According to a study recently performed by Nielsen, 18% of searches start in social media sites, blogs, and Wikipedia, as opposed to traditional search engine result pages. This statistic is sure to rise as more and more people crave interaction online and are actively seeking conversations and information that interest them in the social media sphere.
So why is there such a rise in people searching for information on social media sites, as opposed to traditional search engines?
The raw nature of social media sites is to act as a community portal that facilitates real-time conversations. Those who search social media sites are looking to expand their search results into the realm of multimedia and results that influence conversation and do so in an extremely convenient way. They’re looking for videos, photos, instant news, opinions, updates, comments, and a place to share their ideas with others and expand their own thought processes.
How do these changes in search behavior affect your business?
First of all, it shows that your company’s participation on social media is crucial if you want prospects to find you through search.
Although websites are still extremely important in attracting clients and encouraging them to contact you or purchase from you, search is now encompassing much more than traditional business websites. This is why it’s essential for you to understand how to utilize all aspects of search when marketing and promoting your business online.
In addition to acting as a communication vehicle between you and your prospects and peers, your social media profiles also work as a way to display your company’s portfolio and establish your brand in a more interactive and social environment. If you use your website and social media profiles hand in hand, you can broaden the way people find your company and actually increase your chances of being found.
If you want your products / services to gain optimum exposure and create a demand, you must cater to every aspect of search. If your business can easily be found online, you have a much greater chance of selling to prospects than a business that only receives referrals and exposure via word of mouth.
In order to understand human nature and how it ties into communication and the speed of communication, let’s take a little trip back in time.
My goal here is to illustrate the speed, velocity, and power of social media websites and why these communication forms appeal to Internet users as opposed to lengthier forms of communication.
As you can see, human nature has not changed in our desire to increase the speed of communication. Clearly there was—and still is—a demand to simultaneously increase the speed of communication while boosting the amount of people the information reaches.
Today, everyone wants to communicate via the easiest possible form, know what’s going on in the world, and find news about topics that interest them—all in an instant. And social media is making this possible by enabling real-time communication, instant news updates, and fresh conversations.
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