The Union of Search and Social Media
There has been a lot of conversation on the web regarding social media and search engine optimization – but what does this union really mean? With people actually interacting online, rather than just going online to seek information – the web as a whole is moving in a more social direction. As the shift to social is showing no signs of slowing down, the search engines are continuing to focus their algorithms on how people share content with their online communities via social media. Facebook, Twitter, +1, blogging, YouTube and Quora – are just a few of the social networks that now greatly affect the way search results are calculated in the major search engines.
A few of the many trends associated with “social search” include: personalized search results, social media feed integration, side-wikis and search engines recognizing sites with Twitter feeds and other forms of social ratings. While search engines are now including social functionality, social networking sites are also enhancing their search functionality. Searches are now taking place on destinations other than search engines. According to comScore, Facebook is among the top ten destinations in terms of total search volume. Facebook and Bing have created a relationship to show Bing’s search results within the Facebook’s internal search results. These search trends that have evolved as a result of the marriage of social and search are changing how people use the Internet and why.
What does this mean for your business? This means your company website, social media sites, blogs and your online press releases have to attract a target audience that wants to comment, share and suggest your content to others in their online communities. The core of search engine marketing is to make online content more visible, shareable, and engaging for users – and the more your content is shared via social media, the better it does in organic search results. In other words, the more effective a company’s social media presence, the greater the listening power of the search engines.
The union of social and search is in harmony with the latest Google algorithm update – the Panda Update. Google’s Panda Update zeroes in on unique and engaging content, and as a result, awards better search rankings to higher quality content. What this means is that each press release, tweet or other form of content can help your organization reach more viewers, convert more leads, appeal to search engines and even trigger additional content creation.
Aside from the integration of social media content into search engine results, social networking sites have the power to affect search engine rankings in other ways. Any good search strategy is focused on relevance, and social media is becoming one of the major indicators of relevance. Keyword-rich content and inbound links have always been two of the strongest components of effective search engine optimization strategies and the social promotion of content has the power to generate natural links. The effect of social media initiatives on inbound links cannot be underestimated. Blogging, engagement via Facebook/Twitter, and other social media activities have a direct impact on the quantity, and more importantly, the quality, of editorially awarded links that your site can benefit from. For example around 25% of all Tweets contain a URL, which makes Twitter a great platform to share quality content with the masses.
When it comes to social and search – “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” Your potential and current customers are using both, and the existing web infrastructure involves interplay between the two. It is a vital part of your Internet marketing strategy to take a holistic approach to both search and social. Using search and social media to find what they’re looking for online – give them the tools to do this. A new study from GroupM Search developed with comScore sheds light on the causal relationship between social and search, and how they influence the conversion path.
A few main points to take away from this study include:
• In 58% of all consumer journeys that end in purchase, the starting point is a search
• Consumers who convert are equally likely to use a combination of search and social (48%) as opposed to just search (51%)
• When it comes to aiding the purchase decision, the top social option is user reviews (30%)
• 45% use search throughout the purchase process versus 26% only at the beginning and 18% only at the end
As the line between search and social continues to blur – you will want your brand to be prominent in search and on social media. When one goes up, the other goes up, as search and social rely on the appropriate implementation of the other, illustrating an inversely proportional relationship.
In the end, social media increases your online presence as well as your search engine optimization, in turn calling great attention to this unique relationship. If your company is producing ground-breaking, informative and useful content, you will naturally turn up on the top of the SERPs because people will share it via social networks. If not, enhance your online marketing strategy and improve the quality of your content to compete with other companies who have embraced the convergence of search and social.
