The combination of search and social is one which cannot be ignored and must be embraced by all. Search engines have changed the way they rank your business because of the integration of social media signals when looking at search algorithms.
Around 58% of consumers will go to a search engine to look for something online and 40% of consumers will seek further advice from friends or colleagues on social media. Combined, around 48% of consumers are combining both search engine and social media functionality to seek help for their purchasing decisions. Here are 10 reasons why combining search and social are important for your business.
1. Social Impacts Your Search Ranking
Google, especially have moved into making their search algorithms more social based. These changes make social signals very important when Google determines who sits at the top of search.
2. Social Search is About Relevancy & Authenticity
Connecting with your community on social media is all about offering relevant content that is authentic and helpful to their business. Building trust and a good reputation for your brand is so important so remember that ranking high in search isn’t just about keywords, its about the relevance and authenticity of your site, in general.
3. Social Has Already Integrated Search
You may not know that social has actually already integrated search functionality. Facebook, Twitter and Google+ all have search functionality, along with the second biggest search engine (and also social network) YouTube.
4. Combining Search and Social Delivers Twice the Results
A business that uses a combined search and social approach for their marketing strategy receive twice the results in terms of conversion and revenue per click. If you want more profitable results for your business, you will need to combine the two (as you can see below).
5. More Exposure for Your Brand
The more exposure you can get for your brand, the more likely people are to trust your business and see you as a leader in your industry and to do that, you need to harness the power of search and social.
6. You Can Target Specific Demographics
Social media can help you easily distinguish between certain groups from a particular category or demographic and target them for marketing. Focusing your website based on your target market and what they are looking for online, combined with targeted social media marketing will help you chime in on customers you may not realise were looking for your product.
7. Connects with Mobile Search Users
With so many social media users, actually using networking apps on their mobile give you the chance to connect with these users when combining your social and search marketing approach.
8. Better Overall Promotion of Content
As with most combined marketing tools, you will increase promotion and that’s no different when combining your search and social approach. Content won’t be shared more unless it is high quality and content your target audience wants to actually read.
9. Establishes Your Identity and Ownership
When it comes to ranking in social search, your online identity and ownership is very important. You should strive to have your content verified for authorship. This can be done through Google’s Authorship programme.
10. Combined Social and Search Delivers Great Customer Service
Social media in itself, is a great customer service outlet and your business will thrive if more and more people are sharing positive comments about your business. If 48% of consumers are already using the combination of social and search, you need to be able to deliver first class customer service which will impact how well you rank in search.
If you would like to see the full infographic from Business2Community, click here.
Are you ready to combine search and social?