On February 23, 2011 Google released the latest change to their ranking algorithm. Google said that this change impacts approximately 12% of its search results in the US. This is a fairly significant change. What’s the objective of this change and if your business benefits from search engine traffic (just about everyone)how should you react.
This appears to be a continuing effort to improve search results by rewarding fresh and meaningful content. If your web site content is shallow and rarely changes, you may want to consider offering more in order to get more. One of the greatest tools for adding meaningful content easily is through social media. This takes some effort, but done properly it can yield great results.
To successfully implement a social media program you need a plan for developing new content. There are many ways in which a company can create good social media content. You have to analyze your business or get a social media consultant to help you think through the possibilities. Some companies business activities lend themselves very well to the problem solving model. If this is your company, documenting the problem and your solution is a great source for social media content. Like anything else in a competitive business environment, you have to be better at using this than your competitor. Don’t give away information from which your competition could benefit. However, make sure that your content includes keyword strings that your prospects may be using when they are trying to solve their problems.
One of our clients is now asking their project managers to send us a quick email after every project with a summary of the problem the client was facing and how they solved it. Someone needs to have enough knowledge of your business and your market to edit this content, post it and find other relevant social media content to engage and connect to your post. This can be handled by a combination of resources at your company and a social media company or in some cases you may find a social media company that also has significant experience in your market that can take the raw input and take it from there.
Social media offers the opportunity for companies to make meaningful and timely content available to the Internet. It’s a media that requires some effort but offers great rewards for those that compete effectively in it.
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