Add the Google +1 button to Your Website: 4 Things You Need to Know
A few days ago, Google released its +1 button for websites, a system which allows your readers to “plus one” the content that they are currently reading. We can expect to see this button more and more on lots of websites, just as it was case with Twitter’s Tweet This and Facebook’s Like button.
Most of you aren’t sure where your +1 vote will be visible, right? The Tweet This button will send the link to your Twitter profile, while the Facebook Like will post your story on Facebook. Where will Google publish your vote? The answer is – in the Google search results. When your Google friends search for something on google.com and you gave +1 on one of the links in their search results, they will see you like that link.
If you want to add Google’s +1 button to your blog or you’re just wondering what does this mean for search results and marketing, you’re in the right place 😉 Google actually used a .Me domain for their Ro.me project!
What does Google say?
Firstly, let’s see what folks at official Google Blog say about this new voting button.
+1 is as simple on the rest of the web as it is on Google search. With a single click you can recommend that raincoat, news article or favorite sci-fi movie to friends, contacts and the rest of the world. The next time your connections search, they could see your +1’s directly in their search results, helping them find your recommendations when they’re most useful.
Read more at Official Google Blog.
+1 is the advent of Google’s social graph
Back in April when +1 button was released only for search results, Paul Burani from SearchEngine Watch wrote up a post on plusone’s effect on search engine marketing. He suggests that Google’s plusone will become popular and maybe more used that Facebook’s Like button.
Even if the Google +1 button lacks the history, the familiarity and the functionality of the Facebook Like button, even with slow adoption it won’t be long before Google’s social graph data exceeds what Facebook is sitting on. Add that to a vastly superior interface for advertisers, and it’s a winning proposition.
Read more at SearchEngine Watch.
How to add +1 to your website
So, you know everything there is to know about Google’s +1 button and you want to have it on your blog? Business Insider wrote up a nice step-by-step tutorial on how to add Google’s +1 to your blog.
Google’s much-awaited +1 product landed earlier this week. The company’s history with social is less than stellar, so we’ll be watching this one closely. In the meantime, here’s everything you need to know in order to get a brand spankin’ new +1 button on your self-hosted WordPress blog.
Read more at Business Insider.
Track +1 votes in Google Analytics
Now that you have +1 button, you would like to track your +1s in Google Analytics, right? Luckily for you, this is actually already possible and Joost de Valk explains how to set up tracking of +1 in Google Analytics.
It comes with an option for a callback function that you can use to track interaction with that button in Google Analytics. The implementation is pretty easy so let’s go ahead and explain it.
Read more at Yoast. As +1 gets on even more websites, its impact will be quite important to anyone publishing or doing business on the web. Whats your take – why will you add Google’s +1 already?
