Google conquering the web with its social strategy but Facebook still more "likable"

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In just a few short weeks, Google has managed to convert millions of Facebook faithfuls into a breed of "+1-ing" Googlers with the soft roll-out of its new social network Google+.

During that time the company has seen a large spike in the number of "+1" buttons appearing on the front pages of the web's 10,000 largest sites.

According to leading SEO (search engine optimization) company BrightEdge, there has been a 33 percent increase in placement of the new Google +1 button on websites over the last few weeks.

While Google's +1 button is growing in importance, Facebook "still enjoys a two-to-one lead in plug-in placement on these large sites over competing social networks," said BrightEdge.

Google's +1 button is an alternative to Facebook's "Like" button, Twitter's "Tweet" button and a growing number of social media buttons from companies such as LinkedIn, Redit, StumbleUpon and Tumblr.

The buttons are typically placed on websites to facilitate online sharing via social networks.

Facebook's Like button may be prominently placed on 10.8 percent of sites around the web, but within just a few months of launching, Google's +1 button has already leaped ahead of Twitter's Tweet button.

Google's +1 button appears on 4.5 percent of websites while Twitter's "Tweet" button is on 2.1 percent.

Facebook remains the preferred social media platform in terms of the overall number of links.

More than 47 percent of larger companies link to Facebook. Twitter follows in second place, with links appearing on 42 percent of the 10,000 sites measured.

Almost 17 percent of the sites link to video sharing platform YouTube while LinkedIn is linked to by 3.7 percent of websites.

Despite its current "field test" invite-only status, Google+ has reportedly grown to reach more than 4.5 million users in less than two weeks of launching.