Google Plus SEO
Want to expand your understanding of Google Plus SEO?
This article will summarise the main SEO points you should consider with your Google Plus profile – both personal and business pages.
1. Use your correct name on your account as this will show your profile when people Google Search your name.
2. The Introduction section on the About tab of your profile is inserted into the meta description code on your profile page. Therefore include your most important keywords, describe what you do for work, company names, location, and insert any useful links to your websites.
3. The short bio text just underneath your name is also inserted into your page Meta Description.
4. All the links on your profile are DoFollow links (I mean they are not nofollow links). Therefore this technically means that Google is passing you PageRank, which any SEO pro would like to have. In the most recent PR update, it seems that many Google Plus profiles have some pagerank now. Mine has gone to PR2 so these links from my Google profile to my own web properties will be valuable. If you have contributors on your website get them to link their profile to your site.
5. Get your content shared and +1’d. Many SEO pros are speculating that Google Plus 1’s will eventually have direct impact over search engine rankings, therefore it’s important you start building +1s on your website and also Google Plus profile content. The more shares and +1’s you get in Google the quicker your content will get indexed and ranked highly.
6. If you want non Google Plus content to be indexed very quickly, post links to it in your G+ profile. Much importance is being placed on content inside of Google+.
7. Add photos as your profile pic will display in Search (especially if you implement rich snippets rel = author tag), and also all other photos will be included into Google Images if you have the necessary privacy options (public). Just remember Google Plus is predominantly a business social network so ensure your photos are appropriate for such audience.
8. Signed-in Visitors on Google Search will see very different SERP, than users who are not signed in.
If a user is signed in and Google Search your name, your blog, Google Plus profile and all other profiles connected to your Google Plus account will show (eg you may have put your Facebook, Twitter, Flickr links etc in the sidebar of your Google Plus profile).
Therefore it is important to connect with your industry peers and colleagues on Google Plus. It certainly doesn’t hurt to have a large following on Google+.
9. With your whole about tab, enter in as much text as you can – keep it keyword rich. The about tab is very much similar to a LinkedIn profile, really spruce it up and make your profile stand out from the norm.
10. Links – again. Google has previously reported that Links inside certain properties of theirs don’t count to PageRank even though they are dofollow. This is a controversial topic so I’ve left it last. There is much speculation about Author Rank so if your profile is getting extra attention/ shares/ engagement then Google may indeed honour the dofollow links, otherwise they may not.
This topic is heavily debated by SEO professionals and webmasters and there is no clear information yet on what is actually happening. My opinion is build the links on your profile as if they count.
Conclusion
Google Plus is still very much a young social media site, therefore it’s important to jump ahead of the pack in Search Engine Optimisation for your profile to achieve better overall rankings.
