Should I adopt Google Plus Custom URLs?
-
Google Plus have just released Custom URLs, see here
So instead of the messy https://plus.google.com/b/012345679 you can have http://www.google.com/+{yourbrandname}.
This would be much better for memorizing.
But any opinions on added or future perceived SEO benefit?
-
I received my invite to the Google Plus Custom URL today. I'm adding it. (Well, the url choice wasn't what I wanted. Will be posting a question about changing it before I go for it.)
Here's some more information on it.
https://support.google.com/plus/answer/2676340?hl=en&topic=2400106
-
Agreed!
Thanks for the feedback.
-
Hi Shaun,
Already been offered the Custom URL, as you rightly point out it will be good for expanding our brand name.
I just wondered if anyone had evidence or input of any initial perceived or expected SEO benefit. eg. Strengthening of Brand Terms if you have G+ account with the same brand terms as your company pointing at your home page.
-
Given how Google likes to be cagey with things an the fact that G+ is still evolving, right now we may not know the business impact, however, like anything, why wouldn't you want to claim your online brand if you have the opportunity? Or if the opportunity presents itself?
-
Our research seems to agree with Hugh, you have to have a huge Google+ audience to have a custom URL. Also Google has stated that you might have to BUY custom url's to use them in the future.
To answer your question though is their any SEO benefit? Not at the moment, however their are branding opportunities available by having your own custom URL.
-
I believe you have to have quite a significant amount of people who have added you to their circles and have +1 your content. Not sure on the exact figures, but unless your a big brand or big name it will hard to come by at the moment.
It would be beneficial in helping expand your brand name to a potentially bigger audience and creating a stronger authority.
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
-
700+ Genuine likes in 4 Days on a new Site - Does it risk Google Spam?
Hi my site www.dealwithautism.com is a brand new site - only 2 months old and since Autism is a fairly competitive niche, id do not get more than 30 impression and 4-5 clicks for my 40+ pages on Google. However, recently I have become very active in the social platforms, so over the last week I am getting 200+ pageviews just from Facebook and Twitter, that not bad., I have recently created a post 21 apps for Autism https://www.dealwithautism.com/top-apps-for-autism/ Suddenly this post is generating a lot of interest and in the last 4 days I have received as many as 700+ likes (purely editorially) and it is growing in terms of 100s per day. How I acquired them? Well, firstly I believe it is a very good post. Secondly, I selected one of the Apps in the list as 5 star and editor's choice! Then twitted and Fb mentioned to that company on Twitter and Facebook. They returned the favour by re-tweeting and since they have tens of thousands of followers, my page immediately got traction. My question is this: Do I need to worry about Google turning a suspicious eye on me for being a new site getting too many social signals in too short time? Should I pull out the Like buttons for a while from my site to slow things down?? I am new to web development and not fully sure how Google would recognize social spam.
Social Media | | DealWithAutism1 -
Does Google prefer YouTube video's embedded on a site or put in a Pop up image class for SEO purposes
Our company is an eCommerce site for aftermarket automotive accessories, we have been posting videos on our site. On some pages we have videos embedded from Youtube and on other pages the videos are embedded but in a Popup Image Class. Below I'll provide an example of one way we put the popup image class on our site <iframe id="vidf" style="display:none;" width="460" height="320" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/MattCutts?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> Now concerning SEO would it be better just to embed a video the traditional way or use the popup image class? The reason I ask is because the popup image class hides the video on the page with an image on top then once you click that image the video pops up. Can Google still crawl/see the video? What would be best practice for SEO?
Social Media | | WebRiverGroup0 -
Doctors in a Hospital - Setup Google Local or Google+ Profiles?
Hello - I've been running this over for awhile - so I'm curious to see what the community says about it. I'm working with a client who would like to brand the doctors in their hospitals. Many of them do have recognition already - and their associated locations have profiles. Google Local semi-recently said it's OK to brand Dr's names - even if they exist within a single location. So, my question is - is it better to go the Google Local route and create the Local/+ page for them, or to go through the Google+/Google Brand Pages route and create them that way? If each doctor were to decide, individually, to post on their page - would that be possible with the Places route (I don't think so, based on what I've seen)? Also, if a doctor already has a personal Google+ page - would it make sense to just create the additional brand page as well through this interface? Well either of these methods achieve optimal visibility as well as the option to post should they decide to go that route? What it boils down to - is this is a task we can perform from the outside, or is it best handled by giving the doctors best practice for setting up their personal Google+ pages and associated Brand Pages themselves? Thanks for any insight you can provide!
Social Media | | WebTalent0 -
Google+ 7 Packs
Are the 7 packs representative of Google+ business listings or Google + Places listings? This is making my head hurt..
Social Media | | CsmBill0 -
What if an employee leaves and removes Rel=Author verification from their Google Plus profile?
What if someone leaves your company and removes your site from their Google Plus profile (under "Contributor To"). Does that kill all the rel=author on the pages written by this former employee? (Should you use the email verification with employees to avoid this scenario? Email verification is a big hassle for us.)
Social Media | | ProjectLabs0 -
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 -
How does Google measure FB likes?
Hi, I am wondering how an FB like made on a webpage can have a positive impact in its Google rankings. How does Google measure an FB like of a Person (especially with a non public profile)? Kind Regards, Sebastian
Social Media | | Naturalmente0 -
Impact of URL shorteners in Twitter feeds
Hello, Will use of URL shorteners [bit.ly/tiny.cc or equivalent] in Twitter feeds impact the rankings of a target pages? As I understand it Twiitter links are automatically generated as nofollows so I am assuming the published link is irrelevant. Is this still the case? If we do continue to use URL shortereners should we look at branded URL-shorteners to provide link context? Thanks.
Social Media | | Urbanfox0