The line between search and social media is becoming increasingly blurred. And at this intersection is CONTENT. The success of both search engine optimization (SEO) and social media hinges on relevant, applicable, easily sharable content. New to the digital platform is Google+ which has reached over 25 million visitors in its first few weeks.

Google+ is an excellent example of the interdependent relationship of SEM and Social.

At its core, Google+ is a social network with profiles, streams and photos. You can mention people in your stream using “+” or “@” followed by the person’s name or email address, similar to "tags" in Facebook or "mentions" in Twitter.

Circles allow users to organize their connections in detailed categories, making it easy to share relevant content with specific people. It's sort of like combining the "friends" and "groups" features of Facebook. But unlike Facebook friends and groups, users can assign contacts to multiple "circles" without requiring permission from the person. For more details about how Circles work, watch this video:

How Google+ integrates with Search Marketing

To promote sharing, Google+ has a feature called Sparks, which assists users in locating content of interest using algorithms that rely on information from other Google+ users and other Google search-related products (Google Search, +1 buttons). The vision is for Google+ to become a central hub for sharing and finding content and, ultimately, help Google successfully re-launch Realtime Search. To learn more about Sparks, watch the video below:

How digital marketers opportunistically leverage the platform will likely include a content strategy coupled with a myriad of other tactics, as Google+ evolves and achieves a critical mass.

How has Google+ changed your strategy, or has it yet?