Google announced yesterday that they are rolling out improvements to the +1 Button already. Does that mean the name changes to Google +1.1? Faster is always better so they decreased the load time of the actual button and of the web pages that have implemented +1. Forget surfing the information superhighways – now your site can fly with the Mig fighter jets of the Internet skies!
There are two initial changes being made. First, Google is automatically increasing the speed at which the actual +1 Button loads on the site. You can slather on some sunscreen, sit back and enjoy a pleasant round of beach volleyball. To take advantage of the improved load times, you will have to implement the new asynchronous snippet to your pages. This will allow your web page to load at the same time the browser downloads the JavaScript for the +1 button. To generate the new code, you can use the Google +1 Configuration Tool.
So how does this effect PPC? Well, my PPC Account Mavericks, let’s discuss… We know that if adopted, +1 will increase traffic to your site when a visitor’s Google friends have recommended it and found it resourceful. This is a great thing – especially since our world has become so socially viral! However, have you ever thought about how the +1 button has negatively impacted your load time and in turn the quality scores in your PPC accounts?
One of the factors in the Google quality score algorithm is site load time. So, while it appears Google is rolling out a cool new product to potentially improve your visibility, it might be having the opposite impact on your PPC accounts. Maybe they missed that day in flight school… Regardless, they are taking step one towards ironing out the irony of this situation by writing new code and improving the load time. Quality score plays such a big part in a PPC account that any automatic Google improvement that affects this metric is a bonus! But since we have to work on the other factors of QS ourselves, a read through the new flight manual prepared by PPC Hero and the Hanapin Team should help make you the best PPC Pilot around!
For those of you who have implemented +1 on your site, did you notice a slight decrease in QS on you PPC account? Let us know what you think – we love to hear about your buzzes over the tower!
