Searching Using Social Media

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Search engines are incorporating social media elements more and more these days. Many Internet users spend a great deal of time on social media networks, whether they are obtaining information, discussing business, or socializing.

The essential element of social media is information; however, many times, it takes a backseat to communication when discussing social media tools. The undeniable fact is that social media sites are an ever-growing source of information.

The information can be in the form of a news publication that is being followed on Twitter, a friend sharing a link or following company updates on a Facebook Fan page or a blog.

Because more and more information is coming from social media sites, the search engines want a piece of the action. The entire reason for the existence of the search engines is to help users find what they are searching for on the Internet.

If you want people to find the information that you are offering, publishing the information and participating in discussions on social media sites will help your business tremendously. By doing that, you are giving the general public access to your information simply by searching. They don’t need to be a part of a specific community to get the information that they need.

Searching is about visibility

If you are initiating and/or participating in discussions on relevant topics, there is a high likelihood that those discussions could end up in search results in real time as well as in the future.

For example, if you are tweeting to peers on Twitter about a topic that is relevant to your niche, there is a very good chance that the tweets that follow might show up in the search results for that topic on Google, perhaps even a year from now, if the tweets happen to be relevant enough.

There are many ways in which your social media strategy can contribute to where you rank in the search engines. You can optimize your social media content. Many people think that they need to keep their searches and their social media campaigns separate. It is much more effective if they work together.

The traditional way that people use social media is for branding and to engage their customers. When people search on the Internet, they are trying to increase leads and sales by becoming more visible. If you combine social media and searching, you produce much better results. Businesses that optimize their content drive website traffic, reach customers, and build relationships, all at once.

Many people mistakenly consider social media as a direct marketing strategy. That is really not the case. Social media is a platform, it is not a strategy. If your goal is to increase revenue, you need to look at your return on investment (ROI). If that isn’t your top priority, you can find a great deal of value in social media through visibility, branding and relationships.

A great way to optimize your content is through blogging. It was discovered by marketers several years ago that blogs achieve search engine visibility through the links and the content that originate from the blogs. Nowadays, the Internet is rich in social media. Search engines, of course, have no choice but to pay attention to that.

More and more businesses are starting to understand that they need to be involved with social media. However, the attitude of business owners has not totally turned around yet. Many business owners are still being cautious and not using social media to its full potential.

Searching is not only important to marketing on the Internet, it is important to marketing in general. No matter what, your customers are online. Social media is becoming increasingly more important to searching. Searching is only one aspect of online marketing. There are many additional benefits to social media that we haven’t discussed in this article.

We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. Please contact us at CompuKol Communications for further discussion on how we might be able to assist you and your team.

Author

  • Michael Cohn

    Michael Cohn is the founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of CompuKol Communications. He has decades of experience in IT and web technologies. Michael founded CompuKol Communications to help small businesses and entrepreneurs increase their visibility and reputation. CompuKol consults, creates, and implements communication strategies for small businesses to monopolize their markets with a unique business voice, vision, and visibility. Mr. Cohn earned a Master’s degree in project management from George Washington University in Washington, DC; and a Master’s degree in computer science and a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ.