Twitterers with larger followings may get better Google ranking

Now that Google, Bing and Yahoo have rolled out real-time search and have access to Twitter's tweets (try saying THAT fast five times) there is talk about how those tweets will be ranked. In January, Technology Review published an interesting article, "How Google Ranks Tweets," musing on how Twitter reputation will figure prominently into ranking:

Amit Singhal, a Google Fellow, who led development of real-time search. (Twitterers "follow" the comments of other Twitterers they've selected, and are themselves "followed.")

"You earn reputation, and then you give reputation. If lots of people follow you, and then you follow someone--then even though this [new person] does not have lots of followers," his tweet is deemed valuable because his followers are themselves followed widely, Singhal says. It is "definitely, definitely" more than a popularity contest, he adds.

 Andrew Shotland at Local SEO Guide ran a great blog article March 2nd summarizing the factors that Google, Bing, and Yahoo consider when ranking their real-time search results. Read it here: Real Time Search Ranking Factors #SMX. Search engines have difficulty identifying authoritative people with small follower bases, and thus have trouble identifying reputable tweets. His advice is to get more followers and make sure  there is a lot of interaction between you and your followers. 

What does all this mean for your brand or business? Strategically, having a large number of "authoritative" followers, and interacting with your followers may be able to help your ranking. Of course, having a reputation yourself doesn't hurt, either.

Customer comments: Can you read between the lines?

Can you read between the lines when customers make comments? What your customers DON'T say can be as important as what they do say. Here's a fictional example of comments on a blog post from the Ihearyou Tea Company. Our fictional post was about lemon herbal tea the company also sells.

Comments:
customerone: "This is a great tea- I take 4 bags & make up a pitcher at a time."
customertwo: "I like this lemon flavor, but I really like blending the lemon and blueberry teas together. It's better tasting that way."
These two statements contain a lot of useful information.
What the customer didn't say: Customerone just "told" you they would buy your tea in pitcher-sized bags if it was available. Customertwo just "told" you your blueberry flavor sucks.
What the customer did say: Both customers said your lemon tea was a good tasting product. Customertwo told you that lemon-blueberry might be a viable product.

Picking up on these subtle cues can give you a wealth of free feedback. You just have to look for it.

Social media and fad dieting

There's a lot of hype these days about social media and how it can magically skyrocket your business to the top of the heap. Unfortunately, some of these posts I read sound like the latest diet fad.

Instead of "Lose up to 34 pounds and 7 inches in only 4 weeks by following the (insert favorite diet here) plan!" it's "Gain 1,000 followers on Twitter in 3 months by following our expert tips!"

Why am I drawing this comparison? Because the dirty little secret about social media is this: it's like yo-yo dieting. If you lose weight and then go back to the way you behaved before the diet you'll just gain it back. To be successful losing weight, you have to consistently eat a reasonable amount of food and participate in some form of exercise. It's a similar thing with social media. You have to consistently pay attention to your market and participate in a meaningful manner.  If you don't really give a damn about relationships, if you decide to play the social media game until you get your 1,000 followers and then sit back, thinking you've "made it," you'll fail. Once your followers realize you're not serious about interacting (and they will) you'll lose them. Or worse, your brand will suffer.


Social media is a game changer. Having interaction and meaningful relationships with your customers or clients is here to stay. There is no going back to business as usual (are you listening, Rupert Murdoch? Maybe one of the reasons no one wants to pay for your content is because you don't seem to CARE.)

Genesys, with research firm Greenfield Online and Datamonitor/Ovum analysts, recently released the results of a survey they conducted measuring the costs of poor customer service in the U.S. An estimated $83 billion is lost as a direct result of poor customer service experiences. (For the whole article, read the research brief from the Center for Media Research here.) Among their findings:

"According to numerous industry researchers, more than 90% of all transactions initiated over the Web are abandoned before any transaction is completed."

"More than 83% of consumers said they would find proactive engagement either a "strong benefit" or would "welcome proactive assistance" when they were stuck on the Web or in self-service." 

Engage with your customers. Develop relationships. Find out what they care about, what they want to know. If you sell on the internet, provide a way for customers to easily get help. By being consistent and interacting with your customers, you'll discover what works and what doesn't for your business. Like any relationship, it takes time to grow. Just stick with it.