Another Change to Google+…Now What?

Google is making yet another modification to its Google+ strategy by eliminating some key elements from its search engine results. How will online marketers and their clients cope?

Reduced Visibility on Knowledge Graph Boxes

When searching for a brand on Google, the Google+ “Follow” button and “Recent Posts” section of the Knowledge Graph box are now only displayed to users who are logged in to their Google account.

Consequently, those who are not logged in, but search for a brand through Google, will have less opportunity to engage with the brand through Google+ on search engine results pages.

The good news (because now you need some) is that there are more than 500 million Gmail users as of April 2014 – that’s up from 425 million users just a year prior. And that’s just one Google service; it doesn’t account for the millions of users of Drive, Calendar, Play, Maps, and let’s not forget YouTube – one of the other largest social media platforms.

However, that still begs the question, “How can we continue to increase visibility on Google+ in the wake of this change?” One thought is to create a page on your website that is dedicated to promoting your Google+ presence, optimizing it for SEO, and then allowing it to progress organically. Unfortunately, organic search results take time to develop, so for faster results we suggest implementing a G+ feed on your website. Utilizing the existing SEO to direct visitors to your website, you can double the effort by allowing searchers to also see your posts as they happen.

Not the First Blow to Google+ Integration

The news of more Google+ elements being removed from search engine-based results is a bit disappointing, especially with the recent elimination of Google+ authorship display in search results. However, as search marketers, we know that the one thing Google is not, is a constant.

Onward and upward.

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