What is Google +1 or google plus1

Is Google +1 is set to be another thorn in the side of internet marketers.

Whether or not it is going to be a game changer or not is still yet to be seen, that will depend on the Internet community and their desire to adopt another thing from Google.

In March this year, Google released Google +1 to the public. In essence, +1 is Google’s way of making search results a little more personal. Google may just have found the way to give the power back to the Internet user.

Imagine google users being able to +1 their favourite search results for others to see, this information then gets shared with his or her contacts via Google profiles. Just to clarify… You must be logged into your Google account in order to use Google +1. Still don’t see the +1 icon? Go ahead and visit Google’s experimental search to “activate” +1 on your search results.

One of the short comings with this whole thing I see is that you need to be logged into your google account at the moment for it to work, and then it gets shared with your google profile contacts. I DON’T use it…so how effective it will be is still up in the air.

I do believe that with the money that Google has to promote +1, we are set to see a real change in the social environment and a real shake up of websites.

My thoughts though about google +1 (google plus one)
I think we are going to be in for a ride. I think that Google has realised how much power facebook, twitter and other social media engines are having on the internet world and if they didn’t do something they would lose ground very fast.

We have already seen facebook moving into the area of search engines, (I don’t particularly like theirs, but they have one), now we see google trying to allow the internet surfer to have more of a say into what is important and what isn’t.

The new google plus one (google +1) is set to make sure that the websites truly become a powerhouse of important information. Not just blogs full of junk.

So how is all this information relevant to you?

For the average user, it probably isn’t important at all, however for the internet marketer who relies on Google traffic, +1 is going to impact your rankings and your income.

If you’re a webmaster and you’d like to know how you can use +1 to your advantage, carry on reading.

Google is all about improving users experience, so google +1 is going to do that.

With the current system, that’s just not happening. Why? Simply because marketers know how to “game” the system with black hat SEO and automated link building. Automated link building tricks Google into thinking a website rocks and is really popular. (making it rise in the SERPS)

When in reality it probably sucks, provides little to no valuable information and pitches some crappy product. The truth is that Google has been fighting off marketers for years. Doing everything they can to provide quality on topic information for their users. So really, +1 is Google’s first major step in making their search engine a more “fair”, friendly and social place.

Will this put an end to all the crappy sites out there? I doubt it… I can’t see this +1 thing catching on, it might even be a huge failure. Although I doubt +1 will put an end to crappy websites, I can see it helping some of the quality websites out there that don’t take advantage of automated link building.

So…. Google +1 is being incorporated into Google’s algorithm, therefore influencing website’s rankings all over the web. How much +1 will account for a website’s rankings, I don’t know. However, it’s definitely a good idea to install the +1 button on your website.

If you didn’t know already (I am pretty sure you would though) google has been using social media “likes” and “retweets” in their algorithm for some time now.

So how do you install +1 and take advantage of Google’s latest change? Well, you can manually create a plus one button yourself. Or you can install the Google +1 wp plugin. Once installed, the +1 button will appear above or below your posts (you choose) just like the Facebook share or Tweetme button.

So my final thoughts about google +1 (google plus 1)

Google is going to continue with their desire to improve customer experience and there is a lot we can learn from them. Will they get it right at the start? I don’t think so, however they will give it pretty good go. We will see many people’s blogs and sites rise out of no where and many well known ones crash, whether this is right or wrong I don’t know, all I know is we better be ready for it.

You will see many “social tribes” coming up with ways to try and beat google, but in my opinion, it is always the people that win.