Difference between Google+ Followers and Website +1's?
-
Very sorry if this has been covered multiple times already… I can't find the answer anywhere…
This is a basic question: Is there a difference between someone giving my website a +1 and being counted as a follower on my Google+ page? I run a website and a Google+ page for my brand, and these two things are linked. When someone clicks on the +1 button on my site, does that show up in the count that someone sees in the red box in the upper right corner of my Google+ page? And, when someone comes to my Google+ page and adds me to a circle, is that the same as them clicking the +1 button on my site? Or are these two entirely different things? I feel like the terms are used interchangeably, but I'm not sure if it's because they really are two different things, or if they're really the same.I ask because, when I look at my company's Google+ page, it says "+300" in the upper right, but when I see my website come up in an AdWords ad, it says "[Company Name] has 240 followers on Google+"... Why are these numbers not the same?Thank you!Scott
-
Anyone else want to chime in with a description of the different between follower count and +1 count?
Thanks!
-
Thanks Adam. If I understand your response correctly, my page could have 5,000 followers but zero +1's, or vice versa?
I just clipped this image from a Google+ Page. These two numbers say that the page has 2,771 followers (in the red box), AND 601 people have this page in a circle. I had always thought that following a page would mean that it's in one of your circles (in which case, the 601 number would actually be equal to or greater than the 2,771 number), but I guess I've had it wrong!
-
Yeah these are indeed different metrics.
Think of it like someone following your brand on Twitter. Followers follow (quite obviously) and the +1's are like favoriting a tweet.
Followers would fall under the site trust category of the algorithm much like verifying with webmaster tools or Google authorship.
A +1 on the other hand is a social signal that tells Google "this page delivered what I was looking for". A sort of validation that you matched the users intent for that key term.
While I am sure they both play into the algorithm in much more complex manners and have multiple bearings on trust, intent and social sharing this example should at least help you make the distinction.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How To SEO Sinhala Teledramas Keyword In Google
How To SEO Sinhala Teledramas Keyword In Google. My Web Sites are both old, and I have Paying More Money To increase SEO My web site, But Google Not Showing My web site and rank, I need A SEO Adviser. Our Website is Videos category; Please Give me a solution to fix my web site. This is Link Sinhala Teledramas
Social Media | | ipl7440 -
On a website, is the most effective user experience for the social media icons to open new tabs?
There is debate around what is most effective for user experience. When a user clicks on the social media icons on our site, should a new tab be opened for the social media page or should the website redirect to the social media page?
Social Media | | Sable_Group0 -
Do you think that Content Locking (force to share to unlock content) is manipulative and will eventually be penalised by Google?
There is a tactic called content locking which requires a user to share a post or homepage URL in order to unlock content (either a video, a full post or downloadable ebook). Do you think this is manipulating signals to increase search rankings? Argument Against Using Content Locking Social signals and links from Google Plus shares clearly correlate to increased search engine visibility. Requiring a user to pay for content with social sharing is only used to improve search rankings. According to the webmaster guidelines: "Avoid tricks intended to improve search engine rankings. A good rule of thumb is whether you'd feel comfortable explaining what you've done to a website that competes with you, or to a Google employee. Another useful test is to ask, 'Does this help my users? Would I do this if search engines didn't exist?'" Argument For Using Content Locker Users tend to value their social profiles and won't share something unless they believe it is valuable. Requiring a share is just a push to motivate them to share something they value. Additionally, it is similar to an email opt-in in that the publisher now has a social media lead they can follow up on. It's not just about SEO, it's about tapping into social network traffic and engagement on social networks.
Social Media | | designquotes1 -
Google Pus Places, page and youtube issues. PLEASE HELP!!!
Ok I have a youtube channel, a page connected to that and I have a business listing but I cannot get all three to work together. Any ideas? https://plus.google.com/+CentralsaddleryCoUk is the page (I want to ad the location to this one) http://www.youtube.com/user/centralsaddleryvideo our youtube The two above seem to work fine but the local listing below will not connect to the page or youtube. https://plus.google.com/b/107598085314018001171/107598085314018001171/about?hl=en-GB This has been driving me nuts for ages.
Social Media | | mark_baird0 -
Google Plus Page Knowledge Graph Browser Language Impact
Hello Moz! I have a validated and completed Google Plus Business Page. The problem is about the Knowledge Graph in the right column of serps when searching for my brand. First, all informations in my page are in french (Canada). But, the Knowledge Graph is working fine when my browser is configured in English. Nothing happen when my browser is configured in French. What do you think?
Social Media | | webit400 -
Share buttons or Follow buttons
I have added share buttons to the thankyou page of our site and receive 2 or 3 shares on average per day back to our homepage from this via twitter, facebook, google+ and linkedin. We have done this for the past couple of months. Im not too sure what benefits i may get out of this other than a few clickbacks. Do i gain links back or do they carry little value? Am i better to replace these share buttons with follow buttons to our facebook and twitter pages? thanks Andy
Social Media | | Dougy0 -
Social media and google
Do you need exact url brand match to get the benefits of social media noise in the google organic rankings? EG: twitter.com/brandname facebook.com/brandname my url extensions have my brnad but other words in, if i get noise does my website stil benefit in the rankings because it has the url in the profile? or do i need exact match in the url?
Social Media | | pauledwards0 -
Google + 1
1. does anyone know if these have a huge seo impact and if it is worth the effort to get these. 2. if you had to choose only one to focus on would you pick fb, twitter, or +1.
Social Media | | shiftins0
