Hello again, friends!

In this post I will show you how to integrate Google+ comments in your WordPress website.

You might want this since the default comment system is not so good (however we already know that Jetpack can improve it). So far I have also shown you how to add Facebook comments and also how to integrate Disqus as your main comment system and you are familiar with the benefits of having an external comment system for WordPress. Now let’s see how you can achieve this with G+’s comments.

Before I tell you how to do this I will present you the current state of Google+ and the possible changes that might occur in the near future.

Google+ is the social media of Google. During its existence it has competed with all the major players in the market, especially with Facebook. G+ offered unique features and thus it attracted users mostly from the professional circles – developers, marketing experts, web designers, etc.

It is quite well known that Google+ has major benefits for SEO since the posts that are shared publicly are indexed and also each “+1” sends an important social signal that improves the ranking of your content. The social media allows you to create a business page and to make it your official publisher via a meta tag. This also improves the authority of your content. Not so long ago Google+ offered authorship which (in my opinion) was an awesome way to attract visitors because it showed them the author (name and G+ profile picture) of the content in the search results. This screamed “authority and quality” all around and it is a pity that Google removed this feature. However the authorship still works if you continue to create high quality content and share it publicly in your profile. A recent update allows the creation of collections and this allows better categorization of your shared posts.

The social media has many other features as well. However the situation with Google+ might change quite soon. The social media will either be shut down (the most unlikely option but still a possibility) or it will be transformed. However the Google+ as we know it will not be available in the near future and there are clear signs of this. For example the requirement for a mandatory G+ profile in order to use other Google products is gone. The same goes with authorship and so on.

Why would I want Google+ comments on my WordPress website if the fate of the social media is uncertain?

Mostly because Google won’t let go of the already attracted G+ users and their content. Many digital marketing experts think that the social media will most likely be improved and it will continue to exist. So having G+ comments on WordPress will be of value for you and your visitors in each case. And since the solutions that I am going to present to you allow the integration of Facebook and Disqus comments as well, you are in no danger of losing all your comments in case G+ shuts down because your visitors might comment using the other options that you are providing them.

In conclusion to this let me say that integrating Google+ comments as an additional (not the main) comment system will be a positive feature.

Now let’s focus on the pros and cons of G+ comments for WordPress.

Pros:

• SEO ranking signals
• Attracting a large amount of visitors from Google+
• Increase of social traffic
• Usability for commenting since most of the users are constantly signed in their G+ accounts

Cons:

• The fate of Google+ is uncertain (as stated above)
• There is still no official G+ plugin for WordPress

OK – now to the main point of the article – the integration of G+ comments for WordPress

There are two solutions in the form of WordPress plugins that will do the trick. One is free and the other is premium and therefore paid.

I will start with the free solution.

You need the plugin Comments Evolved for WordPress (formerly known as Google+ Comments for WordPress). Install and activate it and then head to the settings menu (it should be under the Comments section) and configure the plugin. You may choose the tab order of the different comment options (as I have already pointed in the post this plugin integrates other comment options as well).

You can choose to display icons in the tabs as well. Comments Evolved for WordPress supports:

• Google+
• Facebook
• Disqus
• WordPress comments
• Trackbacks

For Disqus you need to type in your Disqus Shortname if you intend to integrate this comment system via the plugin.

Save the settings and voila – Google+ comments as well as the other options are integrated. Simple, right?

Another way to integrate Google+ comments is the premium plugin Comments + which also allows your visitors to comment via Facebook, WordPress and even Twitter. You may find out more about it here.

So this is all for now friends. Currently you have enough information for the most popular comment solutions for WordPress and you can choose the most suitable one for your website. Please share your decision in the comments below.

See you again!