The prominence of Google+ in search results and potential benefits of properly optimizing content and prioritizing activity to index well in Google should not go unnoticed.

1. Google+
POV – Edelman Digital Southeast

2. IMPACT IN SEARCH
WHY YOUR BRAND SHOULD BE AN
EARLY ADOPTER
• The prominence of Google+ in search results and potential
benefits of properly optimizing content and prioritizing
activity to index well in Google should not go unnoticed.
• Google+ itself is considered a social layer, with Google
Search Plus Your World strengthening the relationship
between search and social by adding in a social
personalization layer to search.
• As a content sharing platform, Google+ is constantly
feeding the Google search engine with data on the
content’s engagement activity, which is having a direct
influence on search results and SEO rankings.
• Content from Google can still rank even if Google’s search
personalization is turned off.
• Google+ content can rank within only minutes of it being
posted

3. HOW TO OPTIMIZE CONTENT
FOCUS ON THESE
EIGHT ESSENTIAL ASPECTS:
• Google+ Profile
• Circles
• Create Post Headlines
• Utilize Images in Posts
• Produce & Share Compelling Content
• Maximizing the +1 button
• Account Verification
• Author Verification
*PepsiCo is an Edelman client.

4. HOW TO OPTIMIZE CONTENT
GOOGLE+ PROFILE
• Profile Name – Keep this simple. This will appear on all posts, so
don’t keyword stuff your profile name.
*Starbucks is an Edelman client.

5. HOW TO OPTIMIZE CONTENT
GOOGLE+ PROFILE
• Use targeted keywords, based on your keyword research, when
describing your business. This includes the tagline that appears at
the top of the About section.
• The tagline serves as the page’s meta *H&M is an Edelman client.
description and appears in the search
results. It also shows up in the
Google+ feed when users hover over
the brand name.

6. HOW TO OPTIMIZE CONTENT
GOOGLE+ PROFILE
• Profile Image - If possible, take full advantage of the space
allowed for the profile image. You may not have much choice in
some cases because the brand’s logo is the brand’s logo.
However, if possible, a square profile image with color all the way
to the edges can appear bigger than one with white space.
• Less white space makes the logo look bigger

7. HOW TO OPTIMIZE CONTENT
GOOGLE+ PROFILE
• Scrapbook Images – The 5 images at the top of your profile are a great way to showcase
your brand’s personality and encourage fans to engage. Be creative! You could use 5
stand alone photos, create a panoramic photo board, or even upload animated gifs.
*Call of Duty is an Edelman client.

8. HOW TO OPTIMIZE CONTENT
GOOGLE+ PROFILE
• Internal linking within the Introduction section
is another important factor in building out an
optimized profile.
• Be sure to state keywords exactly how they
appear in keyword research, even if they are
not technically grammatically correct, to ensure
that your content is reaching the greatest
number of people.
• The Recommended Links section is the perfect
area to link to your owned web properties
including other social platforms and your
company site. Make sure that you only include
relevant links, so as not to send mixed signals to
Google.

9. HOW TO OPTIMIZE CONTENT
CIRCLES
• When creating new Circles, use targeted keywords in the
names. Also, make sure to announce and promote the
Circles once they go live.
• Capturing the attention of users with high authority can
build equity and catapult engagement on their own pages.
• Brands should seek to secure relationships with users of
high authority and influence to build equity by commenting
on, sharing and interacting with content on these pages to
capture their followers.
• Influential people in the brand’s Circle who link back to the
profile will improve the page’s overall influence and
authority.
• Engaging content is critical to securing followers because a
brand cannot add someone to a Circle unless that person
has first added the brand.

10. HOW TO OPTIMIZE CONTENT
POST HEADLINES
• Adding bolded headlines to your posts will not only make them stand
out, but it also serves as meta data for the post. To add a headline,
put asterisks around the text, like this: *Your Headline Here*.
• As always, be sure to use relevant keywords.

11. HOW TO OPTIMIZE CONTENT
POST IMAGES
• Take advantage of the size allowances
of Google+ for images in your posts.
• Make sure your photo is large enough
to take up all the vertical and See how this post
horizontal space it can. takes up almost twice
the space as the one
• A larger image can help your post take below?
up more real estate in the results page
and push other listings further down.

12. HOW TO OPTIMIZE CONTENT
POST IMAGES
• Don’t forget to max out the allowable horizontal
image space too.
• This helps to make your post more eye-catching
by filling more of the white space on the search
results page with color.

13. HOW TO OPTIMIZE CONTENT
CREATE COMPELLING CONTENT
• To create Google+ posts that attract attention, gain followers and rank in search, there are a
few basic considerations:
• Develop fresh content. Inactivity leads to a drop off in search rank. Don’t let more
than 72 hours pass between posts by creating a consistent content schedule.
• Share engaging videos and photos.
• Survey your audience.
• Be relevant.
• Post frequently. Studies have shown that even pages generating fewer +1′s per post,
reshares, replies or Circle membership can find their way into the organic rankings by
posting frequently. Proceed with caution, however, as Google looks for quality and
penalizes content considered spam.
• Use keyword research to inform keyword strategy to write all content.
• Audit the brand’s current content and strategies on websites and other social media
platforms. When the same content is posted both on Google+ and on a company’s
blog, the Google+ data has been known to rank higher in organic search due the +1s
and engagement the content had garnered in the past
*Ben & Jerry’s is an Edelman client.
• Avoid trademark symbols when possible. Google does not read trademarks and
other intellectual property symbols. In fact, using unknown symbols can push your
page lower in the search rankings.

14. HOW TO OPTIMIZE CONTENT
SHARE COMPELLING CONTENT
MAXIMIZE THE +1 BUTTON
• Fostering engagement on posts is important and can
aide in expanding your Circles and influence, but the
end goal should be capturing +1s to influence SEO.
• Include a “site level” +1 button – This should either
target your homepage url, or your Google+ page url
• Include a content/post/product level +1 button that
targets the URL of the page. Make sure it appears
near the compelling content for easy reach.
• Include these buttons to your multiple owned
properties that host relevant content – it is impacting
search ranking. Keep tabs on the type of content that
garners the most +1s to inform future content
strategy and ideas.

15. HOW TO OPTIMIZE CONTENT
ACCOUNT VERIFICATION
• Link your Google+ account to your blog/website and to get
a Google+ badge for your website/blog.
• Once you receive the badge, submit a Google+ page
verification request.
• Unfortunately, there is no steadfast rule for when a page
can receive verification. Generally a page must obtain
1,000 people linking to it to be eligible for verification.
More recognized brands have been able to receive
verification with less than 1,000 people linking to their
page. Confirming ownership of a site seems to influence
search within Google+.

16. HOW TO OPTIMIZE CONTENT
AUTHORITY THROUGH AUTHORSHIP
• To increase your brand’s credibility as an authority in its
space, acknowledge your brand as the creator of content
and posts with authorship markup.
• Google has introduced the rel=”author” and rel=”publisher”
tags to webmasters as a way to connect your website or
other owned properties with your Google+ profile in search
results. Learn More from Google
• The added images that appear in the search results have
been shown to increase click through rates of the articles.

17. TRACKING & MEASURING SUCCESS
GOOGLE RIPPLES
• Google+ Ripples is incredibly insightful for analyzing
'how' the public posts migrate through the channel
and share specific content. Ongoing analysis of this
data will help a page understand its influencers and
inform content strategy.
• To understand the direct impact that Google+
content is having on search and to inform strategy,
perform weekly content positioning audits to
research how Google+ content is ranking in
comparison to the brand or company’s other content
properties on its most prominent keywords.

18. TRACKING & MEASURING SUCCESS
GOOGLE ANALYTICS
• Website analytics data can be utilized to show how content
is being shared across multiple channels and where that
content is driving traffic to your website. For example,
Traffic
Traffic
website analytics will provide clear indicators of which
channels are driving the most traffic to your website, but Product
cross-analyzing this with Facebook Analytics and Google+ Review
Blog
Traffic
Traffic
Ripples, will help a brand better understand the true viral
Traffic
Traffic
nature of the post content.
• Google recently made its Social Reports section in Google
Analytics more robust. Marketers can now measure and
Conversions on
attribute last-click conversions and assisted upper-funnel YourSite.com
conversions generated by different social networks. This
provides the visibility necessary to be able to start assigning
credit and value back to specific social channels.

19. CONCLUSION
• Google+ and the launch of Google Search Plus Your World has dramatically
altered the face and strategy behind online content marketing.
• There are multiple avenues to explore and areas to optimize to capitalize on the
changes with how social is being ranked in search.
• Developing an audience through engaging, relevant content is the fastest and
easiest track to improved search rankings.
• Participating in Google+ increases the opportunity for your page to appear next
to relevant search results.
• Getting involved in Google+ now is paramount.

20. Recommended Reading and References
What is Google Ripples?
CASE STUDY: Google+ vs Facebook engagement
How to Create an Effective Google+ SEO Content Strategy
The Future of How Google+ Will Impact Search Rankings
New Google Analytics Social Reports
How to Create an Effective Google+ SEO Content Strategy
Contact Us
Craig Kronenberger Adam Westin
craig.kronenberger@edelman.com adam.westin@edelman.com
Craig on Google+ Adam on Google+
Twitter: @ckrons Twitter: @drivefosho