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Posts Tagged ‘Google Plus’

SEO Predictions for 2013 [Infographic]

Friday, December 21st, 2012

As we continue to experiment with our ability to predict the future, we’re turning to an infographic from Imforza for predictions about the future of the search engine optimization industry. With each new update to Google’s ranking algorithms, or each new tie between social media and search, the way SEOs do their job changes.

This is difficult enough for them, but for small and medium businesses trying to do their own SEO, it’s even harder to keep up.

Luckily, according to the infographic, 63% of executive teams have a better understanding of SEO metrics than they did this time last year. More businesses are recognizing the importance of showing up in search results, either in the organic results through SEO or in the paid results through PPC. To increase their visibility online, companies are looking to online advertising, creating content on social media and blogs, and improving the content on their websites.

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Tags: content, Google Plus, Infographic, online privacy, predictions, search engine optimization, SEO, social media, social search, website design, website navigation
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Is YouTube saying goodbye to “Thumbs Down”?

Thursday, May 3rd, 2012

When Google originally said that Google+ would become a social layer on top of everything else the company does, they weren’t kidding around. From the +1 button to Search, Plus Your World, Google is adding Google+ integration to as many of their products as possible. But at what expense?

Once again, Google has angered an actor from Start Trek. Yesterday, Wil Wheaton posted on Tumblr (warning: profanity) about a change he noticed while watching videos on YouTube. Instead of the ‘thumbs up’ and ‘thumbs down’ icons to vote on a video, he saw a Google+ ‘Like’ button.

Google has told Danny Sullivan, “We are currently running experiments showing different Google+ buttons in YouTube in order to provide the best user experience.” I took a look at screenshots of the buttons being tested, and none of them seem to have a button equivalent to the ‘thumbs down.’

A lot of people are angry because with these new buttons, only Google+ users will be able to vote on YouTube videos. I’m not disagreeing with them, but am more drawn to the fact that there will be no “1-click” way to say that you don’t like the video.

If you wanted to express negative feedback, you would have to comment. After years of Facebook users begging for a ‘dislike’ button, why would they remove their equivalent to it?

I’m starting to worry that it’s going to become harder to give negative feedback on social networks. While it may not be a lot of work to type out your comment and post it, why is it so much easier to agree with content than it is to disagree?

Video comments seem to be a place for users with strong opinions, whether they are positive or negative. This is because those without strong opinions don’t want to take the time to type out their thoughts, which then may be attacked by other users. If you just like a video a little bit, it’s much easier to click the ‘thumbs up’ or ‘thumbs down’ button and move on to another video.

Why do social networks make it so easy and quick to give content positive feedback, but not negative? Do you agree that both opinions should have 1-click options? Let us know in the comments!

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Tags: Google, Google Plus, social media, YouTube
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Google+ Introduces a Familiar Redesign

Thursday, April 12th, 2012

Yesterday, Google+ got a huge makeover, but the look is very familiar. There’s no doubt that the redesign looks good (with the possible exception of the white space already being mocked), but web users question the value of the redesign. Google’s main problem with their social network is the lack of unique value. If anything, the redesign amplifies this. Let’s take a look at some new features:

Customizable navigation ribbon: This feature seems original enough. Rather than the top navigation bar, there is now a “ribbon” along the left edge of the screen that is completely customizable. You can show/hide apps and rearrange them, and hovering over an app’s icon will reveal quick actions you can do from any page.

Profile page: The new profile page looks eerily similar to Facebook Timeline. There is even a cover photo.

Bigger photos and video: Once again, a change Facebook already went through.

More prominent chat: Yet again, a feature that now looks more like Facebook chat.

Explore: There is now an ‘Explore’ page that displays “interesting” and trending content from the site. Users can adjust how much of this content will go directly to their stream on the home page. This is not reminiscent of a Facebook feature but rather the “Discover” tab that Twitter introduced.

Dedicated ‘Hangouts’ page: There is now a separate page for Hangout information, including a list of all of your invitations to Hangouts as well as a list of public and on-air Hangouts you can join.

While the design was well-received and many still consider it more ‘beautiful’ than Facebook, it still lacks originality. As you can see, there are very few original aspects of the redesign. As Fast Company brilliantly commented: “A lot of what Google announced today was pure catch-up.”

Google+ is trying to make something that already exists. There is the argument that they are doing it better: with circles, integration into other Google products, etc. Its one feature that is successfully unique is Hangouts, so it’s good to see that they are trying to put more focus on that by giving Hangouts is own page. But at this point, trying to replace Facebook and Twitter will not work. It’s too late.

Look at Pinterest: it is succeeding and became the huge social network it is now because of its uniqueness. Sure, Google+ may look better than Facebook, but it’s still very similar. Google should be thinking of ways to make Google+ stand out, rather than trying to be everything.

So, readers, we’d like your opinion. Will this new design increase how often you use Google+, if you use it at all? Please share!

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Tags: Facebook Timeline, Google, Google Plus, social media
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Lowdown: Google Search Plus Your World

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

On Tuesday, Google announced on it’s official blog a new search format called “Search, plus Your World,” which will attempt to integrate search and social. By social, they mean Google+. Danny Sullivan describes the format as allowing users to “find both privately shared content from friends and family plus material from across the web through a single search.” Here is a summary of what people are calling “Search+”, along with how others are perceiving the change.

Using Search, plus Your World

Google Search now has two modes: global and personalized. Global search presents results as if you were logged out of Google and Google+. Personalized search results show:

Listings from the web, some of which may be boosted either because of your past search behavior or because of your social connections
Public Google+ posts and photos from G+ or Picasa
Private or ‘limited’ Google+ posts and photos that were shared with you

You can switch between modes using the toggle in the top-right, underneath the search box. You can also opt-out of personal results completely by going to the Search Settings page while logged into Google.

Features

Google’s blog post introduces three new features of the personalized search:

Personal results – Personal results show relevant posts shared with you on Google+ as well as photos from Google+ and Picasa. You can see public content, content shared with you, and your own posts and photos.
Profiles in search – When typing in the search box, Google will use autocomplete to display Google+ profiles, similar to direct connect for brand pages. The autocomplete predictions will be for users you are connected with as well as prominent users. The results page will offer a fast way to add the users to your circles if you are logged into Google+.
People and Pages – When you search for a topic, the results page will include suggested Google+ users “who frequently discuss this topic” and buttons to add them to your circles right from the results page.

Reactions and Concerns

The fact that Google Search, plus Your World doesn’t bring in content from other social networks such as Facebook and Twitter has become a major concern. Twitter even released a statement saying:

“For years, people have relied on Google to deliver the most relevant results anytime they wanted to find something on the Internet.

Often, they want to know more about world events and breaking news. Twitter has emerged as a vital source of this real-time information, with more than 100 million users sending 250 million Tweets every day on virtually every topic. As we’ve seen time and time again, news breaks first on Twitter; as a result, Twitter accounts and Tweets are often the most relevant results.

We’re concerned that as a result of Google’s changes, finding this information will be much harder for everyone. We think that’s bad for people, publishers, news organizations and Twitter users.”

Google responded on their Google+ page noting that they had a deal to display results from Twitter in the past, but over the summer the deal expired and Twitter chose not to renew the agreement. Google says that they are open to consider including data from other networks but does not have access to it now.

A privacy watchdog group, the Electronic Privacy and Information Center (EPIC), also believes that the new features raise privacy and antitrusts concerns and is considering filing a letter with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

Do you like the new search features, or will you be “going global” from now on when you search?

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Tags: Google, Google Plus, google search, social search
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3 Ways to Interact on Google+

Thursday, December 29th, 2011

When we first started the 3 ways to interact series, there were no brand pages on Google+. But on November 7, Google launched brand pages on their newest social network. Almost two months later, many brands have set up pages but are having trouble building a following on the network and interacting.

The main benefit most brands see in a Google+ brand page is the implications for search, especially as pages begin to show in Google search results. But for your page to accomplish anything, as always, you need to interact. Here are some tips:

1. Use Hangouts. – If you aren’t familiar, Hangouts is the Google+ video conferencing feature where you can “hang out” with up to 10 others. Hangouts also have text chat windows, YouTube integration, and “Hangouts with Extras” (which includes screen sharing and Google Docs collaboration). Try starting Hangouts and joining sessions hosted by others. Use Hangouts to:

Hold a “Town Hall” where fans and customers are introduced to the people of your brand/company. This personalizes your brand and lets those in the Hangout learn from your company’s expertise.
Provide personalized customer service or use the opportunity to explain things your fans may frequently have problems with.
Provide tutorials and demonstrations about things relevant to your company’s industry.
Just hang out. You need to know a lot about your audience, and what better way to find out than to ask them? Invite people into a Hangout just to hang out. You can learn about your customers and learn from them, and will make them feel like they really know your brand on a personal level.

2. Connect your brand page. – If you are having trouble building an audience, make sure your page is visible. Make sure you connect the brand page to your company’s website and use the Google+ badge that allows users to add you to their circles right from your website. You can also add links to the “Custom Links” area of the “About” section of your brand page. You can add as many links as you want, so make your other social profiles available that way. Lastly, utilize the +1 button to integrate search with social.

3. Explore and connect. – One downside of Google+ brand pages is that pages cannot add a user to its circles unless the user has the brand page in his or her circles. But there are other ways to drive users to your brand page. You can still use your individual profile to connect with people, and this may actually be better than the alternative. Reaching out to someone personally will build more meaningful connections and if you are talking about your brand, they will likely go to the page on their own at some point.

Add eZanga to your circles on Google+

Google+ Brand Pages finally arrive

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

Just when you thought you could forget about Google+, there’s been a major feature added that may refresh its relevance. Since day one, a major shortcoming of Google Plus was that there were no pages or support for brand profiles. But on Monday Google finally started rolling out brand pages.

The brand pages are extremely similar in appearance to regular profiles with a lot of the same functionality as a Facebook page. Users add pages to their circles just as they would with other users. But there are differences between a page and a profile.

First of all, a page cannot add a user to its circles unless the user has added it to one of his or her circles already or mentioned it in a post. Secondly, brand pages are public by default. The third major difference is that pages have a +1 button and count, which can be linked to your websites count as well (more on that later!). Pages also can’t use some other Google+ features such as playing games and giving +1 to other pages.

The reason the brand pages may be such a game changer is because of Direct Connect. Direct Connect is a way of finding and following Google+ brand pages through Google Search. All a searcher has to do is type “+” followed by the name of the brand or business. Instead of sorting through a page of results, you will be taken directly to the correct Google+ page. Google+ users can also opt-in to a feature that automatically adds the brand to their circles by searching with Direct Connect. (Side note: Google+ brand pages will also now show up in Google search results.)

Google has also released Google+ badges for brands to promote their presence on Plus. Similar to the Facebook’s Like Box plugin, the widget can be embedded on web sites and lets a user either +1 the page or add it to their circles. The important thing about the Google+ badges is that it will connect your brand page with your website. This will help Google better index the brand’s Google+ page, but will also link together the +1′s from your brand page, search, and display ads. It is also required for your brand to be eligible for Direct Connect.

It’s obvious that the Google+ brand pages will open up a lot of new possibilities for brands, although there are still shortcomings and questions. For example, right now brands cannot run any contests or promotions through their page, and there are no page analytics or insights. Will these things be added in the future? There are also no custom URLs yet, something which seems impractical. Lastly, pages can also only be controlled by the one admin that created the page. Multiple admin support is expected in the future, but when? We’ll need to wait and see!

Connect with eZanga.com on Google Plus!

What are your opinions on the Google+ brand pages? Do you think they will make Plus more popular?

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Tags: brands on social media, Google, Google Plus, social media
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Google Plus May Have Verified Celebs in Future

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

Since Google Plus launched three weeks ago, most of its early adopters have been technology and/or social media aficionados. One lifestyle we have not seen represented much on the site, especially when compared to Twitter, is that of the rich and famous. But William Shatner was one of the few celebrities to embrace the new social networking site. How was he thanked? By having his account temporarily disabled.

On Monday, Shatner tweeted, “My Google+ account was flagged for violating standards. Saying hello to everyone apparently is against the rules maybe I should say goodbye?” Google has not released an explanation of the incident, but it has been speculated that maybe Google assumed the profile was fake.

This brought to our attention an inevitable problem in the future: fake accounts. Regardless of what social network is the most popular at the moment, there’s bound to be more than one “Ashton Kutcher” or “William Shatner” in search results. If more celebrities are going to start using Google Plus, this problem needs to be addressed.

It’s been reported that Google is “very interested in having celebrities,” and may use a verification system similar to Twitter’s. CNN states that Google has a “celebrity acquisition plan” to verify the identities of high-profile users. While details of how the verification will work have not been decided, a few options have been proposed. One option requires requesting official identification be scanned or faxed to Google, which seems like a hassle and may bring up security risks, especially when very important celebrities are involved. A more reasonable option is having talent agents and counselors file requests.

If celebrities flock to Google Plus, will you be more likely to sign-up or add them to your Circles?

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Tags: celebrities, Google Plus, social media
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