Posted on May - 02 - 2010
Ways to Wealth: Search engines have amplified relevancy of social media
Wells: My business has a website, but I am not sure I need a presence on Facebook or Twitter. Are these social networks relevant to average business owners?
Elaine: A couple of years ago, most businesses could overlook social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter without negative effects. In December, Google made a move that changed the game when it comes to search engines, social networks and their importance to business owners.
First, the search engine Bing added Twitter to its search result. A few months later. Google said it had reached a deal with Twitter to include “tweets” in its search results.
From the Google blog, “Given this new type of information and its value to search, we are very excited to announce that we have reached an agreement with Twitter to include their updates in our search results. We believe that our search results and user experience will greatly benefit from the inclusion of this up-to-the-minute data, and we look forward to having a product that showcases how tweets can make search better in the coming months. That way, the next time you search for something that can be aided by a real-time observation — say, snow conditions at your favorite ski resort — you’ll find tweets from other users who are there and sharing the latest and greatest information.”
What does this mean to a business owner? If your business relies on Internet traffic to generate leads or sales, you cannot overlook the importance of Twitter anymore.
The goal of all businesses that rely on search results of the major search engines — that is, Google and Bing — is to rank high in the “organic” (unpaid promotion) search results. Now that Google is adding information from what it calls the “public social graph” and to its search engine results, to include a social media presence in a company’s search engine strategy could result in higher rankings in the search results, which in return could result in increased traffic to a businesses site. Businesses that rely heavily on Internet traffic for existence could be missing an opportunity if they omit social media.
So how does a business take advantage of this new potential back door to get to the top of search engine results? Begin social networking profiles that are relevant to your customers and engaging. Make sure within these profiles all of your links work properly, and conversely make sure your website promotes your social profiles.
With all Internet exposure but more especially social media, any attempt to manipulate your audience without concern for their genuine issues will be exposed by the online community. The result will swift and viral. Once handled poorly, the public relations damage may be difficult if not impossible to undo. (Recall the recent outrage over excessive bank overdraft fees by one large bank. They are viewed as “villains.”)
Questions? Write Elaine at Elainezimm@aol.com. Her Web site is elainezimmermann.com.
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