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Google Plus is moving up in the world of social media. For a long time, it was the new kid on the block and able to draw only little interest because of the dominance of Facebook. While Facebook is still running the show, Google Plus is looking more and more like the next big thing in social media, especially when you consider how thickly integrated it has become with Google’s own search results.
Bloggers and online content creators of all varieties should take a long and serious look at Google Plus, since there is now a much more direct correlation between Google search results and Plus posts.
Instead of just being another social network, Google Plus actually has some say in how your content is ranked, how likely people are to click on it and even how quickly it gets indexed.
Also read: The Secret of Social Media SEO
For businesses, websites and blogs alike, this has the potential to make a huge difference in terms of the success of their content. But how do you take advantage of Google Plus for SEO purposes?
There are actually a ton of ways that it can help you, but we’ll look at the four basic best practices.
1. Post for faster indexing
Let’s say you write a blog post on a particular topics, say WordPress or Blogger and you want to get it indexed. In 2013 and for the foreseeable future, posting that article to Google Plus is by far, the fastest way to make that happen.
Often times your content will be crawled in a matter of minutes, which doesn’t happen with a regular submission to Google.
2. Use Google Authorship
What Google Authorship does is simply allow you to link the online content you create with your Google Plus profile. When that happens, everything you post to your blog or website, when turned up in a search result, will include your profile photo to the left of the entry.
Also read: How You Can Use Google Plugins to Maximize Your Blog
This means that people are more likely to click-through to your content, simply because they see an actual human being (or at least a picture of one) and make a connection.
3. Post to public
When you do post to Google Plus, make sure you use the “Post to Public” feature. All this means is that instead of allowing just your friends or those in your circles to see it, you’re making the post available to the Google Plus community at large.
It’s a small step, but it’s something you’ll want to be aware of, so that you’re not unknowingly restricting your posts to a select few people.
Your Google Plus title tag will have a lot to say about the rankings of your post. This means that wise practice would be to take the same care with your Google Plus titles that you take with the title of the original article or body of content.
Also read: The Ultimate SEO Checklists
It’s not going to matter as much as the title of the actual article, but it does make a difference in terms of helping people on Google Plus find your content.
On the Bandwagon
When you’re talking about web traffic and content, you just need to have Google on your side. Whether we like it or not, they’re running the show and are as close to internet governance as we’ve ever gotten. That being said, it doesn’t hurt your chances to jump on the Google Plus bandwagon.
It certainly won’t curb your content’s potential, and if used right can actually give you a pretty significant SEO boost.