With 25 million users already (though so far very few are actively using it), news continues to be dominated by Google+ and there are ways in which Google’s new Facebook rival outperforms its competitors, notably with its circle function. We covered this in some depth in an earlier blog. In brief the circle function allows you to neatly compartmentalise your contacts into separate circles (job, friend, family etc), so your boss can’t see the photos of you having a great time when you were supposed to be off sick. Time will tell whether Google+ becomes a serious rival to Facebook but in the meantime it’s fascinating watching the two big players getting ready to do battle. Staying on subject, we kick off with a great post by Dr Pete on how to squeeze in a Google+ habit when you already have several other social media commitments.
Moving on from Google+, we have an eclectic selection of articles this month, from seo advice for travel bloggers to a great in-depth study by Slingshot SEO on the relationship between organic serp’s and click-through rate. We also see how Google’s Search by image can be an effective link building tool, how to effectively mix viral content with business content, whether tweets are still relevant for rankings and how plus one adoption rates affect social sharing statistics.
Google Plus in 15 minutes a day
Dr Pete’s guide to getting the most out of your Google+ time
Slightly off topic, but a great guide for travel bloggers who want to get noticed and makes the valid point that great content makes for great seo
Google Realtime Search Loses Its Tweet
Cyrus Shepard looks at what happened the day that Google Realtime Search lost its Twitter feed and what the implications are for Twitter’s effect on Google rankings
Jason Stinnett discusses how Google’s new Search by Image feature can be a powerful tool for improving your personal branding
A stat-heavy blog analysing the impact of the Google+ launch on the take up by websites of the +1 button
A site can be a lot like a mullet: business in front, party in the back. How do you muss it all up and keep a site in style? Aaron Wheeler sheds some light on mixing viral with business
To Link or Not to Link that is the Question
Do external links help or hurt your website? Cyrus Shepard goes through the pros and cons of external links
Organic Ranking and CTR: The Final Analysis
How does your organic Google rank affect your click-through rates: Slingshot SEO have a shot at answering the question “how many click-throughs will I get if I rank ‘X’” with an in depth study of serp positions and click-through rates