subject: Is Google Plus Imperative For Seo 1 [print this page] Google has a secret algorithm that it uses to determine websites' rankings, but did you also know that Google loves all things Google and relevant to Google?
Although there has been much discussion on this topic and many a complaint regarding this fact we could potentially go on forever about it. However, one thing that does strike a chord and also should be noted is that Google does not hide this fact. There are many Google toys and tools that businesses can all use to their Google ranking advantage. And to use these tools would equate to Google looking at your site in a more favourable way as opposed to other sites that don't.
A prime example of the above information would be Google Maps/Google Places. A fantastic quick tool for business that trade in a specific location can use to their full advantage. For example, when searching for a school in Kendal, you will see that Google Maps comes up and lists the schools in that area and the surrounding areas. One thing to note however is that this does not apply to web businesses such as web design companies, internet marketing companies etc.
A secondary example is the wonderful world of YouTube. As we struggle to get some keywords ranking in the first page of Google, we must take into account that Google loves to display YouTube videos that are relevant to that term in the first page, before other results. And Google also just so happens to own the wonderful website that is YouTube, how wonderful. You can benefit from using this YouTube site even if in the immediate vicinity this mean that it's helping Google rank higher initially, the long term results and effect on your website by using this service is far greater than not.
So needless to say if we follow the above examples the picture begins to clarify and a pattern begins to emerge. There really is no point discussing further examples as we would be here all day! Google+ has introduced a whole new realm of SEO possibilities based on getting found via Google's own properties. For starters, Google now ranks all Google+ results and more often than not, tend to appear in the first page.
Google gave an initial insight prior to the launch of Google+ their understanding was that would assist people in searching. Users giving a site a +1 would mean that this site is recommended and if it's good enough to get a +1 then surely it's good enough to get a good ranking and therefore climb the engines ladder. Direct Connect lets consumers find your brand's page pretty easily from the Google search box.
