The Keys To Freelance Writing And Google+

The social networking site has appealed to people of all ages and all professions, yet none can benefit in quite the same way as writers. Google+ has many features that seem to be designed specifically for writers. Now that many businesses are realizing the SEO value of good writing (despite the fact that good writing should be appreciated regardless of SEO), the demand for writers is only increasing. It seems that Google+ caught on to this slowly emerging trend and added in features just for writers.

Below are a few of the Google+ features that writers, especially freelance writers, can use to help land those high paying freelance gigs:

Portfolio

You can actually use the social network as a portfolio to host all of your writing. Writers do this by adding in articles to the “Contributor To” bar on the site of the “About” section. Consider the screenshot below:

There are several reasons why this sort of portfolio is very appealing to writers:

1. It takes readers to where the article was published;
2. It’s a great place to send editors because they will be able to see your connections and check out your ability to promote the articles you write;
3. Your portfolio is shown in through a medium where editors already feel comfortable;
4. If a website has a Google+ account, the company logo will show up next to the article submission. This could potentially catch an editor’s attention if they see you have contributed to a site they recognize.

Promotion

One of the most important parts of being a writer is being able to promote your articles. Other social networks such as Twitter and Facebook do a good job of giving writers this avenue, but Google+ takes this to a new level. Through the “+1” button, writers are able to +1 their articles (yes, it has become a verb) and then their picture will show up on a Google search engine results page. For example, if one of your friends was surfing the web and searched for something and you had previously +1’ed, he/she will see your face. Consider the example below.

A person is much more likely to click on an article or a link if they know that one of their Google+ friends enjoyed it. This of course works for everyone (and not just writers) and you can +1 anything you wish. However, this is a great way to promote all of your writing, making this a great feature for the freelance writer. All you have to do to +1 an article is find a +1 button on a webpage and click it. It is as easy as that. The button looks like the image to the right.

Praise

Every writer wants to get credit for what they write. This makes authorship a great feature for writers. Authorship is simply a way for web searchers to recognize that you wrote a specific article. Your name and picture will come up next to the article, which will likely help you increase the number of clicks and help improve your online visibility/personal brand. Below is an example of a Google search engine page displaying the author:

Being able to see the photo of the author makes an article seem much more credible. This shows readers that the article is real and not computer generated. In other words, this should not only help give you credit, but give your article some clicks.

I think it is extremely important that writers recognize these features and take advantage. Although Google+ should not be the only thing a writer uses to gain publicity, it’s an excellent tool and it makes things easy.

Have you noticed anything unique about Google+ when it comes to helping your industry?

Amanda DiSilvestro is a writer on topics ranging from social media to phone systems. She writes for an online resource that gives advice on topics including credit card processing to small businesses and entrepreneurs for the leading business directory, Business.com.