Are you ready to spend even more time social networking?

How much of your marketing budget and/or time goes to Social Networking? Most businesses have some sort of presence on at least Facebook and LinkedIn. And maybe Twitter and YouTube.

Google + personal profiles have been out for a while but it was another month before business pages were launched. It’s going to take some time before we can tell what kind of social networking/marketing share this new service is going take from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, but it’s Google so we can’t ignore it. A piece of advice I read recently in an article at Marketing Magazine UK is to not rush into building a Google+  Business Page until you have a clear strategy. Makes sense… So of course we did the opposite and just went ahead. For us, it’s okay not to have a strategy because the whole point is to learn more.  We do agree with the advice though and suggest you set up personal profile first to familiarize yourself with how it works.

There are plenty of resources about Google+ out there if you search. Many of the articles are great but technical or long.  We decided to begin our exploration of Google+ by comparing one of their new sharing features to Facebook’s. We were curious about these and thought it might be something you  be interested in. What I am talking about is the new +1 icons and g+ icons. We have them on our website home page sidebar if you would like to try them . And the Google Plus button below in this post works too.

There are similarities and differences. The Google +1 buttons that now appear around the Internet on Google searches and on websites are pretty similar to Facebook like buttons. If you click on one they behave the same way. If you are not logged into your Google account, Gmail for example, you will first be prompted do that and then your ‘like’, or ‘plus’ in this case is recorded for that web page.

The new buttons, like the one at the left, are called Google + Direct Connect buttons. When you click on one, you will be taken to the owner’s Google+ Page. You can view their feed, share, ‘+1′  and ‘follow’ the same as you would a Facebook feed. So it’s similar to having a Facebook icon on your site that connects to your Facebook profile. Our feeling is this is going to help your SEO efforts for being found in Google searches (maybe only in a small way but every little bit helps). It connects you directly to Google so it can’t hurt. Here’s an excerpt from a Web Pro Newsletter:

“Google+ has introduced a whole new realm of SEO possibilities based on getting found via Google’s own properties.

For one, Google ranks Google+ posts in search results, and they often appear on the first page.

The +1 button obviously helps your search visibility cause. Google made it clear from the beginning that this would be a search signal. If enough people like your content enough to give it a +1, it must be good right? Why not bump it up in the rankings. ”

The more of their tools you use and interconnect, the more visible and easier to find you will be in Google searches. Searchers will be able to find your + business page by using the + added to their search term. Here is how they explain it on their Direct Connect info page:

“Google+ Direct Connect lets you quickly navigate to a Google+ page (and even add that page to your circles) when using Google Search. For example, if you searched for the query ‘+youtube’ or ‘+pepsi,’ you could be immediately taken to the YouTube Google+ page, or the Pepsi Google+ page, and given the option to add the page to your circles.”

So having a Google+ Business Page is another way for folks to find you and follow you. Start thinking about it now, planning for it soon, and it’s very important, we feel, to begin considering what to name your Google + business page.

What they say:

“Google Instant is a new search enhancement that shows results as you type. We are pushing the limits of our technology and infrastructure to help you get better search results, faster. Our key technical insight was that people type slowly, but read quickly, typically taking 300 milliseconds between keystrokes, but only 30 milliseconds (a tenth of the time!) to glance at another part of the page. This means that you can scan a results page while you type. ”

You can read more here:
http://www.google.com/instant/#utm_campaign=launch&utm_medium=van&utm_source=instant

Want to see what happens with Google Instant?

Try it here:
http://www.google.com/
Yep just put in a first letter — like F — surprise, it comes up with Facebook. If your business starts with an F do you think you will be found EVEN IF someone was looking through search?

Thanks to Danny Sullivan for this link from Twitter:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/39068673#39068673

In my opinion this is not a matter of speed, it is a matter of killing off searches for services or businesses that people may actually be looking for.

<sigh>

So a question, where are folks getting the information that is posted on Twitter and Facebook before Google, Yahoo, Bling, etc. have it listed.  If it is on the TV, radio, then how does it hit in social media first before the news wires pick it up and have it posted — OR — is it all related to search?

So are we the reporters now, and if so, can we trust what is being reported?  I know / I know… but think about it.  It’s not just the top news stories, it is also what is being reported for the latest issues with SEO, search engine updates, and so much more.

So my question, do we trust what is being reported in social media or do we trust what we eventually see in news reports through search engine searches?

Jan

Facebook’s Raylene Yung  explains: “While seeing real-time activities is extremely valuable, we also want to be sure you don’t miss other interesting content. After hearing feedback from many of you and exploring some new designs, we decided with today’s changes to move what you used to see in Highlights from the right-hand side to the News Feed view in the main column so you can more easily engage with both views.”

Chris Crum’s article states they are testing so this may change due to how users react. 

What do you think?

“Google and Microsoft have both inked deals with Twitter, and Microsoft has also inked one with Facebook to integrate Twitter and Facebook updates into Bing search results. Google will be adding tweets to search results.” says  Chris Crum.

Google’s Marissa Mayer says, “We believe that our search results and user experience will greatly benefit from the inclusion of this up-to-the-minute data, and we look forward to having a product that showcases how tweets can make search better in the coming months. That way, the next time you search for something that can be aided by a real-time observation, say, snow conditions at your favorite ski resort, you’ll find tweets from other users who are there and sharing the latest and greatest information.”

Click here to read more of his article.