Description
Introduction: What is Google +1 and
How Does It Work?
The +1 feature is an innovation by Google that focuses on sharing
website content and recommendations to social connections
through Gmail or Gtalk chat lists, Google Contacts, Google+ and
other Google platforms that has a social networking capability.
It streamlines content and search results to give you the most
relevant websites based on recommendations or +1 from your
contacts.
It can be compared to its predecessor – Google Buzz. Unlike
Google Buzz however, the +1 feature does not aim to start
conversations and discussions about the content, it just simply
recommends and encourages users to visit a certain website or
webpage.
The +1 feature is akin to Facebook’s “Like” or Digg’s “Digg It”
button. Not only will your Google social connections see your
online activities and favorites, the content will also show how
many people “+1’d” which can help you in sifting through search
results by going with the more popular sites or the sites with most
+1’s.
Google +1 is also a way to show your contacts that you like
something that you saw on the internet and that they should go
and check it out too.
4 +1 Traffic Wave: How To Get Free & Endless Traffic Through Google +1
A website, an article, information and even advertisements and
Google search results can be +1’d. In order to +1 content, you first
need a Google account. As long as your chosen content,
advertisement or website has a +1 button, you’ll be able to
recommend and promote it to your Google contacts by clicking on
it.
Google’s +1’s ability to recommend a specific search result or
advertisement sets it apart from other social bookmarking and
website recommendation platforms. The benefits of this feature
will be discussed in the next chapters.
It will also increase a website’s search ranking depending on how
many +1’s it receives, complementing its relevance to a user’s
search topic.
This feature is also a way for Google to respond to website and
topic searches by presenting the websites that your contacts have
seen and recommended before other available websites of the
same topic.
Your +1’d content will be visible to your social networks on Google
once they log in to their own Google accounts. They can access
your +1 list through your profile, activity stream, and the +1 tab on
Google+ or when they make a relevant Google search.
Google search results can also show the number of users that has
+1’d a website or advertisement. Depending on a user’s security
settings, the names and profile photo thumbnails of the people
who +1’d the content may be visible as well as long as they are in
your social network.
5 +1 Traffic Wave: How To Get Free & Endless Traffic Through Google +1
Google recently released html/css codes that would allow web
owners, developers and designers to install the distinctly simple
white +1 button on their sites.
When clicked, the +1 button turns blue and the website link and
snippet would automatically be posted on your Google stream.
Add-ons for web browsers like Firefox and Chrome are available to
make the experience more convenient.
In keeping with Google’s simple yet effective personality, the +1
feature operates silently yet efficiently, building a website’s
popularity based on recommendations by social connections.
Although websites are only beginning to jump into the +1
bandwagon, the benefits are slowly and steadily becoming more
evident and will continue to be beneficial to more websites in the
future.
6 +1 Traffic Wave: How To Get Free & Endless Traffic Through Google +1
How Does +1 Benefit A Website?
In order to reap the full benefits of this feature, one must be
logged on to their Google account and have a wide network of
social contacts. This is equally important for websites in order to
effectively promote their content and to improve visibility on the
internet.