The Big Wave Blog

Social Media and Search
December 4, 2007

 This session would have been a lot snoozier if not for some excellent insights from Chris Winfield. He was definitely the “live” presenter of the group and brought up some very good points on how to balance Google and his favorite social media website, Digg.

He has a slide with Google + Digg = ♥
Awww!

Here are the top points:

• How the two media give rankings:

  Google: Keyword research + Optimization + Links = ranking
  Digg: Create viral content+ submit to Digg = ranking

• Factors that determine your rankings:

  Google Algorithm: Meta + Title + Domain + Links
  Digg: Type of user voting (power vs. user), Type of vote (friend or fake)

Overall, the advantages of using social media in conjunction with search engines are clear. It gets complicated when people start to misuse the medium and spam it with irrelevant votes.

I feel you cannot just join a medium for the sole purpose of voting and promoting your clients. Understanding the medium is essential, and knowing what other members of the medium like/dislike is crucial.

Most of these initiatives should come from within the organizations. A search agency can show you the way, but ultimately the right way to promote any business on a social platform is to keep it real. Fake posts and bogus voting might work in the short term, but it will only harm your messaging in the long run.