[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] style="width: 208px;height: 208px" alt="" />By now you've probably heard about Google+,
the latest social networking craze and most recent effort by Google to
take on Facebook and Twitter. But did you know that it could affect how
your business's website gets found on Google's search engine?

In addition to building a social networking powerhouse, Google's aim
with its "+1" button -- the equivalent of Facebook's "Like" button --
is to determine the social value of websites, or, in other words, they
want consumers to add personalized recommendations to Web content and
business sites. At present, it actually looks like Google may just pull
it off. Since its June 28 release, more than 20 million people have
already jumped onboard Google+. With such an unbelievable early
adoption rate, many internet marketing professionals are beginning to
wonder if those "+1"s will also start affecting how businesses use
search-engine optimization, or SEO.


Google+ combines many popular features of Facebook and Twitter into
a centralized social hub. There's a group video chat feature called
"Hangouts," and a user-defined topical news feed (like Twitter's
hashtag) called "Sparks." But maybe the most unique feature -- and
SEO-relevant -- is "Google Circles," which gives users the ability to
share content with specified groups, or "circles" of people. As users
build these circles, they'll be able to see the sites that members of
their circles have +1'd in Google's search engine results pages, or
SERPs.

While "+1"s are currently appearing in the search pages for users
that are logged in to their Google accounts, it's too early to say
exactly how "+1"s will affect users who aren't logged in. Looking at
how Facebook and Twitter "Likes" and "retweets" currently affect where
a site appears within search pages, one has to assume these +1's will
be as influential, if not more.

As search engines evolve to make searching more social, the main
value added of "Likes" and "tweets" showing in SERPs is the concept of
something I like to call, "trusted endorsements." If someone searches
for a product or service, there's a good chance that customer reviews
and recommendations will play some role in their decision making
process. When looking at these reviews, users trust the opinions of
strangers. They assume that these reviews are honest, but there's
always a hint of lingering skepticism.

Now imagine the same user is searching for the same product or
service, but instead of having to rely on the opinions of strangers,
they see recommendations from friends, co-workers or family members.
Just like in real life, the opinions of people in their "circles"
influence the decisions they make. That's the potential Google+ holds.

So how do you optimize for recommendations?

Google has built upon some of the best features of existing social
media sites in an attempt to make search less about computer algorithms
and more about real people. Google+ and the +1 button are empowering
users to influence other peoples' online activity.

This isn't SEO in the traditional sense, optimizing for these
trusted endorsements is an entirely new strategy altogether. Now more
than ever, marketers must focus on providing the best customer
experience possible, and encourage +1 recommendations everywhere they
can.

Mike Spadier is the online marketing manager for InMotion Hosting, a Los Angeles based Web hosting provider specializing in small- and medium-sized businesses.[123456789]