While building, developing, and maintaining your website you may think you’ve got all the bases covered–a stellar web design, incredible content, and a series of link-building and SEO practices that are destined to send your website traffic through the roof. With any major endeavor, there is often no endpoint, no goal which can be achieved whereupon you can declare “I’m done!” A website is no different. It will always take continual updating, tweaking, and the addition of new methods and ideas to keep things fresh and keep your traffic coming.
As part of an SEO strategy, your business may be well connected across a variety of social networks and other important sites. But are you utilising Google+? Sadly, Google+ often falls to the bottom of the social media totem pole. But Google+ can be an integral part of your website’s SEO plan, and can help dramatically increase your traffic.
First Things First
First of all, make sure you’ve got a Google+ profile page for your business or organisation. This is your direct link to the network and will enable you to share and connect on Google+, gathering more users in and guiding them to your site.
It’s a great idea to be highly connected on Google+. Depending on your business or industry, you can join one of many Google+ communities, which are based on a similar interest or focus. Frequent, quality engagement in these communities can help promote your credibility to Google, which may increase the spread and reach of your posts. This will ultimately drive more traffic to your Google+ profile, and then to your website. The increased traffic to your Google+ page, in fact, helps strengthen your website’s power in search results, boosting your rankings and pushing you closer to the top.
Don’t Forget Those Buttons
Sharing content has never been easier, with the addition of buttons for every social media network gracing most web pages. While you’re getting button happy, be sure to add a button for Google+. The inclusion of a simple share button makes readers more likely than ever to share your post. The share buttons streamline the process for users, which helps widen the reach of your post and site and gathers in more and more traffic. Make sure each social media platform you use has an appropriate share button to get that content moving, and definitely don’t neglect Google+!
Try Out the Gmail Widget
Did you know there is a Gmail widget which can greatly increase your Google+ exposure? Get ahead of the game by installing this Gmail widget for your business email. This widget automatically shares your Google+ content with your email contacts, spreading your business-related content without effort, and hopefully reaching interest parties. This is another great way Google+ can help increase your website traffic.
Optimise That Page
Like your business website itself, you’ll want to make sure your Google+ page is optimised, better helping Google find and rank it. How can you do this? Your “About” section of the Google+ page should have a meta title and description, using the vital key words you aim to rank for. Having a direct link to your business website is a no brainer, so double check that this has been included on your profile.
If you’re looking to improve those Google rankings, make sure to insert appropriate links in all your shared posts on Google+, including links to your homepage and other related links, depending on the post. Utilising proper hashtags can also be extremely helpful, as Google uses these to categorise your site, further boosting your visibility and thus, your web traffic.
Now you’re equipped with several tools that can help you make the most of your Google+ experience. No connection should be wasted when it comes to something as important as your business, and a social media platform like Google+ can really help you go that extra mile. Now go forth, and watch that web traffic soar.
