Get to grips with Google+ Comments

A recent AccessSolicitor blog told you about the merits of blogging for law firms. Hopefully this did enough to convince you of the benefits this online communication can bring.

It has become a pivotal part of how you as a company portray your individual core values and engage with clients, to the extent that firms who don't blog are in danger of falling behind their competitors. The more time spent on a strong blogging platform the greater the benefits will be, for example raising awareness of the work you do and gaining diverse clientele.

For the sake of this article, let’s assume you have chosen ‘Blogger’ or ‘Wordpress’ as your blogging platform. For some time now, both of these platforms have offered users the ability to share their posts on a variety of social media platforms – be it LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Reddit or StumbleUpon – the moment the “post entry” button is clicked.

Readers of the blog also have the ability to click the “share” button, meaning the blog article has the capability of being shared with a vast network of people. Recently, Google took that concept one step further.

Competition between social media giants throws up opportunities for firms to take advantage and develop their social media strategy. With that goal in mind, Google recently created a plugin for blogs called “Google + Comments”. In a nutshell, the plugin links your Google+ account to your blog. When you post a link to your blog on your firm’s Google+ page, anyone in your Google+ network who comments on the blog link will see their comments appear on your blog too.

Similarly, if a user comments on your blog entry using their Google+ account, that comment will also be posted to their Google+ page. In simple terms this means guaranteed brand exposure straight to the networks of anyone who comments, whilst attracting a flow of interaction on your blog.

Google didn’t finish there. Google+ users now have the ability to do what Google refers to as “+1” on your original link, or the comments on it. This is similar to the Facebook “Like” feature but with some differences. Readers can click “+1” if they like the article or comments posted. As ‘Mashable’ point out, the “+1” indirectly affects SEO rankings through its potentially higher click through rate.

Google+ Comments is an indispensable plugin for you or your firm’s blog. Especially for a small firm looking to expand its online presence and visibility. It integrates your blog directly into your social media strategy with very little effort. It allows readers to comment on the blog through Google+ and vice versa. It exposes the blog post to vast numbers of people you’d otherwise struggle to target, and it has an indirect affect on your site’s SEO ranking.

All of this is completely free. If you have a blog, or are working on developing a blog, be sure to include Google+ comments into your overall strategy.