Description :
Google+ isn't as big as Facebook, but with 300 million active users it's certainly no slouch either. More importantly, Google+ can positively impact your search engine results.
When you know how to leverage these search engine optimization advantages, you'll find your website gaining authority and going higher in the rankings.
Authority Building
While having an active presence on social networks gives you some authority, it's not the same as building link authority. Many social networks prevent a great deal of authority from being built due to a "rel=nofollow" tag that removes the impact from an outgoing link. Google+ does this with some links, but Practical Ecommerce reports that it does not do this within the text of posts. This means posts on Google+ could have more relevance to search engines.
Social Engagement
Engagement refers to the amount of times that users interact with your content on a website or social network site. On Google+, users can engage with your content by giving +1s (similar to Facebook likes), sharing the content, or posting comments. The +1s have an effect on your search engine rankings, and they also show up on search engine results if you have friends who have +1s on a page.
Indexing
You won't rank at all if your website is not indexed by the search engine. While Google is fairly quick about picking up new sites, it's easy to have the bots stop by your website when you post links to it on Google+. Google constantly looks at its social network to discover new content sources, so it could be a matter of minutes before Googlebot makes it to your site and adds it to the index, according to Social Media Today.
Local Search Rankings
When you have a brick and mortar business, getting yourself on local search rankings is important. As 4G Coverage increases throughout the country, more people turn to mobile devices for information on local businesses. Getting yourself at the top of the pile for a local search may be the difference between a thriving business and one that no one knows exists.
Google's local search features for business tie in heavily with Google+. A fully fleshed out Google Local profile allows you to engage and even directly contact your customers in some cases. It also gives you a place to get business reviews, which show up with your search results. When you focus on your local traffic, you also find that ranking for specific cities or towns is much less stressful than taking on an entire Internet that is trying to outrank you on popular search engine terms and phrases.
RECOMMENDED: How to Engage in Competitive Research to Improve Your Sites' Rankings
RECOMMENDED: How to Engage in Competitive Research to Improve Your Sites' Rankings
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(Update As Of April, 2019: Google+ is no longer available for consumer - personal and brand accounts.)
*by andreascy*
