How to Add Google's +1 Button and Why It Will Help Your SEO
Google goes Head to Head with Facebook's "Like" Button
Google just unveiled their "+1" Button for webmasters to add directly to their websites. You probably have seen the +1 icon next to search results for several weeks and this is the latest in Google efforts to engage the ever evolving social nature of us web users. If you aren't familiar with +1, think of it as a personal stamp of approval or as Google puts it, the +1 button is shorthand for "this is pretty cool" or "you should check this out."
The Impact on Organic Search and Even Your Adwords Campaigns
Google's +1 will definitely help SEO and your click thru-rates in PPC Campaigns. Here is why:
Social Influence - one of Robert Cialdini's key influencers in his book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion is social pull. Seeing the +1 button for a site tells you that someone within your social circle recommends it. This adds credibility that will drive up click-thru-rates...people simply will trust ads and sites that their friends have liked enogh to recommend.
Google's SEO Algorithm Factors in Consumer Sentiment
Google uses over 200 different "signals" to rank websites for their search results and last year they admitted that social authority on sites like Twitter and Facebook were included in those ranking signals. The +1 button is an extension of the social authority - similar to a Like or a Tweet. When someone +1's your website it tells Google that you wield a certain degree of authority and are recommended.
Adding the +1 Button To Your WordPress Site is Easy
Google shows you how to quickly and easily implement +1 here:
For those of you using wordpress, I have included easy step-by-step direction on how you can create your very own plugin. Literally, this took me under a minute.
Step 1:
Copy this code into Notepad ++ or some other editor tool and save as a .php file extension.
/* Plugin Name: Google +1 Button Description: Add a +1 button after the content. */ add_filter('the_content', 'google_plusone'); function google_plusone($content) { $content = $content.' '; return $content; } add_action ('wp_enqueue_scripts','google_plusone_script'); function google_plusone_script() { wp_enqueue_script('google-plusone', 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js', array(), null); }
Step 2
Create a new folder and save your new .php file to the folder. I named both my file and folder "googleplusone" but you can choose any name you wish.
(hat tip to Otto who created *most* of the code I shared with you - unfortunately he didn't include closing PHP brackets so copying his version won't work)
Step 3
Add this folder via FTP to your wordpress plugins folder located inside the "wpcontent" folder directory. You should see folders for all other plugins that you have installed for your site.
Step 4
Log into wordpress and you should see your +1 plugin listed under your plugins section of wordpress. Activate the plugin and you should be finished!
Keep in mind that only users logged into a Google profile will be able to +1 your site but this will only increase the number of people using Gmail and other Google services.
Will this social sharing tool rival Facebook's Like button? Probably not but it can definitely help your business website from both an SEO and Search Marketing (PPC) perspectiv