Google Buzz and Social SEO
Rand Fishkin of SEOMOZ posted an interesting video blog about Google Buzz and how Search may be changing. The following are some highlights and commentary based off his talk. In the past search algorithms were highly focused on keywords appearing in Title, Meta tags, and page copy (and still do). Then search engine algorithms factored in external link popularity and specifically keywords associated with those links (and still do). And finally Google has evaluated how fresh pages and links are (and still do). Now as more and more people use the internet for social networking Google is finding ways to factor in social media criteria when determining search rankings.
As Rand Fishkin describes, this represents a potential evolution from the “Link Graph” to the “Social Graph”. He also speaks of how it is debatable if the social graph will become more important than the link graph when determining organic search rankings.
Our expectation is that for most “product” or “service” based web sites on-site keyword focus and link popularity will continue to be the primary ranking influence, with social graph playing a much smaller role. For more social web sites such as “entertainment”, “news”, “blogs” etc. the Social Graph could play a much larger role in determining search rankings.
Where Link Popularity helped determine the best search results based on the entire web community’s preferences, new social algorithms will consider what sites your specific friends prefer. Google has been personalizing search results based on geography, click behavior, search behavior, etc. for years (both when logged into Google and without), you may just not have realized it. Now it may become more obvious as Google factors in your Google Buzz network’s activity.
So what do we need to know about Google Buzz and Social Graph influence on organic rankings and therefore our Search Engine Optimization strategies?
Personalized Results based on Conversation:
Even the Google Caffeine update was rumored to factor in social media ‘conversations’, meaning web sites and topics that were even talked about, regardless of linked to, may get some boost in rankings. Google Buzz takes this one step further. Google can now track, via your Gmail account, what you are talking about and your friends are talking about, and sharing. If everyone in your group is talking about Apolo Ohno’s speed skating event last night, then is it far reached to think that if you searched for “olympics” on Google you may see more results on speed skating than blobsledding? If you are logged in to Google this almost seems a no-brainer. But what if you are not logged in to Google? Let’s say not only your friends, but millions of Gmail users are discussing and sharing stories, pictures, and links of Apolo Ohno, this could still influence the results Google shows you. So how do you use this to your SEO advantage?
Yes you could talk about your web site and maybe your friends will see your site show up more often in the results, but those people probably know about you already. You could also create a huge spam network and spam them with comments and links to your web site. But as always we are always looking out for ethical ways to use new web features for long-term SEO benefit. As with traditional “link bait” you now need to think of “conversation bait”- what can you do to get people talking about your company or web site. And how do you get the conversation started. As with building links you must get your voice out there- utilize as many channels as possible, Facebook, Twitter, Press Release/News, Active Blogging, Promote Events/coupons/specials/new products, Conduct Surveys...etc. Also don’t forget your standard sharing tools like ShareThis, Digg, etc. and the all important ‘email this page to a friend’. It can’t be long before we see a Google Buzz chiclet (does anyone use that term any more?) button. If/when this occurs it will be essential to add this button to all your shareable web pages, especially blog and article pages!
Google Buzz Material Appearing in Google Search Results:
When searching for people or companies by name you will often see Facebook and other profile pages. For timely searches you will also see Twitter results updating in real time right in the organic search results. All the search engines are on a quest to deliver real-time search results. Google Buzz lets you comment on people’s status, emails, photos, and any other information they post. It may not be long before you see your friend’s comments on web sites appear attached to their listing on the search engine result page. This could be very powerful. Say you search for a restaurant on Google and you see not only the restaurant listing but your friend’s comments that the food was excellent, or the opposite.
It would seem the natural progression would be to show Google Buzz comments, and content, only from your network and only when you are logged in. However, in Google Buzz you can make your comments “private” or “public”. If people share or “like” these comments they could begin appearing in the search results. Again, if enough people are commenting then this could influence organic search results for the general public not just those logged in. The same SEO principles apply- find ways to get people talking about your company or web site. Organic Search Reputation Management is going to become even more important if Google Buzz material infiltrates listings for branded searches.
Google Buzz Mobile Implications:
Another feature of Google Buzz is the ability to use this service on your mobile phone. This in itself is not that exciting as you can use almost any web site on your phone at this point. But Google Buzz lets you share where you are with your friends, and any information you want to share as well. Let’s say you are stuck in traffic and post an update to your Buzz account, and hundreds of other people post similar comments, those comments could be valuable news for anyone conducting local search queries or using Google Maps.
If your site isn’t mobile friendly already then you are missing out on a larger trend than this discussion. But also make sure to cover all the Local SEO bases- make sure your company is listed in Google Maps. Comments already appear for business listings in Local Search results, Google Buzz will only increase this feature. Take advantage of building out your Local Business Profile with as much info as possible, including adding Google coupons if appropriate.
Conclusion:
Developments like this are what make SEO interesting and different for every company. As mentioned before Google Buzz may have minimal influence for some company’s SEO strategies. For others it may represent a huge opportunity. However the SEO Process in theory does not change. The first priorities in SEO are to optimize what you can control- tags, page copy, building out web assets, freshness, etc. This will never change. The next logical effort is to promote your site for link popularity...Google Buzz just is an extension of that effort. So not only are you now promoting your site for links you are promoting it for conversation. As far as how Google displays personalized results for each person, don’t lose your mind worrying about what you can’t control. With that said it will be important to monitor if/when Google Buzz material shows up in the general search results for those users not logged in to a Gmail account.
