picasa, and lit­er­ally any­thing relat­ing to your Circles on Google+. There’s a catch: results will only fac­tor in the social graph from your Google + account, leav­ing out other social net­works like Facebook and Twitter.

The last huge Google search engine devel­op­ment was the infa­mous Panda update, which aimed to remove sites with low-quality con­tent, and boost sites with qual­ity, rel­e­vant con­tent. Post-panda, good con­tent became even more crit­i­cal to SEO. And now, post-Google+, get­ting peo­ple to share your good con­tent will also be crit­i­cal. Thus, peo­ple, rather than search engines, will have greater pull in deter­min­ing what con­tent and web­sites are rel­e­vant and useful.

How Does Search, Plus Your World Work?

There are three new types of data that will show up in your Google + results: per­sonal results, pro­files in search and pro­files and pages. You have the option to per­ma­nently dis­able the per­son­al­iza­tion fea­ture through the search set­tings area on Google. Or, you can opt-out on a per-search basis by click­ing on the globe sym­bol fea­tured in the top right corner.

Personal Results

Personal results include data from your own Google+ pho­tos and posts, as well as Google+ data that has been shared with you. Let’s say you decide to plan a trip to Disney World. Naturally, the first thing you’ll do is google “Disney World.”  The results page will fea­ture pho­tos and posts that men­tion “Disney World” shared by any­one in my Google+ cir­cles. If one of your friends recently shared pho­tos of her Disney adven­ture, you’ll see that per­son­al­ized con­tent mixed in with the results.

Profiles in Search

Google + pro­files have been inte­grated with pre­dic­tive search to help you find peo­ple you might be inter­ested in fol­low­ing. Typing just the first few let­ters a name gen­er­ates a per­son­al­ized pro­file pre­dic­tion based on your connections.

Profiles and Pages

For each search query Google will sug­gest rel­e­vant and pop­u­lar pages and pro­files related to the topic.  These will appear on the right side of your search results. This could prove to be a very use­ful tool for busi­nesses, as get­ting their brand page to a appear next to indus­try searches could spread brand aware­ness, help drive prof­its, etc. Google offers tips on how you can become one of its sug­gested users. Here’s a crash course– Actively use your Google+ pro­file: post fre­quently, com­ment on your friends’ posts, make sure your con­tent is inter­est­ing and be sure to use the key­words that you want to rank for.

What does Google’s new social search mean for SEO?

Undoubtedly, this will impact SEO and Internet mar­ket­ing, the extent of which is yet to be seen. But here’s what we predict:

1. New, personalized SEO strategies will be added onto current, non-personalized SEO strategies. Foundational strategies of SEO -- things like page titles, writing relevant copy, quality site architecture and link building -- won’t change much. But most SEO campaigns will also need to create an environment for user engagement (see # 2).
2. This new search development is about relationships with users. In order to take advantage of any new SEO and Internet marketing benefits, you’ll have to do more than create a profile on Google+. You’ll need to engage readers -- give them something that they want to click on, share and post comments to.
3. Ignoring social media in SEO becomes impossible. The fact that social media has been a part of SEO is not news. But when Google, the most influential search engine, integrates a social aspect into search, the impact of social media on SEO is bound to increase.
4. The new change won’t affect everyone. If you’re business is a niche that has no Internet community, (for example “fire-wood sellers in Miami”) Google’s search results won’t change.

Conclusion

Pre-Google+, it was becom­ing increas­ingly impor­tant for SEO cam­paigns to be diverse and cre­ative. This is even more so the case, post Google+.  As with all-things SEO, you can rest assured that the TechStudio team will be proac­tive in rid­ing the Search-Plus-Your-World wave and we will con­tinue to update you on the lat­est and great­est. We offer opti­miza­tion plans span­ning a wide range of needs through our web-based TechSEO search engine opti­miza­tion and Internet mar­ket­ing ser­vice. You can get an SEO quote through the site today to find out more.

References

http://www.seoptimise.com/blog/2012/01/how-google-plus-your-world-will-impact-seo.html

http://mashable.com/2012/01/13/google-search-plus-your-world-seo/

http://thenextweb.com/google/2012/01/13/what-does-googles-social-search-mean-for-seo-we-ask-the-experts/

http://www.businessinsider.com/google-is-bigger-than-we-thought-its-totally-going-to-change-how-the-web-works-2012–1