If you’ve got a popular blog, you’ll know that social media can send you a truck load of traffic. Recent research by Searchmetrics has found that social media generated nearly three million ‘shares’ a week for The Daily Mail and 2.59 million for The Guardian. Not too shabby.
So having social media sharing buttons on your website is a no brainer. And soon you are going to start thinking about how you can get more social mentions in the search results as well. What other people think is important to us, so it should come as no surprise that the battle for the ‘social search’ market is already getting dirty.
Google steps on their rivals’ toes
Last year Bing incorporated Facebook likes and comments into its search results; a bold move, which no doubt irked its rivals Google. And Google is only too aware of the threat posed by Facebook – it’s estimated Facebook could swallow a quarter of the search market if it launched its own search engine. With so much ad money at stake, this is surely inevitable.
So last week Google played its ace card (as predicted in this blog, folks) and has now integrated content from Google+ into its search results. This means that if you’ve joined Google+ you’ll now see products and services recommended by people in your circles at the top of the search results.
Predictably, this move has been met by barrages of criticism as a move to block out Twitter and Facebook. But I expect what you’re really interested in is what this update means for your marketing?
Continue as you are, but with an SEO twist
To benefit from Google’s ‘Search, Plus Your World’ update, you need to:
1) Create a Google+ page for your business
2) Regularly add great content people will want to share
3) Include relevant keywords to increase the likelihood of your articles appearing for relevant searches
4) Reach out to prominent ‘influencers’ in Google+ with large circles and encourage them to add you
So nothing groundbreaking, really.
Creating great share-worthy content continues to be the name of the game, and Google+ also still has a long way before it’s a must in your marketing ‘to do’ list. But Google’s bold move shows that the battle for social search is heating up, and it’s anybody’s guess which internet giant will emerge the eventual winner.
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bda (Buckingham Design Associates) blog – real people giving real opinions, and a complete lack of agency waffle. Award winners bda delivers an exciting blend of design and creative marketing for the Oxford, Milton Keynes, Northampton and London region
