The launch of Google+1 by the planet's biggest search engine, hereby, declares the age of search and social is officially open! What's important now is not only to 'do SEO' but also to 'say hello'. The word on cyberstreet is that SEO has become social engine optimisation. To 'like' is as important as to 'link' and to be 'human' is to have real site authority. Even the big boys are doing it now!
A newly published study reveals that in the first six months of 2011, the number of FTSE 100 companies on Facebook rose by more than 50 per cent, and over half also opened a corporate Twitter account, an increase of 40 per cent since last year. Amongst the top performing social media users in the FTSE 100 are Aviva, Centrica, BP, Shell, Marks & Spencer and Tesco, although the UK, inevitably, lags behind the US!
FTSE 100 companies have not been the only firms who have been slow to realise that the web has changed. A new age of multi channel search and social is already here and Google, whose market share has been slipping recently against Bing, have said as much. Today, if your marketing strategies do not include an integrated social policy, then not only is your brand identity not likely to be visible to your target niche audience but the search engines are not going to rank you highly too.
It should be stressed that link building using SEO keywords and PPC ads paid search is still the primary online marketing activity. But as with the rise of organic site ranking, genuine, relevant and valuable, quality content is the No.1 key marker that defines trust, credibility and authority online to both human and algorithm.
With the launch of their own social network, it now seems that Google's+1 sharing features will not only take the lead over realtime tweets on search pages, but could challenge Facebook 'likes' as the essential social traffic driver. Who you are is now as important as what you say and the content you create. Links shared from a Twitter account possessing high Google PageRank also generate higher credibility and authority than links shared from a low PageRank account.
Inevitably, time and resources come into play when attempting to run effective social media networking. While FTSE 100 companies are always more likely to have the luxury of both, the average SME may simply not. But they must - or lose whatever precious ranking they have worked hard to maintain.
The web is changed and is still changing. Today, a former SEO will have grown into a full, interactive and multi disciplinary web marketing agency.
Their message is clear - speak in a search and social tongue, not in an autosoftware, spam and sales pitch!