how & why to incorporate google+ as a part of your blogging strategy

As a blogger, you’re probably already promoting your content on social media. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest…

All these are great places to attract readers and get your content noticed.

But with so many social channels available, it can difficult to use each one effectively—heck, it can even be difficult to even learn how each one works!

So it’s understandable if you didn’t jump on the Google+ bandwagon when the new social platform rolled out—but you should get on board now, because Google+ offers some special features that can uniquely benefit your blog and your brand.

2 Major Reasons To Use Google+ To Market Your Blog

1. Author Rank

Google started making waves earlier this year with the revelation that they were working on something called “Author Rank”. This is a new part of their ranking algorithm that ranks content by the trustworthiness of its author.

If Google trusts that you are who you say you are and that you can speak authoritatively on your topic, your content is likely to rank higher and faster in search results.

How do you get Google to trust you as an author? Tie your blog to Google+! Not only that, but claiming authorship with Google+ allows you to keep your content permanently linked to you, providing support to any potential copyright claims.

How do I use Google+ for Author Rank?

Google has a quick tutorial on how to establish authorship in Google+ in 6 simple steps. This is based on the premise that your email and blog have the same domain name (in this example, wired.com). (If your email and blog have different names, there is a different tutorial you should use.)

Author Rank is tracked by using the HTML tag rel=”author”. If you are posting content on another site, ask for permission to include this HTML tag in your author bio so Google recognizes you wrote that piece.

Click here for Google’s official tutorial on how to claim authorship with Google+ or read here for my tutorial.

2. Google Search Engine + Google+ = Traffic to your site

Google owns Google+ (….in case that wasn’t obvious). Because of this, Google+ posts are indexed faster by Google’s search engine than posts on other social media platforms.

If you share your content on Google+, it will show up in Google’s search engine sooner, driving more eyeballs to your site. Here’s an example:

Pauline shared her “Starting A Fashion Blog” article on her Google+ profile and it’s currently ranking second on Page 1! So if you share your article on your Google+ profile, there’s a bigger chance of getting your shared post to show up on Google search – FAST.

So how do I make Google+ posts that bring readers to my site?

There is a ton of information on the web about this, but here are some quick tips for you.

#1 Use the photo feature of Google+

Google+ gives you options for pictures and photography that are unique in the social network world. But you don’t have to use it just for photos. You can use the photo feature in Google+ to upload an image of your blog.

Google+’s photo feature is very simple and makes it incredibly easy to upload and edit photos and other images. Not only is it simply drag and drop, Google+ also gives you great tools to edit, enhance, categorize, and save your images. On top of all that, Google just released a new update to Google+’s photo feature which makes things even easier.

#2 Make your Google+ post a teaser for your blog post

Don’t just stop with the picture. Your Google+ post will need a compelling headline, plus a teaser summary of your content.

“But wait,” you might be saying.. If I put my content in my Google+ post, why would people come to my blog? Don’t re-post your whole blog post. That would be too long for a social network, and also it would keep people from going to your actual blog.

Get people hooked with a great introduction—that will ensure they click through to your blogpost.

This is where Google+ gives you another advantage: where teaser content would be way too long to include in a tweet or a Facebook update, you can write a paragraph or two with your image, and it fits right in the Google+ format.

Useful Tip: How To Share Posts To Google+ Effectively

Sharing publicly is great when you’re first starting out as a blogger and Google+ poster, but as you gain followers, it’s especially important to share privately with your circles.

Don’t stop sharing publicly, but take advantage of circles, which are unique to Google+.

Circles allow you to divide your audience into different segments (regular readers, new followers, etc.), which lets you further target your posts.

Be proactive in promoting your stuff! Ranking well in a search engine will bring new people to your site, but with your followers in circles, you already have a built-in audience ready and waiting.

People follow you because they like your content and/or product, so they want to hear from you.

How do I use Google+ circles effectively?

• Share with your circles thoughtfully. No one likes to get spammed.
• Also, if you have a personal Google+ account and a business one, consider the fact that you might have followers who see both accounts. Seeing your Google+ post multiple times might annoy them. Part of being on Google+ is managing your circles and keeping people in the right ones so that they see the types of content that interest them.
• Once you have shared your content, engage with your audience. Respond to comments and questions. Not only does this engage with your audience, it also gives you the opportunity to link to other content on your site.
• Being engaging is just as important as being proactive. Social networks are all about being social. Follow people you find interesting and relevant and +1 their posts too.