Google today launched +1 Metrics in Webmaster Tools, giving the chance to review and analyse statistics for +1′s on your website.
This is the clearest indication yet that as part of the quality push from Google, the +1 voting system will be a highly weighted ranking factor for search results.
+1 Metrics: Search Impact
This feature shows the exact way in which +1′s affect your performance in the search result pages. It lists the individual pages within your website and numbers the impressions received (where the +1 button is present). The Click Through Rate (CTR) is shown, giving the opportunity to see the direct impact of conversions when the +1 rate is higher (basically how many more people go to your website when you’ve got lots of +1′s).
Google makes a note in the help section that because this system is relatively new, it will take a while to see any meaningful data. So for now just get used to the tracking data and in time we’ll see how this affects website performance.
In the search impact section you can sort data in the following way:
+1 annotated impressions: Frequency that people saw a page when it had been +1′d
+1 annotated clicks: Frequency that people clicked a page when it had already been +1′d
All impressions: Total volume of impressions for a single page with or without it being +1′d
All clicks: Total clicks through for a single page with or without it being +1′d
Any of these performance indicators can be sorted by number of impressions, click through rate and total clicks.
+1 Metrics: Audience
This is perhaps the most interesting metric, where you see the profile of the person who +1′d your website! Track their location, age and where they are. Data is anonymous, and no stats will appear until the minimum number of people have +1′d the page. This protects individual clicks from showing 1 unique persons information (minimum number unknown).
+1 Metrics: Activity
This is the frequency data for when pages have had a +1 annotation. Sort by and display new +1′s and all +1′s within a date range (variable).
Data is shown in the form of a graph and a table, and as with other Webmaster tools information you can download the data to Excel or CSV.
The columns on the table lists:
+1′s from your sites (how many clicked +1 from within your own pages).
+1′s from other sites (how many +1′d a page via search results or Google ads)
Over time the general public will have a say in what is popular and quality web content. The number of +1′s your pages receive offers an insight to Google. Variations visitor statistics will also be a helping factor; showing a broad and diverse visitor profile for greater influence.
