There have been a lot of jokes made at Google’s expense when it comes to Google+. While the social network may not have the mass appeal of Facebook, Twitter, and other competitors, it does offer a practical and worthwhile path along the paved road to SEO success.
Have you noticed the number of posts on Google.com that now feature Google Authorship? Every time you see a post with an authors name attached and their picture you are witnessing the start of Google+ SEO magic.
Getting started with Google+ optimization for SEO is simple and surprisingly not time consuming in the least. read more
Google+ users can now add some flare to their profiles with animated GIF avatars. Google announced the new platform on it’s official Google+ page along with instructions on how to complete the process.
Once you have a Google+ account you can setup your GIF image by simply clicking on your profile picture and choosing the GIF you want to use.
Here is the full GIF profile pic creation process:
Download any video you want to make a GIF from. You can download YouTube videos with KeepVid.
Trim the source video to the 2 to 3 seconds you want the GIF to be made from.
Open with Photoshop. File > Import > Video Frames to Layers.
Fix it up (quality-wise) and save.
Google has been GIF happy lately, the company recently added the ability to search for GIF files via its main Google.com search portal. read more
Google+ users can now search for photos using the social networks search bar.
Users simply type in a search term and then choose “photos” from the drop down menu to begin their photo search.
At this time the search filter does not allow for multiple filters to be applied, a fact that will likely change with the next Google+ update.
The Google+ search will only show photos that are listed as permissible for each user. Essentially only “public” photos and photos from circles you belong to will show up.
The move to add photo friendly searches was an important step for Google. The Google+ platform has quickly become a hot spot of discussion and display for artists looking to share their own works and their favorites pieces form other artists. read more
Free food, yoga classes and other events mark the perks of a Google job but only if you can actually land a position. According to a new infographic by Data visualization service Visual.ly and created forSocialTimes your chances at landing a Google job increase if you actually have a Google+ account.
GPlusData discovered that more than 10 percent of the 114 million people that the social analytics service tracks have claimed Google as an employer. Those claims include jobs at YouTube, Google and the company’s other divisions.
While it is true Google does not employ 11.4 million people (even more if you take its full 500 million+ user base) those numbers likely include freelance workers, former employees, YouTube partners and Google hopefuls. read more
Search giant Google has rolled out new integration practices between its Google+ social network and social video sharing website YouTube.
YouTube users now have the option to share videos they upload on Google+ by selecting that option directly from the upload interface. Once uploaded the videos are automatically showcased in a “videos” tab on the users Google+ profile.
In order to use the new service users must like their Google+ and YouTube accounts under their real name. The new process is very similar to what is already used for Picassa photos sharing.
For Google+ users who do not want to use the service the tab can be hidden.
After opting in to the service the users videos then read “YouTube” and when clicked users will be sent to YouTube rather than watching the embed on Google+, a sly way for YouTube and Google to share multiple pageviews per video engagement. read more
Google+ on Thursday announced the launch of a new group feature called Google+ Communities. The new program allows users to create public and private groups that can be centered around a specific topic or brand.
According to GoogleVP Vic Gundotra the new Communities button on the left side of the Google+ menu allows users to form groups or search for groups by category. Once a member of a group users can join events or participate in video-chat Hangouts.
Google+ will also allow users to share Communities through +1 button support on the web.
Google has also announced that it has surpassed 500 million users with 235 million active Google+ customers for Hangouts and +1 button use. Google also claims 135 million Google+ pages users. read more
Though the brutal social networking war has lost the interest of most news outlets, gruesome battles continue to take place behind the scenes as the arms race for users escalates. Facebook’s IPO has left the brand bloodied, and Google has seized on this moment of weakness to bolster their own offering, Google+, in the eyes of consumers. Meanwhile, MySpace seems to be taking a different strategy and reinventing itself as the music discovery service it was originally envisioned as. Shots continue to ring out across the digital ether, and with every blow levied, each social network has just one task ahead of them: Becoming distinct enough from other networks while pulling in more users. read more
If you’re like me you have a Google+ account for business, one for work and possibly even a few more for websites you own or people you stalk (hopefully not this last one). Google+ engineers realize that with multiple accounts some users become frustrated by their upkeep and that’s where “Takeout” comes into play.
The new app by Google+ engineers allows users to access all of their Google+ accounts and roll them into a singular social network account. By doing so a users social connections and friend lists are transferred to the account of their choosing without any hassle.
The new platform was revealed in an official Google+ post by Ronald Ho.
The tool is very simple to use, allowing users to funnel outside accounts into their main account. Information that can be transferred includes friends, information and blocking settings. Once you have transferred everyone over to your singular account your contact will notice no difference, still seeing your information when they look you up or see your shares in Google.com social search results.
Google+ has not always had the highest level of engagement for business owners, that is because website guru’s often fail to update their Google+ pages with the same voracity as their Google+ pages. Now thanks to a new Google+ integration users can link their websites and show updates to their followers.
Google+ has been touting website connectivity for a while but on Tuesday they rolled out a new improvement to that feature that allows users to follow just a few short steps at which point their website is connected.
The benefit? When users search Google they will see your most recent content directly in the search engines results. Can everyone say SEO advantage?
Here’s all you have to do in order to connect your pages: read more
Google News on Friday added some new upgrades to its platform including larger thumbnail photos that dynamically expand when stories are selected and the ability to more robustly share information via Google+.
Speaking about the company’s new Google+ integration a representative for Google wrote in a blog post:
“Many news stories inspire vibrant discussions on Google+, and today we’re starting to add this content to both the News homepage, and the realtime coverage pages.”
If you want to see just headlines the feature can be turned off, otherwise you will see news from your circles, journalists and other “notable” writers right on the Google News homepage. read more
There have been a lot of jokes made at Google’s expense when it comes to Google+. While the social network may not have the mass appeal of Facebook, Twitter, and other competitors, it does offer a practical and worthwhile path along the paved road to SEO success.
