If your church has a comprehensive website, you are no doubt by now familiar with a variety of ways of optimizing your site, letting visitors "like" the site for their friends on Facebook and Twitter and more. You may not yet, however, be familiar with the new Google +1 button.
The Google +1 button is a button you can place on your site, similar to a Facebook Like button, whereby visitors can click on it to recommend your content on Google Search and share it on Google Plus. A number appears next to the +1 to denote the number of users who have clicked on it so far. When a user clicks the +1, a message goes out to all of their friends on Google Plus that he or she is recommending your site.
Google Search Page Rankings This new button could be a complete game changer when it comes to Google rankings, as well. Experts are still attempting to determine the effect that a high Google +1 number will have on a page's overall search ranking. One thing is certain; it will definitely increase the ranking of your page for the members' friends when they do a Google search.
In other words, when a visitor clicks on the +1 button on your site, it will raise your page's search ranking for any of that's visitor's friends whenever they conduct a search of a relevant topic.
Consider if you were to look for a movie review. A review written by a critic may or may not be helpful, but if you could read a review written by one of your friends, it would probably be of more interest. Google will naturally guide you to any of your friends' recommendations first whenever you conduct a search.
Google +1 buttons will also show up next to your search results on search pages, allowing viewers to see which of their friends is recommending your site. While this is fairly new technology and the jury is still out as to how much of an effect this will have, Google +1 is still another way to increase your visibility on the Web so that more people can find you.
For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of "The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online." or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.