In broad terms, it could be said that there are two ways in which you find content online.
- through performing a search in a search engine, like Google or visiting a directory
- through viewing links posted by those in your social networks
Traditionally, when you head to a search engine or directory, you’re usually looking for something specific. When you’re browsing through Twitter your social networks, you’re more likely to be looking for simply anything of interest that has been recommended by your friends.
In the past, these two methods of finding content were mutually exclusive. Today, social networks are having an increasing influence on the results that appear in your search results and in modern directories like NZS.com.
In terms of search engines, the influence that your social networks have on the results that appear can be surprising and yet also difficult to detect.
How does Google know who you are connected to?
Predominantly, Google finds out information on who we are connected to through the social media accounts connected to our Google profiles. If you add your Twitter account to your Google profile, Google will search through the people that you are following on Twitter and use that information to personalise your search results.
While this may sound intrusive, it’s actually public information. If you had time on your hands, you could go look at the people that we’re following on Twitter by clicking on ‘Following’ on our Twitter profile. Get a feel for the type of people that we like to follow and you would have a much better idea of content that might interest us. This is exactly what Google is doing with personalised search results.
Just take a look at a screenshot of a search example in our ‘Social Media and SEO‘ resource and find out about the advantages and disadvantages of personalised search results.
Why should I share content online?
After seeing the affect that your own social networks can have on the results that display in search – even so far as displaying websites in the first few results that previously weren’t even on the first page – it’s plain to see the reverse of this.
If we’re part of a large social network and have a number of followers on Twitter or Google+, we may find that when we click on a social sharing button we’re actually influencing the search results of a good number of people.
In that sense, it’s a good idea to share the content that you publish online. Obviously we can only ‘+1′ or ‘Like’ our content once so it’s also a good idea to look for positive content related to your business, services and products and share those pages with your networks as well.
The more content about your business that you can get into search results, the more you will get your brand in front of searchers. A classic example, if you’ll excuse the shameless plug, is to share your site profile on NZS.com. If you don’t yet have one, just complete this form to update your details and once your profile is live use the sharing buttons on that page to share it with your social networks. The Natcoll Design School have a great example of what this can look like.
What’s the catch?
As with most methods of influencing search results, there are, of course, two sides to every story. If we go overboard with sharing our own content and waxing lyrical about our own services, there’s a good chance our followers will start to disconnect.
Raving about your own content on Twitter is like walking into the middle of a conversation and shouting about your latest special offers. The conversation will usually move away and you’ll find yourself in an increasingly lonely situation!
So when updating any social media network, be sure to intersperse updates about yourself and your business with a good amount of general discussion with other users as well as links to other content that you find interesting online. If you’re struggling for time, speak with a social marketing professional to discuss a social media strategy for your business.
Flickr image credit: courosa
