Given that AdWords is Google’s main source of revenue it’s no wonder that they’ve continued to improve the platform. Earlier this year Google surprised us yet again by announcing that the +1 button will now appear on ads. On Tuesday Google sent out an email to AdWords advertisers stating that +1 will be rolling out for ads “in the coming weeks.”
What Does This Mean For AdWords Advertising?
Start by building a +1 button into your landing page. If you have a bunch of +1’s on your page you will likely fair better when your ads run. The reason you’ll need to put a +1 button on your landing page is that once a person clicks on your ad, it’s unlikely that they’ll go back to the search page to +1 your ad. It’s important to note that +1 for ads and +1 for regular (non-paid) pages are linked, the two work together and benefit each other.
How Does +1 for Ads Work?
Let’s take Google’s fictitious example of “Brian Walker” who types in a search for hotels in Madrid:
The next time one of Brian’s contacts performs a similar search where the same ad displays they will see that Brian has +1’d the page (below). This is a powerful word of mouth recommendation that takes the user by surprise and 9 times out of 10 will result in that ad being clicked.
Getting as Many +1’s as You Can
It seems that getting as many +1’s on your landing page before you run your ad will go a long ways to benefit your click through rate; but it’s important to note that Google will only display +1’s from people who you’re connected to. Google likely has IP tracking in place to ensure people won’t be able to jack up the +1’s before they run an ad.
So now the strategy becomes directing as much traffic to your page so that your +1 numbers will increase. The +1 button is relatively small, so be sure to make it visible. Also use social media to share your page, or simply ask people you know to +1 your site.
The +1 button will play a factor in your organic page ranking, Google won’t tell us how much, but the fact that it does, is significant in two ways: having strong SEO as part of an overall internet marketing strategy will produce more +1’s on your site. The other side of the coin is that now Google AdWords can play a factor in boosting your organic page ranking, whereby the more +1’s you garner through AdWords now positively affects your organic page rank.
Make Sure Your Ads Are Relevant
The more relevant your ads are to your keywords, the more +1’s your ads will garner. Having an ad that doesn’t quite match your ad copy will not only get you fewer +1’s, but likely result in a high bounce rate.
Conclusions
This is obviously big news and although the +1 is still in the early adopter phase, its unobtrusive design may mean slower traction at first, but with the integration of the newly announced Google+ social network it seems that a new social media ecosystem may be brewing under us.
