By: Arthur Cooper
Submitted: 2011-01-11 23:30:27 | Word Count: 664
The introduction of Google’s real-time search has opened a whole new set of doors for social media. It brings you the most up to date information on topics you might be searching for.
For example, if you type in “cats” to a Google search, the real time results provide you with up to the second information. At the time the term was searched, a Twitter post linking to an article about how deadly cold weather can be to your pets popped up. It was posted “46 seconds ago.”
[ advertisement ]
Google said, “When they are relevant, we’ll rank these latest results to show the freshest information right on the search results page. Try searching for your favorite TV show, sporting event or the latest development on a recent government bill. Whether it’s an eyewitness tweet, a breaking news story or a fresh blog post, you can find it on Google right after it’s published on the web.”
Google has also integrated the real-time search feature into their Google Alerts. You can be notified when someone Tweets or updates on a certain topic, so that you can again get the most up to date information possible.
You can even view full conversations about a topic. If you go right to Twitter, you have to click through each individual Tweet to follow a conversation, but the new Google feature allows you to get all the information on the topic you want all at once.
Most recently the “top updates” function was added to Google’s real-time feature. It gives you a few of the most interesting real-time updates on the right side of your search index. For example, if you type in “Comcast” to a search, a bunch of Tweets about how terrible Comcast is pop up. But, on the right, you can see relevant news articles about what’s happening with Comcast, which might be more useful information to you.
These features have a big impact on your search index. It’s pushing older information down, and providing users with relevant information as it’s published.
Making it work for you
So, what does this mean for SEO and your SEO strategy? It means your business should be involved with social media. Not only is it another outlet for your brand, but it’s helping companies rank in a Google search index. The more people who retweet your content and the more people who mention your name, the more likely you are to pop up in a real-time search.
While social media may seem useless when it comes to making money for your business, it’s not. It’s not only a way to improve your SEO rankings and saturate the internet with your business’s name, but it’s a way to control your brand name and be aware of what people are saying about you right now.
Google’s real-time feature can help increase your click-through rates and drive even more traffic to your site, if you take advantage of the appropriate social media outlets. It can provide a win-win situation for all parties involved. The consumers get the information they want, businesses get the exposure they want, and Google gets more of the market share by offering a comprehensive feature other search indexes are just beginning to see the importance of.
Author Resource:-
Click here to read the rest of Google Real-Time Search. If you enjoyed this article, you also might like our other stories about SEO 2010.
