Social Media & SEO - A Business View | Charlotte Britton

Thanks for the comment Alan. I use the phrase ...

2011-07-27T12:46:16.545+01:00

Thanks for the comment Alan. I use the phrase 'Digital Darwinism' as those companies that evolve and grow their businesses through social media will develop a core USP to their competitors. Those companies that don't adopt these technologies will lose that opportunity and fall by the wayside as you say.

I'm quite evangelical about it as an early adopter and that is definitely one of my key drivers and passions.

This is all too true.. While it is all very well...

2011-07-27T11:42:04.254+01:00

This is all too true..

While it is all very well utilising the latest in developments of ongoing webtrends or 'mapping' Google in order to further a business or individual.
It seems genuine interactivity and involvement of the consumer is what it's about now. Anyone, or any business, not truely committed, and using social platforms purely for PR gain or increasing search engine rankings will ultimately fall by the wayside.

I guess ultimately there is a big difference between someone who has lived the web and one who has studied it.

Thanks for this. Interesting thoughts on this. I ...

2010-12-09T08:22:47.887Z

Thanks for this. Interesting thoughts on this. I cam across this link about Google and Bing and how links are used within social search.

http://searchengineland.com/what-social-signals-do-google-bing-really-count-55389

really fascinating stuff charlotte, thanks for sha...

2010-12-06T20:11:51.663Z

really fascinating stuff charlotte, thanks for sharing the results as promised. i'm not surprised to see smaller businesses are better at this sort of thing, it's something larger organisations are still struggling to get to grips with in terms of governance and management. i'm surprised so many people claim to have generated business via social media but at the same time i can think of many businesses that don't use any other form of promotion at the moment.

I think people are a bit obsessed with google'...

2010-11-29T10:53:02.354Z

I think people are a bit obsessed with google's "Letter of the Law" in regard to things like 'nofollow'.

We need to realise that Google is a company whose core business is providing great search results - this trumps any other aspect of it's business. If Google don't get this right then they're headed for a fall.

Given this 'Core Business' driver, I can't imagine why they would ignore links found on two of the most important social networks on the internet (facebook and twitter).

Ok they may decide to 'weight' these results differently and I'm sure that nofollow links in general are ignored in the same way that the google document on nofollow suggests. However, Google's use the the phrase In general, we don't follow them strongly suggests that there are exceptions.

We will never know for sure how they work these things out but given the efforts Google have undergone to make sure the whole history of twitter is archived, I think they'll be using that information!

Tim Parkin

Hi Jaimie. Thanks for your comments. See my foll...

2010-11-29T10:41:44.197Z

Hi Jaimie. Thanks for your comments. See my follow up blog post for further commentary!
http://www.charlottebritton.co.uk/2010/11/inbound-links-from-twitter-can-help.html

Yes - I would agree with Wendy on this. The "...

2010-11-29T10:28:47.390Z

Yes - I would agree with Wendy on this. The "TrustRank" factor is definitely one to be considered, how this may be quantified (and as such controlled/influenced) is another kettle of fish thugh and one to be monitored. Ultimately though - Google's algorithms aside, links from Social Networking sites do help promote sites because they deliver 'real' visitors to a site who in turn, if they find the content compelling enough will either link to it themselves or send it viral.

I don't see the inbound link from Twitter and ...

2010-11-28T09:29:55.891Z

I don't see the inbound link from Twitter and shortening services having any value in terms of influencing PageRank value, however it is well documented now that social media links do have an influence on sites within Google's SERPS to the tune of about 6%. Source: http://goo.gl/o3Yp But as for Links within Twitter pass on line 'link juice' as it well. I don't think this is the case as Twitter adds in the 'noFollow' link attribute to all links posted in its stream.

Thanks Jonathan! The more tweets you can get RT th...

2010-11-22T17:04:09.276Z

Thanks Jonathan! The more tweets you can get RT the more important they'll count as inbound links! Happy Tweeting!

Good bit of insider information here Charlotte - I...

2010-11-22T14:45:57.681Z

Good bit of insider information here Charlotte - I was wondering about shortening urls. Also was wondering why only occasionally my tweets come up on my google alerts....

fabulous post, Charlotte, and proves the point of ...

2010-09-13T12:10:18.200+01:00

fabulous post, Charlotte, and proves the point of social media being sharing not selling!

This looks like a good read. I have ordered it off...

2010-08-04T12:55:33.130+01:00

This looks like a good read. I have ordered it off Amaazon today, and will look forward to updating my SEO knowledge. Will update you when I have read it

@Emmma Bearman - thanks for the comments. You are...

2010-08-02T17:50:30.261+01:00

@Emmma Bearman - thanks for the comments. You are responsive and personable on Twitter / online - so don't worry!

I just think some people get overwhelmed by the volume of conversation and only respond to those of people they know. Which completely misses the point!

Whilst I would never consider myself an self anoin...

2010-08-02T16:22:43.973+01:00

Whilst I would never consider myself an self anointed Rock Star, Jedi, or expert in Social Media, I truly believe that its a great enabler of conversations, growing diverse networks and meeting real people.

Sometimes though I am aware that I have left conversations hanging mid thread, or not responded to every single person who has got back to me. It is rude, just as you say.

I'm not sure I could defend myself, really, and expect that if I am impolite that people lose trust, or no longer engage, just as in real life. Which is what it is all about at the end of the day.

It's a good post, and one I agree with.

Emma
www.theculturevulture.co.uk/blog
www.thearmleytouristboard.com

Hi Charlotte: Excellent, thoughtful article. I...

2010-07-28T10:22:23.160+01:00

Hi Charlotte:

Excellent, thoughtful article.

I'm not surprised that email outstrips social media though it's nice to have some confirmation. If nothing else email is far easier to measure. Recent reports of the death of email marketing are, in my view, premature. Well designed and targeted email campaigns bring in great results - especially as part of a wider social media strategy.

Not always easy for companies to get the 'social' part right and customers don't always want to socialise, even with their favourite brands. It will be a while until companies can touch a significant proportion of their customer base through social channels alone.

Keep having to remind myself - I do this stuff all-day-everyday but that doesn't mean everyone else is too!

Wendy
Bright Digital

@nicolasleroy thanks for the comments. Glad to see...

2010-06-08T15:42:02.925+01:00

@nicolasleroy thanks for the comments. Glad to see other people have got benefits of twitter too. I hear such bad press of 'what's the point' I really wanted to stand back and prove what I've achieved through twitter :-)

@ITstrategyLisa Thanks for the comments. Its grea...

2010-06-08T15:40:46.104+01:00

@ITstrategyLisa Thanks for the comments. Its great to be back in full voice.... it was so difficult to resist the urge to open tweet deck!

Great Blog, Charlotte and much food for thought. ...

2010-06-08T15:37:47.324+01:00

Great Blog, Charlotte and much food for thought. So many business are entering the social media world without really understanding the benefits, and so are not investing correctly.

Well done you for abstaining for so long! (and welcome back!)

Blogging got me several job opportunities, while t...

2010-06-08T11:09:39.514+01:00

Blogging got me several job opportunities, while twittering helps me to connect with other people in the same industry... At the time, I sometimes feel like you : could I disconnect from those tools for a while? Let's see if I will be able to do that in the near future :)

Thanks for the prompt comments and glad to hear yo...

2010-05-20T11:20:44.513+01:00

Thanks for the prompt comments and glad to hear you agree.

Following your hunches rather than actual proven conversations will lead to a poorly planned and inefficient campaign.

Loving the analogy of the sailing boat.....works a treat.

Great post. I couldn't agree more, it's de...

2010-05-20T11:13:24.236+01:00

Great post. I couldn't agree more, it's definitely the boring part of the campaign but the time you put in doing the spadework at the start will save you the time tenfold later down the line.

In my experience you also have to allow plenty of room to tear it all up and start again sometimes. Be prepared to follow the engagement rather than insist on the validity of your hunches/assumptions. I like the analogy of sailing a boat, you can steer it but the wind is essentially your boss.

Social media has levelled the playing field and th...

2010-04-13T21:44:49.477+01:00

Social media has levelled the playing field and this blog really idenifies how SMEs can take part in the game!

Hi - love the idea of this surgery - please keep m...

2010-04-13T21:19:41.589+01:00

Hi - love the idea of this surgery - please keep me posted on future ones - would love to attend

Excellent post, Charlotte - very engaging - I like...

2010-04-13T21:14:01.413+01:00

Excellent post, Charlotte - very engaging - I like the concept of fractured websites too!

Customer reviews is often overlooked in the conver...

2010-04-06T17:54:27.354+01:00

Customer reviews is often overlooked in the conversations about Social Media value to business. Yet it presents much more value for marketers than most of the other channels as it captures Customer Experience rather than anybody's opinion.

It seem that everyone understands now that customers, or potential customers, are getting more active in communicating their experiences and expectations than they use to. The real challenge is not how to find these communications, there are plenty of technology tools are available to do that, but how to extract actionable information out of this swelling ocean of data. Most major products manufacturers have ongoing projects attempting to address this challenge, but very few (mostly in consumer products area) have seen any returns on their investments. Amplified Analytics proposed a methodology to measure Product Reputation by extraction customer sentiments about their experience with a product, and focuses on Consumer Electronics industry. You can find details at http://amplifiedanalytics.com