Congratulations! Your blog is up and you’ve been consistently posting at least three entries a week because you know how important it is to have a fresh content stream.
Now you’re ready to go ninja on your blog by implementing these tactical Google+ search engine optimization (SEO) strategies.
1. Check Your Email Address.
Make sure your correct email address is on your personal blog entries. This lets Google associate your blog with your Google+ profile.
SEO should be highlighted on your blog to-do list.
2. Insert links Into Your Posts
Technically, you can link away like a chain maille artisan, but for reader credibility purposes, keep your links sparse and relevant. Anytime your post is “Liked,” “Shared,” “Tweeted,” or just emailed to another reader, your post then gets ranked higher by the nice computers at Google because of the links.
Think of links like clones. Your blog post allows your writing to be in one place. Links allow your writing to be accessible from multiple sites.
3. Check Your Google+ Profile Pic
Make sure your Google+ profile picture presents you in the best possible light. If you have a professional photo, use that. Otherwise, use a casual picture that is inviting or authoritative – one that projects the kind of image you’re going for.
With Google+ at work, your photo will appear next to search results that display your articles, so make sure it’s flattering. And remember, we’re all beautiful and handsome in unique ways, so there’s no need to be shy about posting your photo.
You get to be a kid again with link-building.
4. Don’t Eat and Run
When you guest post on a blog using your new-found skills of linking to your Google+ page in your bio, don’t forget to link to the blog site on your Google+ page. There’s a button for that. Well, a series of buttons.
- Go to your Google+ page; at the top of the page, select “View your profile as yourself.”
- Scroll down to “Links” and click “Edit” at the bottom of the box.
- Under “Contributor to,” type in a label and the precise URL where your guest blog post appears (not just the home page).
- answer if you’re a past or current contributor and click “Save.”
This does three things. It helps your followers find your online writing, it helps Google track your writing, and it helps you remember who you’ve written for – because you should be visiting all those places again (at least for a while) and responding to comments readers leave. It’s part of guest blog etiquette, but it helps your reputation, too. And remember, you can insert links into your comments.
Google+ is Google’s present answer to Facebook, but it isn’t Google’s first incarnation of a Facebook contender. In attempts to break into the social networking game, they previously came out with schemes called Orkut, Google Wave, and Google Buzz. You may not have heard of any of them because they have since gone by the wayside. But it looks like Google+ is here to stay.