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author
Albert Gouyet
M Posted 12 years ago
t 3 min read
Digital Marketing

Google rolled out its biggest update to search with ‘Search Plus Your World’. The new search results allow users to find public information and privately shared content through a single search.

Results now include Public web listings, Public Google+ and Picasa posts and photos, Private Google+ and Picasa posts and photos. We keep a close eye on changes in search and help you respond right away.

In the meantime, let's review what this means for marketing and how you can navigate and capitalize on these changes

What this means for marketing

Social matters even more

Social’s impact on search has been discussed for a while, and the update reinforces it’s influence on rankings and brand. Google+ content such as posts, pages and photos will feature prominently in search results, and the importance of social as a ranking factor will continue to rise over time. For marketers, this is a powerful way to drive SEO performance and brand image.

SEO scope expands

SEO continues to expand - it is both more segmented and more integrated across digital channels. SEO success now requires a unified strategy that spans both websites as well as social media presence. This strategy requires integrated analytics, integrated content, and a unified user and search engine experience. SEOs must also begin to optimize social channels for search engines.

Impact varies across segments

While the impact will likely affect many segments over time, searches with heavy personality-driven keywords (entertainment, politics and sports) or strong customer facing brands (cars, consumer electronics and games) will see more Google+ content sooner

Universal search evolves

Universal search has been present for some time, but the source of content displayed has changed. This may mean that previous content no longer displays in the same prominence as before - marketers will see competition from content within their users’ social networks.

How you can navigate and capitalize on these changes

Create or optimize your Google+ page

If you don’t have a Google+ page, please create one. If you have a Google+ page, optimize your site to reinforce your Google+ page and vice versa.

Unify site, search and social strategy

Make sure there is a coherent, integrated plan between the three different channels that includes integrated analytics and messaging. It’s also important to create a unified “search engine” experience—make sure that Google and other engines see and show the consistent messaging and content.

Manage site, search and social together

Understanding the relationship between the three channels in a changing market is critical. We recommend creating a single dashboard with visibility across channels; be sure to include universal, social and keywords specific to Search Plus Your World. Analyze your keywords to identify the value and importance from different channels, and prioritize.

Assess universal search results

Look at the universal search results and see if there are any major changes, positive or negative. Analyze keywords to determine their likelihood to be impacted by the change and build an improvement plan.