This factor counts how many times a legacy Google Plus share URL — the plus.google.com/share?url= form — appears in a page’s rendered body HTML. It reports a raw count of matching URL text, not distinct or working social profiles, and a higher number does not make a page rank.
| Factor ID | RG-SOC-025 |
|---|---|
| Family | Social Links |
| Measurement | Count |
| Measured zone | Rendered body HTML with scripts removed |
What it measures
This factor counts legacy Google Plus sharing URLs on the page — specifically the plus.google.com/share?url= form that older share buttons and widgets used to push a page to the now-retired Google Plus network. It is a structural tally of how many of these share links survive in the current markup.
How RankGear measures it
RankGear scans the rendered body HTML, with scripts removed, and runs a case-insensitive regular-expression match for the plus.google.com/share?url=<target> pattern. It returns the number of matches found. Each occurrence is tallied separately, so a page that repeats the same share control several times contributes several to the count.
What RankGear looks for
<a href="https://plus.google.com/share?url=https://example.com/page">Share on Google+</a>How to optimize it
Treat this as an observation about legacy markup, not a target to grow. Google Plus was retired, so these share controls no longer do anything useful. Where it helps, remove the obsolete Google Plus share buttons and replace them with currently supported sharing options or a copy-link experience. Do not add these URLs to raise the count — a higher number is not a ranking benefit.
Important considerations
- This counts matching URL text, not distinct, verified, active social profiles or successful shares.
- Repeated matches are counted separately, so a widget rendered in multiple places inflates the number.
- The detector follows a specific legacy URL shape, so other valid URL forms may not be counted and look-alike text may be counted.
- Treat this as a structural observation, not evidence that adding more social links improves rankings. Correlation with position is not causation, and no factor guarantees a ranking.
Related factors
Part of the Factors reference · how RankGear measures · glossary.