How Google+ Page Verification Can Enhance Your Website Marketing Strategy
By jabel@mannixmarketing.com
Google+ company pages are quickly helping businesses attract more website visitors and engage their online audience. An optimized Google+ profile not only adds personality to a brand, but also increases your SEO strategy. However, there is still one major, unsuspecting feature that can give your website a significant edge over competitors: verifying your Google+ company page.
What is a Verified Google+ Page?
A verified Google+ page is one that has been claimed as being ‘yours’ and helps people confirm the authenticity of a page. Verified pages are denoted with a circled check-mark symbol next to their name.
The screenshot above was taken from a company’s Google+ page and shows the verified page symbol to the right of the company name. The image below shows a verified Google+ page in the Google+ search bar.
The Benefits to your Company’s Website
As you can see, verified pages are much easier to spot in the Google+ search bar. But these results go far beyond the Google+ search bar. In fact, some brands are seeing massive benefits on the Google Search results as well! Here are a few more perks that come with this seal of social authenticity.
1. Wider Presence on Google Search Results
While simply verifying your company’s Google+ page may not lead to a massive boost in your website rankings, it does impact your site’s overall search engine optimization value by giving companies more coverage on page 1 search results.
Wait, how is that possible?
Let’s say I do a search for “Intel.” The screenshot below shows the results on Google.
Do you notice anything strange here? (Hint: check out the right side of the search results page.)
That’s right! Google has given Intel additional space on the Google search results page to display Intel’s Google+ company page information. In essence, Google is rewarding brands for optimizing their Google+ company page!
Because Intel has a verified Google+ page, information from their Google+ page is showing up in the results. Verified pages are quickly penetrating Google search results, providing brands with additional real estate. Most notably, Google+ page information is displayed prominently on Page 1, and placed above-the-fold to attract more visual attention.
2. Social Signals For Trust and Support
Another benefit of having a verified Google+ page is the incorporation of social signals. Specifically, we can see how many people have Intel in their Google+ Circles. With more social support, it becomes easier for people to trust a brand and increases their interest in what you are saying.
3. Highlight Content Posted on Your Google+ Page
From a content marketing standpoint, the Recent Activities feed is highly valuable for sharing blog posts and other marketing content. The Recent Activities feed pulls the latest Google+ posts from a company’s Google+ page and shows this activity on the Google search results page. This is an excellent way to let people see the content a company is creating (and sharing).
Whether the content comes from the company blog or is general information that adds value to their target audience, the Recent Activity feature helps businesses engage people with their stories.
When you have a verified Google+ page showing up in the search results, it is possible that people may go straight to a company’s Google+ page, rather than going directly to the main website. In other words, traffic to your website can be funneled off to a Google+ page instead. Verified Google+ pages do not always show up in the Google search results, so there may be a setting for turning off Google+ page visibility in Google search results.
To make the most of this situation, companies should be optimizing their Google+ pages to include the most critical content from their website.
The benefits of verifying a company’s Google+ page clearly outweigh the potential consequences. The extra real estate on page one of Google is nothing to shy away from, and the ability to showcase your popularity with social signals presents an enormous competitive advantage. By pushing up-to-date posts into the Recent Activity feed, you make it easier for people to interact with your brand, and start Following your company’s Google+ page.
To get your Google+ company page verified make sure you first have a social media optimization plan in place for your account. Having a lot of activity on the page with routine posts, mixed content, a completed profile, and a strong group of Followers will certainly be helpful.
Get Your Google+ Company Page Optimized Today!
Does your company have a verified Google+ page yet? Is your page optimized with an engaging cover photo? Contact us today, and let Mannix Marketing’s online marketing strategists help your company Get Found on the web!
