Google +1 For Your Ecommerce Site

Google has just recently launched the Google +1 button for websites. Google +1 is a button that, when you are logged into your Google account, allows you to recommend certain webpages to other users. The button is available on Google search results pages, next to Google AdWords ads and on individual webpages. Shopify has recently launched the Google +1 button for our site and we recommend all of our store owners do the same!

What is Google +1:
Over the last year - but especially in the past few months Google - has been making some changes to their algorithm to remove content farm spam and incorporate data from social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Today they began to roll out a new feature called Google +1. This feature means that, when logged in, users will be able to +1 links and sites all across the web. Google +1 is essentially the equivalent of "Like"ing links on Facebook. Users who aren't logged in will still be able to see what others are recommending though. Google has also stated that they will be using +1 information in their ranking algorithm. As a site owner this means that you can help your product rank better in Google by using it.

How to use it:
The actual implementation is relatively simple if you are comfortable working in your theme files. All you need to do is embed a couple lines of code into your theme and you are all set. Get more detailed information on how, where and what to embed on your site at the +1 button creator.

What it means for your ecommerce store:
Google +1 will allow your shop visitors to signal to Google that a particular product (or your site in general) is worth recommending to others. When used on all your product pages it will allow you to boost the search visibility for your individual products. If you are really keen on getting the most out of +1 you can also make use of the rel=canonical tag to allow pages that don’t really require their own +1’ing (contact, about us, terms, return policy) to point their +1’s to your homepage (or some other page).

Google +1 is very new and it seems Google is still trying to work out a few kinks. I have listed a few resources if you are interested in researching more about what +1 can offer and how to implement it:

Implementing Google +1: http://code.google.com/apis/+1button/

Tracking Your +1’s in Google Analytics: http://yoast.com/plus-one-google-analytics/

Button Creator: http://www.google.com/webmasters/+1/button/index.html

+1 Button FAQ: http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=1140194