Hopefully by now you’ve read our two posts on local citation SEO tips and why local citations are crazy important this year for Google search ranking. If not – well, just take my word for it, it’s important!!!

And since the powers behind Google search ranking are, well, Google, it stands to reason that your Google+ Local presence will factor in even more for your search ranking.

Google+ Presence

Based on what I’ve seen, lots of businesses out there are either still putting off their Google+ optimization thinking it doesn’t matter as much as Facebook or Twitter, or are ignoring it completely. I already discussed in my first post on 2014 Google SEO changes how Google+ now carries more weight than Facebook shares – does that get your attention?!

That’s right, your Google+ presence is a big deal these days. That means you need to fill out your business profile to entirety, including all the fancy supplements like video and images.



I can’t tell you how important this is – you need to prove that your business is legitimate and that you care enough about it to spend a little effort on it. When potential customers find one listing with no pics and no business hours next to one with videos and photos and directions, which do you think they’ll go to?

Google+ Hashtag Keywords

As I discussed in the above post as well, hashtag keywords make your Google+ posts more like actual blog posts now that need your optimization. Our Google+ posts are showing up in Google page one results for “social media marketing,” and there’s no secret formula going on here. While it’s not quite as simple as spamming keywords (Google doesn’t like that), hashtagging relevant ones in your posts helps you rank.

And it’s not just your posts, either. Do the same in your business profile, particularly with localized terms that help your local customers get to your doorstep.

Plus, don’t forget about how local SEO now means more for mobile devices, too. 50% of mobile search queries are for local businesses, according to Search Engine Watch, and don’t think Google doesn’t know that. Keep that in mind as you write your posts and descriptions and keywords – there’s a good chance people will find them via mobile device. Keep it short, keep it local, keep your site mobile-friendly.

How will you be using Google+ to drive your search rankings up this year? Let me know in the comments!