Google’s +1 Changing the SEO Game?

With its newest release, it looks like Google will once again send website owners rushing to search results to check their rankings. The search engine giant is calling its +1 button shorthand for “you should check this out,” but is it really that simple?

What is +1?
mashable.com calls +1 Google’s answer to Facebook’s “like” button, and that description may not be far off. The button will allow people who are signed in to their Google accounts to hit “+1″ next to any search result, and display these recommendations to the rest of the world if they choose. As Google’s video outline explains, we’ll soon see +1 on web pages as well:

How could it effect my website’s SEO?
The question for real estate agents who’ve spent a lot of time and money on SEO is, as always, “Will this affect my ranking?” As mashable.com explains, the official word from Google is that the number of +1s a search result has won’t affect rankings at this stage, but the search engine is “very interested” in incorporating this in future.

It’s really too soon to say whether +1 will be Google’s way of reorganising the Internet or another flash-in-the-pan (remember Google Buzz?). For now, the best strategy for agents is to keep an eye on their rankings as +1 is slowly rolled out. Our prediction? +1 will become key to ranking well in Google’s results, which means engaging content will be even more important to real estate websites.

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