All marketers know that SEO is important.  But what’s a marketer to do if he/she doesn’t have the ability to update website content and metadata on the fly to improve rankings? Sounds like crazy talk, right?  How would a marketer NOT have that access?  Sometimes websites, especially very complex ones with many integrated systems, live in IT instead of Marketing and any changes to website content or metadata need to follow a formal request process.  So what’s a marketer to do to improve SEO?  Head to Google+!

I know, I know.  You’re saying, “WHA??? But no one uses Google+ except for IT peeps, marketing/social media geeks and photographers. Why would I spend my time and effort there?”  It can certainly be frustrating to invest the effort in a social platform where audience growth is slow and engagement is few and far between.  While G+ doesn’t have nearly the usage that Facebook does, there are still millions of people who use the social network each day.  According to a recent New York Times article, Google says that the platform has 540 million monthly active users, which does pale in comparison to the 1.2 billion who visit Facebook.  But the real value of Google+ is in the SEO weight it carries.

Create a Google+ page for your organization and optimize the content on your About page.  Also, Google+ posts show up in search results.  So marketers should make a concerted effort to maximize their keyword research and use relevant keywords as they are crafting their Google+ posts. Posts are immediately indexed, so you can see a quick return on your investment of time. Shares and +1s act as social proof and improve positioning among search engine results.

The Engaging Brand

So, don’t give up on Google+ if you aren’t seeing the engagement like you might see via the other social networks.  Use your G+ page and posts to your brand’s advantage by maximizing their SEO value!

Have you come across any brand on Google+ that seem to really be doing it right?  If so, please share!