What the Google+ little red box means for recruitment agencies

Another great guest post today from Michelle Hill of Red Rocket Media on the subject of blogging:

Those of you who already have a Google+ profile will be fully aware of the little red box, top right, alerting you to the number of notifications awaiting your attention.  Whilst it’s only small in size, it may as well take up half the screen and flash constantly in front of your eyes as it is simply impossible to ignore.

This little red box is one of the main reasons recruitment agencies need an active Google+ profile and in this post, I’ll explain why.

Google+ is not a social network
Before we explore the power of the little red box, it’s important to understand what Google+ is. Whilst most people consider it just another social network – hence the constant comparisons to Facebook – the essence of Google+ actually lies elsewhere. To quote Vic Gundotra, head of Google+, it is a “social blanket that envelopes the entire Google experience”.

Google+ is the next phase of Google
Much more than a social network, Google+ is changing the way the internet works. It is a platform which essentially identifies what content a person likes by looking at what they share, what they comment on and what they +1. It then feeds this information back to the Google search engine so that when that person performs a search at a later date, Google can prioritise content from their preferred authors, offering a much more personalised search experience.

So where does the red box come in?
Imagine Google+ as the top layer which sits above all of the Google products – maps, images, gmail, news, Picasa etc.  If you’ve got a Google+ account and are using any of these products, the number of notifications for your attention is displayed in the red box as below:

This means that your clients and candidates are constantly being drawn into the epicentre that is Google+. Once they are there, Google+ tracks what they comment on, what they +1, what they share etc. It then sends these social signals to Google which gets to know which brands/authors your clients and candidates prefer. Then, when they run a search on Google at a later date, Google gives preference to those brands/authors in its search results.

You must have social signals
If your recruitment agency isn’t publishing the right kind of content on Google+ (ie high quality, original content which people will +1 and share), then there are no social signals being sent Google’s way. It, therefore, isn’t aware of your website when deciding which ones to return it its search results.

Ignore it at your peril
Google+ isn’t just another social network, it’s actually changing the way that the internet works.  It is gaining momentum by the day, with or without you. In the words of Vic Gundotra: “We have started the social engines at Google and we’re about to step on the gas”.