Takeaways:
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Google has integrated Google+ into their search results
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These results are highlighted above regular search results, and can include public and private posts, pictures and links
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When someone shares your content on Google+ it gets recommended to their friends when they search for a related phrase
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Google+ profiles related to search terms are also promoted in Google search results
What is Search, plus Your World?
A few weeks ago, Google launched Search, Plus Your World (GSPYW) a service that personalises search by showing each user different results based on content shared by their online social circles. In one swoop, Google has changed the way search results appear to Google account holders and consequently they’ve changed the playing field for all businesses that have an online presence.
Search, plus Your World is exactly that – the combination of regular and personalised search results that include your own content and the content shared by your social circle via Google’s services (think Gmail, Google+, Picasa, YouTube, Google Maps, Blogger etc.). Where there used to be three types of search results – highlighted adverts, regular search results (organic and SEO) and Adword ads – there are now an additional two – results including content shared by people in your Google+ circles (both public and private content), and links to Google+ profile pages relevant to your search query. These personalised results are highlighted and prioritised over regular results, so that what used to look like this:
Now looks like this:
What does this mean for social media marketing?
GSPYW is a great opportunity to capitalise on online content sharing. If I were to search for a South African crime thriller, I could be shown a glowing review of Out to Score by Mike Nicols, recommended by a publishing industry contact on Google+. I may be interested enough to follow through and purchase the book. This particular search result may not have previously reached my attention without Google’s emphasis on personalised search.
Viral content will also keep growing. If a content item has been shared by hundreds of your Google+ contacts, it is more likely to be prioritised in search results, and is also likely to become even more viral.
Another reason to maintain an active Google+ account? The new ‘People and Pages’ box to the right of search results. Search results are now introducing you to relevant people with active and popular Google accounts, and a one-click option to add them to your social circles. Here is another opportunity for author profile-building, especially for our non-fiction authors who are specialists in their fields and may already have a lot of followers who read their work.
How does social search impact SEO?
With the increased focus on social search, organic search results are getting less space on the first page of search results. Although this makes the competition for clicks tougher, it doesn’t make good SEO any less crucial to being found in the first place. Marketers will need to get as close to the number 1 result for their keywords as possible, to ensure they always show up on page one of the search results. Bear in mind that GSPYW only affects users with Google accounts who are logged in at the time of doing their search, and (for now) only works on google.com. This leaves hundreds of thousands of people unaffected by social search.
Kissmetrics has a thorough list of resources for everything you need to know about Google Search, plus Your World.
