As the line between Search Engine Optimisation and Social Media becomes increasingly blurred, we examine how Social Search Optimisation can enable your brand to connect with your potential customers in entirely new ways.
Editorial vs Real Time Search
Conventional search engines provide editorial results. In essence, they filter and rank content, and (generally) present appropriate results.
Microblogging sites like Twitter, social bookmarking sites – and now Facebook – don’t filter and editorialise their results in the same way. They prioritise freshness of content, and prefer to provide snippets of the latest upadtes and information.
There’s an important distinction here, one that brands can utilise to target new customers in new ways. However, it’s important to understand the differences between the platforms, and how using them can affect your online presence.
For example, If I’m searching for reviews of a restuarant, ‘real time’ search isn’t very useful to me, providing only snippets about the restaurant in question – whereas conventional, editorial search will provide me nice summaries and overviews.
If I’m looking for breaking news about a sporting event, real time search provides by-the-second updates, but editorial search is clunky, providing outdated and cluttered news.
By recongising how your business model fits within the varying search platforms, we can tailor a Social Search Optimisaton package for your brand which will improve visibility, and increase conversions.
The Future – Universal Search
Conventional search engines have recognised that in order to compete within a changing landscape, they need to embrace real time search, but not at the expense of their conventional results. Google’s ‘Universal Search’ system in particular is implementing elements of real time search into their main results screen, and brands who’ve adopted Social Search Optimisation are already realising the benefit of increased exposure and engagement with their client base.
The importance of real time search, it’s weighting in search algorithms and prominence on the front line is only going to increase, and as the search landscape changes, it will become vital for brands to embrace Social Search Optimisation and real time search.
If you have any questions about Social Search Optimisation, real time search, or how we can work with your brand to improve visibility, traffic and conversions, then we invite you to contact us today for a free website assessment.
