Will the Google +1 Button Amount to Anything?

Social media is still an extremely hot topic among the multifamily crowd, and yet the Google +1 button has gone largely unnoticed.  But in the end, it might have more power than any other social sharing button out there.  The big problem is that many people simply don’t know what it does.  Well, it actually does several key things that you should know about, and will explain why you should potentially implement it on your website.

First, it tells Google that people like a certain page, but more specifically, it tells Google that friends and contacts of yours liked a certain page.  That means when you search for a term, Google is more likely to show a website which your network has +1’d.  And when it does show up, the listing tells the user who liked it from their network.  From an apartment search point of view, that is essentially a resident referral within Google!

Second, when it gets clicked by someone who has an account on Google+, Google’s new social network, that user can share the link on that network, similar to Facebook’s Share button.  Of course, this factor is a big question mark depending on whether Google+ takes off for real, but it’s something to consider.

Right now, it’s too early to tell if there will be any immediate difference in traffic because of the +1 button, but in the long haul, it’s a good bet to go with.  If it were solely tied to Google+, I would have concerns, but as it is tied to Google’s bread and butter search, it’s fair to say it will have some sort of meaningful impact.

Thoughts?  Have you implemented Google’s +1 button on your site?