Does Google Plus Really Help with SEO?

Facebook is good because, like everyone is using it.

Twitter is good because it pushes you to be more creative to keep up with the conversation starters.

Myspace is… wait, is that still around?!

Pinterest is good for inspiration… a rabbit hole of ideas that you probably won’t actually duplicate but at least you tried.

LinkedIn is good for networking, sharing your resume, and building relationships with relevant service providers.

Tumblr is good for blogging, StumbleUpon and Reddit are good for wasting time.

G+ (AKA Google Plus) is good for… er, SEO. Right?

There’s too many darn social networks! Why bother with Google +?

If anyone tells you that G+ is good for SEO and that’s why you should use it… look at their G+ page or profile and you’ll probably see a whole mess of self-promotion. Now there’s anything wrong with tooting your own horn once in a while on any social network… as long as it’s balanced with posts that people care about. Because people really don’t care to follow somebody who’s only sharing their newest blog article.

Getting on the front page of Google search results is not easy.

Sharing your own links on G+ will not make it any easier.

With that being said…

There can be SEO benefits to using Google Plus.

One of the most obvious benefits is personalization. If somebody is following you on Google Plus, there is a higher chance that they will see your posts in search results. The biggest impact between G+ and search results is this type of personalization. Another example is that a page will increase placement in your search results if it has been +1’ed by somebody you follow on Google Plus.

In addition, G+ posts will display in search engine results… so keep that in mind. You just might want to use G+ to post valuable updates. Just saying.

So should I use Google Plus?

If you want to use G+ strictly for SEO purposes, then no. Yet if you’re willing to incorporate another network into the time you already spend managing multiple social profiles… it doesn’t hurt! The most important thing is to use G+ effectively. There is no social network that’s good for excessive self promotion!