Google is rolling out a new search results feature called +1.

It allows searchers to recommend search results to others by clicking a button alongside the search result.

This is important for webmasters and site optimisers to be aware of for 2 key reasons:

1. Having your page +1′d is a visual indicator searchers will use to evaluate the relevance of the page. Apart from being at the top of SERPs, +1′s will be an important factor for searchers as your pages become approved by actual people and not just the Google algorithm.

2. +1′s “will be one of many signals [Google] use to calculate organic search ranking”.

Get the full story from the AdWords blog and Google Webmasters.

An upcoming extension of this feature is the ability to add the +1 button to your web pages. Its function is very much like the Facebook “Like” buttons that you can add to your pages already but +1 would carry the weight of the significant benefits above.