SEO to Get Blog Posts in Sparks Area of G+ ?

[lerxtjr]

Have you had a blog post actually appear in Google+'s "Sparks" area yet? I'm trying to figure out what it takes. So far, I see a trend as being a lot of blog posts that are produced in blogspot and the only posts to appear are very current....like within the past hour or at least within the past day.

What are you seeing?

Thanks in advance.

[JamesGw]

I can't believe I didn't jump on this idea earlier. I've been using Google+ almost exclusively to do web conferences with my partners and/or friends via the hangout feature. I looked at Sparks briefly, but forgot about it soon after.

I'm assuming time matters in addition to relevance of the content. The question, of course, becomes "How does Google determine relevancy?" Do they use domain-level markers or is each individual blog post rated? Do you need to have a certain trust rank to show up in Sparks?

I'd expect MMAJunkie posts to show up if I had MMA in my sparks, but I wouldn't expect some random blog to show. Assuming this is the case, Google probably has some sort of criteria you have to meet before you can be included.

The author of this article feels that being included in Google News is a precursor to being included in Sparks.

Google + Sparks Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

I think it's too new of a feature to be fully understood. I'll have to do some testing.

I wonder if using the author attribute will make your content show up in your friends' Sparks.

[lerxtjr]

yeah, i haven't dug into it quite that deep yet either. I guess we could look into backlinks and maybe track how their blog posts are distributed. But most of the sites I've seen look they're from people that wouldn't really know what to do and how to figure it out on their own.

If Google does it right, using Sparks could completely (for me anyway) replace my use of Google Reader to get ideas for blog and twitter posts. I could just use Sparks to assign categories of interest and "share" from there to my G+ posts and then login every day to see what's new in those categories and post, post, post.

Just thinking that others will have the same idea and am hoping to get MY content in there to appear in some of those categories for others to repost.

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by JamesGw

The author of this article feels that being included in Google News is a precursor to being included in Sparks.

Nope ... checked two and they were not Google News sites.

[Clint Butler]

Exert from a post I read on the subject:

Google Plus Sparks might be one of the coolest and most overlooked

features that Google Plus

has offered us in the field test. Essentially, it seems to be an easier-to-use version of Google alerts with the advantage of being built directly into your Google Plus dash board.

What makes Google Plus Sparks valuable is that once the content is delivered as a result of your search, you can immediately share it across your circles with one simple click. There’s no need for any coping or pasting or even the use of a browser plugin or applet.

While theres a lot of room for sparks to grow with enhancements, for now it can be a pretty effective tool if you know your way around boolean search operators. For reference, that link back there will take you to a complete list of boolean search operators that you can bookmark and use to narrow down your results. What you search for is directly related to what interests you have, so you searches will be different than mine.

A Few Examples of My Searches in Google Plus Sparks

But, here’s some examples of what I’m playing with. Feel free to look off these and create your own:

• “Columbus Ohio” OR “Columbus OH” AND Jobs — this search allows me to keep a pulse on what’s happening in the job market in Columbus Ohio. As a blogger and someone who has a pretty decent presence on LinkedIn, I get contacted by recruiters and job seekers looking for help all the time. While I can’t stop to help everyone, using Google Plus Sparks helps me to at least stay in the know as to what opportunities I can share here as well as across my other networks and by word of mouth. It’s just one more arrow of interesting and relevant content I keep in my quiver.
• “nate riggs” OR “nateriggs.com” OR “@nateriggs” – using this search, I can keep track of who’s talking about me online. A lot of you are already doing this inside of Google Reader using alerts, but it makes sense to shift this over to Google Plus, once you are in. Brand name monitoring is important, no matter who you are or what you are trying to do on the web.
• “Google+” OR “google plus” OR “Google +” – As with any new social network, the early adopters (in this case, the field testers) always seem to want to talk about the actual network itself. That’s probably good for everyone involved as it gives companies like Google the ability to lean on experienced users to make minor adjustments and enhancements before the releasing it to the masses. I use this search to try and stay in the know with interesting stuff that’s coming out each day on Google Plus. This one is tricky in that Google does not seem to actually recognize the “+” symbol in searches.

Features Requests for Google Plus Sparks

Eventually, it would be most excellent if Google set up an advance search feature similar to what you see on your normal search engine page. I’m guessing this is already in the rollout plans for new releases.
As of the time of this post, Google Plus does not give us a way to edit searches or even organize them.

The addition an easy to use drag and drop folder system as well as the ability to edit each search without deleting it and creating it all over again will be critical to garnering wider use of Google Plus Sparks. Likewise, I’d personally like to see a scheduler so that I could set up content to be distributed at specific times of the day.

see original article

Hope the article was helpful, helped me in my research on the subject

[lerxtjr]

Still no updates on how to get an article or blog post to "appear" within Google Sparks? It's easy to see the relevance of just sharing an article that pops up. But, what about getting MY article to appear there...and under the proper topic heading?

[atwellpub]

I found this resource. It's not tricks but it is some guidance. Google Plus Guides » google plus sparks

[curtainsandblind]

See below link for more information :
Using Google+ Sparks to Find Content to Blog and Grow Your Traffic