With the ink still drying on recent Real Time Search deals signed by both Google and Bing with social networks like Twitter and Facebook, it’s time to explore what impact Social Search will have on your business and why now is the time to start paying it some serious attention.
Social Search Impact
Jason Falls, from Social Media Explorer, wrote a great post explaining the impact of Realtime Search on your business. He writes,
What social search means for marketers now, however, is this: If you do not start now building a network of fans, followers and friends who trust you, your company or your brand, you may quickly become irrelevant in not just social media, but in search too.
Why Social Search Matters to You
Search engines return results based on a variety of data including the number of incoming links, anchor text and recency. By taping into social networks such as twitter, search engines will have more information about a peice of content. Data such as the number of Re Tweets, shares and click throughs could be significant ranking factors in the future, especially given the recency that real time search offers.
As Jason puts it,
a popular Tweet about Ford Mustangs (Retweeted, linked to, etc.) could rank (and thus rank high) in search engine results for “Ford Mustang.”
Add to that the ability of social networks have to introduce content to users who are then able to link to and share it , and you have the opportunity for serious impact.
A Convincing Line
For some strange reason [sarcasm] many companies have been reluctant to fully engage in a Social Media Strategy, largely due to a lack of understanding at the Executive level. Yet many execs understand the power that search engines have to drive traffic, leading Jason Falls to suggest the following:
Tell your curmudgeonly CEO if your company doesn’t participate in or prioritize social media, you’ll soon lose your search standing and see if that doesn’t help.
The prospect of Social Search significantly impacting Google rankings might just be ticket to a more social media friendly boss-man.
Maybe.
Photo Cred: ocean.flynn
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