How to use Google +1 (and should you?)

By Scott Thomas

Yesterday Google announced that the +1 button is now available for any website to use (just like a Facebook ‘Like’ button, or similar buttons). It raises two questions:

  1. Should you be using it?
  2. How do you use it?

Both questions are easily answered – though most articles on the topic have not really dealt with them as much as emphasizing the “buzz” (no pun intended) or the absence of a “need” for another “Like” button.

Should you use it?

The short answer is “YES!” Yes, it is yet another social media thing. Yes it is similar to others. But get real. As Lisa Barone has pointed out, the practical effect of the Plus One program is to put everyone in the position of using the button, or being left out. The consequence of being left out is not known yet, but it seems likely that it will have an impact on search placement in some way.

How do you use it?

To use it you will have to create a Google profile if you don’t already have one. If you have a login for GMail, iGoogle, or any other Google service, you probably already have a Google profile.

The instructions to use the button are simply cut-and-paste, if you have access to your website.

  1. Copy the first line of code (below) and paste it either inside the <head> tags of your page or near the bottom of your page, before the tag closing. Here is the code:
    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js"></script>
  2. Copy the second line of code (below) and paste it in the page where you would like the button to appear:
    <g:plusone></g:plusone> There are various options for the size and layout of the button, the link it should “like”, and whether or not to display the count of “plusones”. Knock yourself out.