In a recent whitepaper describing the effects of Google’s new plus one button (now known throughout the industry as +1), Gerard Klein and Keesjan Deelstra of SEO Effect, report on the effects of +1 on search.  +1 is a button with a dual purpose.  First, it can be used in a similar way to Facebook’s “like” button, allowing you to vote for a webpage.   Second, the +1 tools can be added to search results to inform people in your custom created social circles of the page’s existence.  If you join the Google experiment at http://www.google.com/experimental/index.html, the +1 button can be added to your site and will automatically produce data for analysis about performance, including the number of people who +1’d your site along  with gender and age information.

Though the findings of their April 2011 experiment are admittedly limited, the results showed the +1 button can increase both the number of impressions in search results and the visibility of a web page by as much as 20% with click through rates and visits that parallel these numbers¹.

SEO Effect’s whitepaper attributed the 20% increase in traffic to a page being +1’d, since:

• +1 results in a higher ranking when people re-visit earlier searches
• +1 pages are ranked higher in the social circles of the person that cast the vote
• +1 markings, which appear in shadow and then appear in color as you scroll through the search results make for better visibility of a search result
• +1  results will later appear in an individual’s search results with a star marking

Certainly, such an early study isn’t entirely scientific, but Klein and Deelstra found that Google Plus, whatever its limitations in Beta, is a promising tool for those looking to capitalize on the web.  In fact, a lot more has materialized since the June 1^st release of this report.  A July 14^th item in the Wall Street Journal detailed this quarter’s financial outlook for Google.  Things are looking up for the company and a big part of that is Google Plus.  Consider the following astonishing facts about the quick growth of Google Plus:

• There are now 18 million Google Plus users
• 1 billion items a day are being shared on Google Plus
• The +1 Button is being served 2.3 billion times a day²

The rapid growth of Google Plus is quickly quieting the naysayers and surpassing the expectations of even its early supporters.  In the space of two months, the +1 button has surpassed Twitter’s “share” buttons³.  If you have not yet looked into Google Plus, now is definitely the time to strike.

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