Up until recently Google+ Hangouts, and Google Talk were their own entities. Google+ Hangouts is a similar service to Skype, but allows for larger audience sizes especially considering users can stream their hangouts over their own YouTube channel, and Skype only allows video calls of up to ten people. Google Talk was Google’s messaging system that allows users to chat back and forth through their Google accounts. However, now the two are merged, and under the name Google+ Hangouts.
While Google Talk was mostly for private conversations, using the video messaging features of Google+ Hangouts allow users to interact with their audience using video. Using your Google+ account, and selecting ‘Hangouts On Air’ on the left sidebar users can interact in private chats with just the people they choose, or can stream a broadcast live on YouTube available to the entire YouTube community or they can just stream the hangout on their personal Google+ page.
While Hangouts may just seem like your regular video chatting service a lot goes into the process of getting your specific hangout to appear in Google Search or through a YouTube search. Here are a couple of tips to make sure your Hangout is accessible through search engines:
- Build anticipation of your hangout through creating an event on Google+. If you know in advance that you are going to do a hangout this is one of the easiest ways to make sure your community is aware it is happening. While this doesn’t necessarily affect how it appears in Google Search it is a great way to give your followers a heads up.
- Conduct a keyword search prior to giving your hangout a name. Find out how you can give your hangout a great name while still appearing amongst the top searches on Google and YouTube.
- Make sure that your Google+ account is linked to your YouTube account. If you want the ability to stream to an almost limitless audience through YouTube then the only way to do that is by connecting your account. However, if you want a low-key hangout with only a few people then this isn’t a must.
Now that you know a few SEO tips there are a few other aspects of Google+ Hangouts to keep in mind. Aside from just hosting the hangout on Google+ or YouTube you can also broadcast the hangout live over your own website. For instance, once you have created the hangout you are provided with a specific URL, you can use that link to embed the video into a post on your webpage. This allows you to disseminate your hangout to all of your followers in a bunch of different places. If you do include your broadcast in the a web page make sure to appropriately title the web page so that it appears in Google Search.
While there are other video messaging services like Skype, Google+ Hangout allows users a lot of freedom to do whatever they want with their broadcast. A hangout can be broadcasted anywhere from a personal Google+ page, through an embedded link on a webpage, or even to the millions of YouTube users. With that being said users should not be satisfied with just with the fact that they set up a hangout, users should go the extra mile in taking the necessary steps to ensure their hangout appears in Google Search and YouTube search. For more information on the impact of SEO on Google+ Hangouts, talk to one of our experts at Premiere Creative. Call (973) 346-8100!
