Google announced the +1 button in March much to the enthusiasm and confusion of webmasters and SEOs the world over. "What's the point?", people asked. "Why should I +1 a site? Should I implement it on my site?"
It seems the answer now is clear, with the launch of the Google+ "social experiment" last week that has kept me from getting work done as Google continues innovating and brilliantly drawing me back to Plus everytime that little notification indicator turns red.
I'm not here to talk about that though, because we've put together a bit of data for you today about +1 integration and social sharing statistics. This post originally was conceived by Tom Critchlow and I before Google+ was launched, so it has gone through some iterations.
We wanted to get outside of our typical SEO circles though and see how the general public is adopting the button. To keep things interesting, I also gathered some well-trafficked SEO sites and their social numbers. What I have done is gathered the Technorati Top 100 sites and their RSS feeds. Then I pulled their 20 most recent blog posts (both before and after Plus was announced) and grabbed their +1, Twitter, and Facebook share data thanks to an awesome script by Tom Anthony.
The data got interesting pretty quick. Here are our findings.
Technorati Top 100 Stats
Since we were interested to find the rate of +1 adoption by the Technorati Top 100, we pulled the numbers before Google+ was launched and after. I removed the Gawker sites since their RSS feed is all-encompassing and skewed the numbers terribly. Here are the numbers for the other 95 Technorati sites:
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The numbers changed thus: Pre Google+, only 22 had implemented the +1 button. After the launch of Google+, that number increased to 25. 22 of the sites had +1s, but 8 of those sites did not have the +1 button implemented! These were predominately technology sites, which is no surprise, but also two LA Times blogs (The Opinionator and L.A. NOW) as well as entertainment site TMZ. Takeaway: If you own or have a client who owns a technology, opinion, or entertainment site, you should implement the +1 button.
Average +1s per article, Pre and Post Plus Launch
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As you can see, the average number of +1s per article for the Top 100 almost doubled. The number of +1s per SEO article also increased by about 30%. It is not surprising that SEO sites have more +1s than the Technorati Top 100 on average, but the increase is especially interesting given the next two charts.
Average Facebook Shares per Article and Ratio of Plus to FB Shares
Here are the average shares from the Technorati sites as well as SEO sites:
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We must note that the Facebook share numbers went down for the Technorati sites, but increased for the SEO sites. One possible explanation for the SEO sites is that SEOs were sharing Google+ news on Facebook, but this is simply a hunch and not proven. Here is the most interesting statistic I found, the ratio of +1s to Facebook shares on the Technorati sites:
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The number was cut almost in half. Perhaps we could guess preliminarily that the launch of Google+ has adversely affected the amount of information shared on Facebook? With the rise of the number of +1s and the decrease in Facebook shares, as shown by the last graph, I think this could be a safe assumption, at least with this limited data set. This graph might also support this hypothesis:
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This graph shows that before Google+ was launched, there were 2 Facebook shares for every tweet given to articles on the Technorati Top 100. Post Google+ the ratio is almost even, with tweets being more prevalent than Facebook shares!
What do we do with this data now?
There are certainly some takeaways from the data presented. There are certain niches where it makes sense for us as SEOs to encourage our clients to implement certain sharing features. On other sites, especially in dodgier or more regulated industries, social share buttons do not make as much sense. One of the most interesting bits of information that came out of the data was the number of sites that have +1s, but do not have the button implemented on their site.
- 10 Technorati sites without the button have +1s; and
- all of the SEO sites I looked at have +1s, even though only 2/3 have implemented the button.
Based off these discoveries, I'd recommend that if you have an SEO site, it should have a +1 button. Even if +1s do not count for rankings at this point, they are displayed in the SERPs and therefore probably help with click-through rates. If +1s are used for rankings in the future, which I am not convinced of but still remains a possibility, then you will be one step ahead of the curve. Also, if you or a client has a site in one of these niches, you should probably have a +1 button on your site:
- Technology
- Opinion (Political or other)
- Celebrity gossip
This discovery is also interesting because it means that people +1d these from the SERPs, which is something we all wondered how we would do, and more importantly if people would do it. It appears that people do. I think this discovery reinforces that we as webmasters/SEOs (we are often both, after all) need to find ways to track social engagement around our sites. If we see engagement, we need to encourage it. Google has recently helped us accomplish this goal by adding +1 tracking to Analytics.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Oh, and you can Follow @dohertyjf if you want.
Happy Optimizing!
Does anyone realize how confusing this stuff is for anyone not in the web/seo industries? Google Plus and +1 is the exact same thing to most people I talk to ;)
I knew I had to integrate when I saw it in Webmaster Tools.
+1
heh
When things show up in WMT is a pretty good sign they shouldn't be ignored.
completly agree...but we still don't know the real incidence of these new factors on rankings and that is the problem
interesting update that shows about Google+. we can get better results in SEO, Thank you.
I've added it to some sites only, and the reason has to do with Google +1 potentially hurting SEO. The +1 code takes over 1-1.4 seconds to load from Google's CDN. Compare this with their jQuery package which is much larger, which takes 0.1-0.7 seconds or less.
To compare this against the Facebook widget (0.5 - 0.7 for all resources) and twitter widget (0.1)... it's kind of appauling, since Google could clearly fix it.
Here is a sample record: https://tools.pingdom.com/fpt/?url=flytimenotify.com//&id=5100098
I would love it if John Doherty could look at the load times of the +1 for the sites in this test (at least some). Sure, it might not matter for a site loading < 2 seconds... but if you are going say 4 seconds to 5, that may start affecting SERPs.
i've seen a few complaints about this pageload time issue but it's mostly been glossed over in the hype but i would think the next version of Adsense or Google Analytics code might have Google+ included to speed the rollout
Hey, good idea! It would indeed be interesting to see how the +1 button integration affects Page Load Times. Thanks for the idea :-)
This is true of almost everything Google give us to add on to a page. Google on-site search and Google translation services are examples. Google is talking loudly about the importance of page speed (and of PageSpeed, their measurement add-on). But adding them substantially slowed down the site, and Tools tells me that Google noticed. Well, of course it does, since all its scripts have to get called from Google by your server. So while they tell you how to do miniscule page-speed savings, they take it back with the other hand by way of their own stuff. And, worst of all, slow loading speed is a factor in SERPs. Picture the poor unfortunate page that serves its users' need by having translation, an on-site search capability, and a way of expressing support for the page. Google giveth; Google taketh away.
Next question: how will G's +1, as a social media measurement among other social media measurements, affect Bing's SERPs?
I can see +1 use increasing at an immense rate.
Anyways, do you think that with Google Plus's current hype at the moment, that people are going +1 everything they see over a simple "Like" because it's being so hyped at the moment? Ha, I just noticed this blog post already has more +1's then "Likes", interesting.
As what other people have mentioned, 750 million facebook users. I don't know the number on the Google Plus network yet, but I think that people who are on Google Plus (myself included) are +1ing everything to help promote Google Plus just because it's new and they want to be ahead of the curve (even if it flops). I'm probably wrong on this since I'm fairly new to SEO, but is it possible the sample size taken or results conducted could just be an overreaction of people who are +1 happy?
Take a look at this blog post with the likes and +1's, at this moment there are 11 likes and 25 +1's....while all other blog posts (this past week) that aren't talking about Google Plus have a almost a 1.5-3x+ ratio of Likes to +1's.
It's definately a good idea to pay attention to how +1's affect SEO and to see how well they are adopted, but I want to make sure that we aren't going to become narrow sighted on what we want to happen, as opposed to whats really going on.
I'm probably way off base, but these were my two cents from an aspiring pro member.
Ah! That Aspiring Pro Member sign makes you look like in "Wanted Dead of Alive" poster :)
HAHA, GOOD CALL! #woops
Interesting post John, even though I believe it is giving us more a potential idea of can be the future than a real base onto which start planning a social sharing strategy.
From what I understood, G+ button is the same of the old Facebook Share, while the +1 is the Google Like.
If in the case of the second is something we can start seeing the adoption rate, the G+ button is very very a fresh new one: Neither I have put it (or SEOmoz here) in my blog/site. Also, in order to see what will possibly be the effect of G+ over the use of Facebook share, I believe we will have to wait until Google+ will see more not-geek-marketers using it and, better, when our "marketers circle" will represent a minority of its users.
What I find more interesting of your post, is the hipothesis you paint of different social share strategy (therefore buttons) depending on the nature of the site/blog, even though I don't believe that Google really desires to have Google+ considered a niche social network, even if a large one.
I look at it in a bit more of a straightforward fashion :
Therefore, I have +1 on my blog!
That definitely makes sense! I always find it useful to back up intuition with a bit of data too. It helps us avoid unnecessary stuff on our websites.
That being said, I implemented it on my site within an hour of it being launched :-)
While I agree that G has the best shot at toppling or carving out a niche in social from FB's market over many if not all other companies. "Probably" is a tough sell for me. Microsoft is a bigger corporation with MORE money then even google and they have YET (after billions and billions of dollars) to carve out a significant portion of the SE market from Google.
I could see this being a similar battle...
My argument here is because... Google is just better than Bing. You can advertise and market for eternity and still not acheive a deep market penetration with a crappy product.
Google has no problem getting the word out, and Yes, the migration from Facebook to Google+ will be unjustified for some, but in the end it'll be a matter of which one is better.
I feel we will see even more changes to the SEO world when more features are rolled out with Google+.
At the moment I am in test mode with clients, seeing what tweaks we can do with buttons and wording we can use with is in line with googles guide lines.
I feel we need 100% accurate guide lines from Google into how we can use Google+ button integration. But it is going to take some time for FB share/like buttons to be taken over by Google+ imo. Facebook buttons have much more trust with users and 750 million user base to back it up.
i echo your sentiments as well, facebook is still way ahead of the curve and it might take some time before the average internet user actually switches over to Google+.
Interesting post but I would love to share my point of view which is slightly different from yours…
I do believe that after the launch of Google plus Facebook shares are seriously affected but don’t you think that people are in a buzz bubble right now… like it’s just a beginning but facebook is there for years… my point is that is the negative affect no facebook is long term? Or its just because Google plus is new and people are checking out Plus these days but what when by the time Google plus will be available through direct sign up and not through invitation? Will the impact be the same… em afraid NOT.
As far as the adoption of +1 button is concern… remember when +1 button launch Google automatically implemented the button on all bloggers blogs (.blogspot.com) without asking people if they really want it. In SEO Industry more people are adopting it because giants did so its more following big brands then i really like it!
I am not here to prove that Google Plus is another social fail by Google (Its NOT) but it will defiantly going to take much time to compete Facebook and I don’t see facebook losing its ranking from No.1 social media anytime sooner.
It's interesting that the SEO industry has nearly a 6 times higher adoption rate than normal. We geeks like our tricks.
Nice stats. So far I have not noticed any change. but also the websites I have are not in the tech industry and people are not using the +1 as much. I can't wait to have more data in my hands.
It will be interesting to see how the use of the Google+1 button changes once Google+ goes fully live. Will more people use it if more people have Google+ profiles? Once Google+ moves "mainstream" and isn't just they shiny new SEO toy, I bet we'll get some interesting data.
Thanks for taking the time to perform this research. The pre and post analysis are quite interesting and as expected having the button on the page appears to more than double the +1s you get. Thanks for confirming some of my suspicions.
What's extra-ordinary with Google+? It still looks boring to me!!!
I'm amazed at how quickly total Facebook likes have seen an effect. Its definitly interesting seeing how quickly someone can lose marketshare when a competitor like Google half enters the scene.
Thanks for the article and the amazing research
I have also noticed a bit of a slower load time with the +1 button. I have only implemented it once, since a competitor uses it currently. Is this something we should look to add to blogs first and then the homepage?
I dont totaly understand how this +1 stuff can affect Facebook Like button since there is no new fonctionnality on google+...
Interesting to see this information out so soon. I was a little surprised that the number of Facebook likes went down after Google+ launch.
I think everyone must have a Google Plus Profile widget in his webpage. I prefer amipace.com widget creator to generate google plus profile widget for our webpage. I includes a follow button, +1 button along with your google plus news feed.
From what I'm seeing on clients sites, and my own, +1 isn't really affecting SERPs at all. But, seeing how it has been incorporated into webmaster tools, it makes me feel like there "must" be something positive to receiving +1's on your website.
I'd also wonder if there is a penalty or something similar to a websites "bounce rate" when you get 1,000's of visitors, but no +1's?
Does this raise a flag that your content is poor or useless to viewers? Could there be something negative to this?
yes that's what i see as the next step they can now rate you socially as if people really like and engage with your content or you just get search traffic and they poke about the place... if you look at your google analytics data those who engage with the button have a bounce rate of 0% so the button helps them better measure time on site...
Uptill now Google plus is looking very promising but if it will be able to take over Facebook is vague. It can only be clear with time and until some good clearification is done by google itself.
Interesting data that shows the craze of Google+. Unfortunately Google+ still very much a tool for tech sites or tech people and yet to reach the common to judge the full impact as a competitor to Facebook.
Glad +1 is working out better than "wave". Boy did that flop!
This is an interesting move by Google but totally predictable when you look at it's past attempts to break into the Social stratosphere. What a great study on itterative development.
I think @connections8 nailed it when he mentioned the all powerful word of "Trust".
HAH! I remember Google Wave. I tried it twice and never went back. I didn't understand it. I guess since Facebook teamed up with Bing, Google felt left out and created their own social networking site. Will it flop like "wave"? We'll see. I think yes. Nobody wants to leave Facebook. But then again, everyone left MySpace for Facebook.
Good post...To me it's too early to make assumptions about the effects of google + on rankings or on CTR. Anyway the big challenge for Google is to keep this good wage high
Agreed, and thanks for the input. It might be too early to make claims about CTR for Google+, but not for +1s, I don't think. If you have a high trafficked site, you can see the impact of +1s on your CTR through Webmaster Tools. This might give some insight and I'd love to hear statistics/data from some of these sites.
These numbers you present aren´t really statistically significant, are they? I would hold off drawing any conclusions from this sort of analysis until google+ has become more widespread, as hardly anyone has a google+ account, even in the tech/SEO industries.
Although my hunch is google+ is going to be big, and will change how the serps look...
Thanks for the comment! The numbers are an increase from 1500 to 2400 for +1s, a substantial increase in tweets for the Tech 100 (48,546 to 74,756), and a decrease in FB shares from 91,484 to 70,325.
So the numbers are fairly substantial for the last 2, and the increase in +1s in interesting to me as well. The numbers are small for now, but I'm intrigued to see how they change over the coming months, especially once Plus is opened to the masses.
Hadn't seen this when I replied above. This is even more astonishing that Twitter was not only unscathed while Facebook suffered a 23% drop. Twitter was actually HELPED 54%. Whatever the cause the Twitter guys must be cheering for Google+.
Most "SEO savy" webmasters adopted Google+ from the start because they didn't know if it will have any influence on their rankings, but didn't want to miss the opportunity. I mean it is Google we are talking about, and like most people, when not sure we have to test it. Personally, I have two pages on my blog that received twice as much +1's than the other pages and they are brining in some heavy traffic, but that may as well be correlation, it has more +1's because of the traffic, or it might have more traffic because of the so many +1's... my mistake of for not watching them...
Another SEO I know claims he got a site boosted up the SERPs quickly by getting lots of people to +1. Personally I dont beleive it :)
Has anyone else got any credible data to back that up?
Oh and nice stats. Thanks.
Reach out to Allan Stewart @fireflyseo he has some interesting observations he was talking about a few days ago on what he has been watching
Common consensus is that it's not currently an algorithmic signal, and my own observations back that up.
No company can be all things to all people.
I see Google+ as an alternative to Fb (which I never particularly "Liked"), rather than a replacement.
Since I don't really want to spend time on Facebook, I find it particularly irritating that many of the Like buttons implemented on sites actually send me to FB. For this reason alone I would be much more likely to +1 a site or post (as I did this one) than to click that irritating Like button.
Of course I was most impressed to see when I gritted my teeth and tested it, that the Like button on SEOmoz blog posts doesn't send me to Fb. :-)
A little off topic, but also wanted to say a huge thankyou to the the team at SEOmoz and contributors such as yourself for making all this testing information available. It is really valuable for those of us working in very small companies where using resources to gain this kind of information can be a tough sell.
In my opinion, we should not compromise anything.. Even if it has not proven to be as good as twitter / fb , it never mean that it will not be. Implement all of them so that you wont lose any opportunity :)
fascinating one John. I personally feel a substitution usage of the Facebook Like and Share to a Google +1 will improve my experience of both brands. Why? Because i don't actually feel I actually benefit from Liking/Sharing a brand in FB when I use it to infrequentley check up on Friends/family activity. I don't have the expectation of using Facebook to see what brands are upto, its just not my mood and can be really out of place in the FB stream. Whereas if I +1 a brand it will impact on my search experience which is desirable. (I'm actively considering unliking all brands I have Liked and would +1 them instead)
So going back to your findings it may be that a swathe of early +1 adopters would less keen users of Facebook - some people have postulated it's currently a FB haters group? - however I would hedge a bet that if you repeated the study in 6 months you are likely to find a similar trend.
These data seems a little off and maybe it's because of a lack of controls?
What was the time frame you were looking at for the RSS feeds? Were they equal or did you use 10 months for pre-Google+ and 1 week for post-Google+?
I find it hard to believe that Facebook Shares were cut in half by the release of Google+. Could your data be inaccurate due to a really popular article that was shared on Facebook pre-Google+ and then not shared after the launch of Google+ for some reason?
Hi there - Thanks for the comment. I guess I need to clarify my methodology a bit. I pulled the 20 posts from each website leading up to Plus, then 20 a week after Plus went live. I only included the sites that had enough new confent to have this. Also, this may not have been clear enough, but what was cut in half was the ratio of +1s to FB shares, not the overall number of FB shares. The exact numbers are that +1s about doubled, and FB shares decreased by about 4,000 in aggregate, from around 74,000 to 70,000. I hope this clarifies a bit.
*EDIT* sorry, I looked at the numbers again, and the decrease in FB shares was over 21,000, from 91,484 to 70,325. I'd say this is pretty substantial.
A 23% drop for Facebook is huge for such a short period of Google+ impact. What astonishes me even more is that the relative impact on Twitter was negligible. What is different about the kind of sharing done by Google+ that strikes at the heart of Facebook and leaves Twitter unscathed?
Is it a difference in the content of the sharing or the ease of use or the recipients? Is it sharing personal vs impersonal news, or the mechanics of selecting the content and the recipents, or is it the difference between friends and "followers"?
Seo moves fast. Besides been bombarded with the fact I can buy 1000 Facebook likes, you can now buy either 500 or 1000 Google +1's.
While I agree with this post in general, I do think google +1 is affecting seo results already. i've noticed that some of my searches are already being changed based on people in my social network who have given a +1.
Regarding Google+ I wrote an article about it for those who want to know what it's about.
What is Google+ ?
Regarding Optimizeguyz comment... I just wanted to say LOL - Anything we don't understand is confusing, even for web seo guys. The only constant in SEO is that It's ALWAYS CHANGING!
:-)
Excellent Post - Thanks!
Joe
Link dropping is lame...
Not when it is on-topic and relevant :)
Not if it's helpful.
Calm down with the thumbs down frantic :D
That post can be useful... and the link is no followed. So, it can be acceptable.
well it's a little short but certainly it's relevant enough....
LOL - It's completely ON TOPIC. Thumbs Up.