Web Form Automation for Bonterra Impact Management (fka Social Solutions Apri...
Building a Powerful Google+ Network - SMX West 2013
1. Building a
Powerful
Google+
Network
Virante Web Marketing
Mark Traphagen - Director of Digital Outreach
2. Text
Virante Web Marketing
Mark Traphagen - Director of Digital Outreach
This is me holding a mockup of the wheel of the Mars Curiosity Rover at the launch two years ago.
3. This is Courtney Ramirez, a Google+ user.
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
4.
One day Courtney searched on Google to find a Quora page about Google Authorship.
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
5.
These were her top results.
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
6.
She recognized that the #2 result was from someone she knew and trusted.
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
7.
Me!
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
8.
Why did she get this result? Because I’m in Courtney’s Google Contacts (G+ Circles and/or Gmail).
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
9.
This is Google’s “Search + Your World” in action. The icon shows my result was boosted for Courtney
because of our connection.
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
12.
Here’s a recent search I did, logged out of Google.
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
13.
Logged in to Google I get a much more useful result from a real person who seems to carry some authority.
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
14. 1 - My Google+ post
2 - Google+ page post
3 - Another Google+
post by me
4 - Share of Google+
post by friend
5 - Home page of site
6 - Inside page of site
7 - Another page of site
8 - Another page of site
Google+ posts also help you claim more of Google’s valuable
Search real estate. Here’s how we captured 8 of 10 1st page
results for a week for “backlink removal tool,” a valuable keyword
for our RemoveEm tool that helps sites recover from a Penguin
penalty.
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
15. Feb 6, 2012
Another feature of Google+ posts is that they can not only rank in search but last. This post of mine has been
#1 or #2 for “google+ page analytics” for over a year now.
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
16.
We need to stop thinking of social networks as just linear chains of friend connections, just because that’s
how we experience them.
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
20. 1. Find Conversations
Use Google+’s search to find good conversations on your topic of expertise, and enter in. TIP: On Google+,
you don’t have to be circled by someone or circle them in order to comment on their public posts.
bit.ly/gplusnetwor
k
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
21. 1a. Evaluate: GPlusData.com
Use GPlusData.com to check out the popularity of people you find, segmented by KWs & demographics.
bit.ly/gplusnetwor
k
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
22. 1a. Evaluate: CircleCount.com
Further vet their popularity, who recommends them, and their average engagement with CircleCount.com
bit.ly/gplusnetwor
k
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
23. 2. Find Communities
Use the Communities filter in G+ search to find good communities where you can engage & get known.
bit.ly/gplusnetwor
k
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
24. Create Communities for Influence & Branding
Both persons and brands can create and moderate Communities.
bit.ly/gplusnetwor
k
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
25. Communities Can Rank in Search!
Communities themselves can even rank in Google search!
bit.ly/gplusnetwor
k
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
26. 3. Watch the mentions
bit.ly/gplusnetwor
“Mentions” of others by influential users can be good clues for other people you should circle & engage.
k
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
27. 3. Watch the mentions
Bonus Tip:
+mentions generate
a notification to the
mentioned user
And +mentioning someone in a post sends them a notification. Nice way to let an influencer know that you
called positive attention to her!
bit.ly/gplusnetwor
k
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
29. 1. Relevance sort
Sort your circles by “relevance” to find out who engages with you the most.
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
30. 2. Ripples
Use Ripples on any post to discover who reshared it, and which of your resharers give you the most reach.
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
31. 2. Ripples
In Ripples, the larger the name and circle, the farther “reach” that person gave your post. TIP: Use the
Ripples right sidebar to go to the posts of your best influence-spreaders to thank them. That also keeps you in
those conversations about your post.
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
32. 3. Create Influencers & "Stalking" Circles
Create “influencers” and “stalking” circles of people on whose radar you want to be. Periodically scan those
circles for posts you can reshare or engage.
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
33. 4. Detailed profile
Fill out your profile in great detail, not only to establish your “creds” with people deciding whether to circle you,
but also because your profile provides main keyword clues to Google to rank you in search.
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
34. 5. Google Authorship
Google+ Authorship Community:
bit.ly/AuthorshipCommunity
Be sure to make use of Google Authorship so when you show up in people’s search results because of
personalization, their eye is immediately drawn to your result. Also builds your personal brand.
Mark Traphagen | Virante.org | @marktraphagen
35. Mark Traphagen
Director of Digital Outreach
Virante.org
Google.com/+MarkTraphagen
@MarkTraphagen
All My Google+ Guides:
bit.ly/GplusGuides
Editor's Notes
If nothing else in this presentation impresses you: THIS IS ME WITH A WHEEL OF THE MARS CURIOSITY ROVER!
Courtney Ramirez searches "google authorship quora"
Courtney Ramirez gets me at top of her results
Courtney recognizes my face in her search results
Why am I there?
Because we're friends on Google+ (she has me in one of her circles)
Personalized search affected by our Google+ connection
Your Google Network = REACH
Google+ connects you to extended networks
Another example: logged out search
Same search logged in to Google. Now I have a more useful result from a trusted authority
Google+ posts can help you capture more SERP real estate. Here we got 8 of 10 1st page results for a KW important to us.
Google+ posts can retain high rankings for long tail KWs that last over time.
We think of the web as a series of fairly static linked chains...
But social connections make it more like a neural network, constantly reconfigured by new signals
Let's look at HOW to build a powerful network on Google+
First some starter tips to get you up and making connections
Use search to find relevant conversations and enter in.
Evaluate influencers with GPlusData.com
Further vet users with CircleCount.com
Find relevant communities and join.
Find relevant communities and join.
Find relevant communities and join.
Circle & engage people plus mentioned as authoritative and influential.
Bonus: When you highlight someone in a post, +mention them. They get notified of the post.
Time to Level Up! Let's look at some more advanced techniques for building influence on Google+.
Use the relevance sort in Circles view to see who engages with you the most.
View the Ripples of your most shared posts to find your influence spreaders.
The larger the circle, the further that person spread the post.
Put your influencers & people you want to stalk in circles so you can track & engage them more.
Fill out your profile completely so people know what you're about. Include keywords for Google+ search.
Google Authorship Rich Snippet draws the eye and increases click through rate.