What You Need to Know About Google Plus A couple of weeks ago I
identified
Google+ specifically
what 1
is and
covered
how to use it to help you rank. If Google+ 1 is to Facebook's "Like", then Google+ itself is to Facebook itself; this is Google's answer to the social network. Google obviously are no strangers to the effect which social search is having on ranking and Facebook's effect on the world and everything in it, and they wanted to carve themselves a piece of the pie, better late than never that is. This post will answer some of the most common questions likely to be associated with Google Plus. How Do I Join? Check out the official site to sign up, though according to Google, they've temporarily exceeded their capacity. By giving your email address they can email you when you have a chance of signing up, so keep checking back because even if you have been invited, there's a chance you won't get in as it seems to be first come first serve whenever new openings become available. Apparently they recently hit the 10 million user mark, so it is indeed filling up quickly. How Is It Different Than Facebook? It's not quite as different as you may think. People's profiles at the moment consist of friends, posts, about, photos, and videos. There are a few features which Facebook does not currently offer. One of which is "Circles". This enables you to drag and drop your Google+ friends into segmented groups of your choosing. Group your friends into categories like school, work, family, or even by musical taste. This means that when you share something, it only goes out to the circle you want. I expect Facebook to come out with a similar grouping system VERY soon as this is a great but obvious feature which they are lacking.
What You Need to Know About Google Plus "Sparks" is another feature which lets you find filtered articles you may want to share based on your interests. It's all about getting personal and driving sharing and between Circles and Sparks it's clear that Google is on top of that. Can I Make a Brand Page? Yes, but not just yet. Brands will obviously want to use Google+ for marketing as opposed to just social networking amongst friends. It seems Google really is still working out the kinks as they absolutely intend to allow brand pages but have taken down pages of companies and people who have already created them using their Google+ accounts. It seems that they'll be fully available later in the year once it's all set up and ready for good. It also seems that anyone who jumps in now is a guinea pig helping Google work out the kinks. Should I (try to) Join Now? If you're interested in Google+ you should definitely leave your email addy with them to be notified when you have a chance of signing up. You'll want to integrate the Plus 1 button to your site if you haven't already and you'll be able to link your account to the button on your site when everything is set, so there's no harm in getting an early start in at least putting the button on your site, as well. For more information about visit Boogle Plus