by Claudia Bruemmer

We gave wholesalers and general merchandise suppliers a heads up about Google +1 in April, and now the Google Blog is offering +1 buttons that can be placed on any web page via a short code snippet. While the code and button is supported in over 40 languages, the +1 activity is only showing on English-language search results on Google.com at the moment. Eventually, Google plans to expand +1 globally.

Google is rolling out the +1 button for English-language search results on Google.com. If you want to be able to +1 search results and search ads sooner, you can opt in through Google’s experimental search site. However, you must be signed into your Google Account to see recommendations from your friends and contacts in Google search.

Google +1 buttons across the web will make it easy for you to recommend content to your friends and business colleagues. Google believes this will make search results more helpful and relevant.

Add +1 to Your Web Pages
You can get the +1 button code and learn all about implementation on Google’s +1 webmaster site. Here’s how you or your webmaster can add +1 to your pages to help your site stand out. Remember, +1 buttons let users recommend content to others on Google search results.

You can also watch a video to learn more about the +1 button and the advanced options. Note that if you install the button on your site right away, it might only show up when you and your visitors are both logged in to your respective Google accounts. But that is only temporary, and eventually, the buttons should be visible to all whether logged in or not.

As you have probably noticed, the +1 idea is similar to the Facebook Like button. The Like button has become the defacto means of sharing what is liked on the web.

Does +1 Impact SEO?
When +1 first launched on Google’s search results, the company said it would consider +1 click data “as a potential signal to improve search quality.” The +1 button FAQ explains this further as shown below:

Question: “Does +1 affect my site’s performance in search?”

Answer: “Content recommended by friends and acquaintances is often more relevant than content from strangers. For      example, a movie review from an expert is useful, but a movie review from a friend who shares your tastes can be even better. Because of this, +1’s from friends and contacts can be a useful signal to Google when determining the relevance of your page to a user’s query. This is just one of many signals Google may use to determine a page’s relevance and ranking, and we’re constantly tweaking and improving our algorithm to improve overall search quality. For +1′s, as with any new ranking signal, we’ll be starting carefully and learning how those signals affect search quality.”

While you don’t need to rush to get the +1 button immediately, it would definitely be to the advantage of general merchandise suppliers to get +1 buttons for product recommendations fairly soon.