A large part of any good SEO’s work is keeping up with the latest developments at Google and watching where they are going in the future. All forward thinking SEOs are also working more and more with social media optimisation, as it is becoming known.

In the last couple of weeks, you may have become acquainted with iGoogle, which is the new default start page for your Google browsing experience. The service itself is nothing new, with its (less catchily named) predecessor Google Personalized Homepage having been available since 2005, but the search giant is now really pushing this idea.

Suggested content for your iGoogle is selected according to your browsing habits. This can be hit and miss; for example, if you say that you are interested in sports, Google assumes that this means basketball, baseball and the NFL.

One thing that people of a nerdier disposition (like us) have always enjoyed about iGoogle is that it encourages developers to create applications, rather like Facebook. Very recently, Google has modified the interface to include an “update” sidebar that shows users what their friends are up to. Rather like Facebook.

This second point is important - alongside traditional search, Google is looking more and more at the social aspect of the internet. The marketing implications of this are pretty big. Social newsfeeds like that in Facebook are a fantastic form of viral marketing - seeing that a friend has done something encourages other people to have a go too. This mainly benefits sites that make an effort to include good content that actually adds something to the internet.

Google is stepping into the world of Social Networking again. After the mixed reception to Orkut (which is, oddly, the most popular Social Networking site in Brazil and India), this time they want to do it right… basically, by mixing whats good about Google and Facebook. This is one to watch.

PS. While searching for images to accompany this post, I came across this. Oh dear.

Check out Kinsey’s Myspace:

http://www.myspace.com/kinseysprompage

Thousands of people have been keeping up with young Kinsey over the last couple of weeks through her video blog posts. She’s excited about her prom and blah, blah, blah, but she’s a little concerned about the behaviour of her brother Hank.

What is Hank up to?

Could it be a secret invasion?

Great work by Marvel (or their agency).

Techcrunch thinks so:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/07/google-microsoft-bidding-for-digg/

This is hardly surprising. Google likes to let companies develop a strong infrastructure before swallowing them up. Also, what with search and social media sites becoming increasingly intertwined concepts, it is little wonder that Google would make every effort to tie in with the largest social media site.

Microsoft are also said to be interested, although Google appear early favourites to seal the deal.

Following on nicely from Dave’s post on Digg, the Guardian Unlimited site today offers a great example of the power of Digg to drive traffic.

Here are yesterday’s most read stories:

Nothing fascinating here, you may think.

What is interesting is that the top story “Mysteries of Computer from 65BC are Solved” was posted on the site in November 2006. Why would such an old story suddenly become the most popular story on the UK’s most popular newspaper site?

That’s the power of Digg!

I’ve been commissioned (or, to put it another way, asked repeatedly) by Alex to write a few posts now and again on the social media and bookmarking side of things; the part of our SEO work over which I currently preside. Lately we’ve been working regularly with several social bookmarking sites, most notably Digg and StumbleUpon, but there are so many out there that it’s probably easier to start with these two. Alex has rather genially already mentioned Digg in a previous post, but I thought it might be nice to go into a wee bit more detail.

If you’re involved or interested in online marketing and have not yet heard of the social bookmarking phenomenon known as Digg, it’s probably about time to poke your head out from behind that rock and embrace one of the big boys currently in the Social Media world.

Digg runs off an entirely social platform, relying solely on its users for its constant injection of fresh, peer-reviewed content. People submit an URL, wedge it into one of Digg’s many categories, stick a title and quick description on it, and then unleash it upon the masses. If someone likes it, they can ‘digg’ it, which basically amounts to giving the submission a single vote. If, for any reason, a user does not deem the content worthy of Digg, they can ‘bury’ it. The more positive votes, the more visibility the content gains, and the more traffic is whisked off to the URL in question.

Digg is not the first site ever to have come up with this idea. Slashdot has been operating a peer-review system for its comments for years now - it seems to be a particularly effective measure against trolls and fanboys filling comments threads with rubbish. Digg, however, have taken this system and put it into action on a grand scale, and in the process have spawned several sites who share content in a very similar way, such as Reddit and Mixx. The algorithm grants the users who have a history of submitting popular content more power than the average Joe, giving their submissions greater visibility. Categories can be masked so each user gets only the content that is most relevant and interesting to them. Almost anything can be submitted to Digg: articles, images, videos, Flash games, podcasts, directories - even updates to Digg’s site and inner workings are announced by submitting a link from the Digg blog.

But what can Digg bring to your site? Well, a hell of a lot of short-term traffic. The vast majority of stories on Digg have a short life-span, but during that time you can enjoy a sharp surge in visits. Here’s an example for you - one of our more successful viral posts was submitted to Digg and gained around 1,750 diggs in its first 24 hours on the site. While this may not seem a particularly large amount, let’s see how that converts into traffic…

As you can see, the daily visit count has gone from pretty much zero to a whopping 60k visits. In one day.

Naturally you’ll want your site to be full of good content in order to keep that bounce rate low, gain return visitors, and translate the traffic into sales; but the window of opportunity is slim due to the short lifespan of most content submitted to Digg.

Digg’s influence does not end here. Online activists Anonymous have been utilising Digg’s power in recent weeks to spread word of their war against Scientology, using the site to popularise anti-cultist sentiments, releasing secret Scientology documents and even arranging a variety of ‘raids’ - non violent protests outside major Scientology centres around the world. This further emphasises the idea (and real-life power) of online socialism - using YouTube to release their video press releases, utilising social media sites to spread the word; and most importantly, galvanising people to feel compelled to do something about L. Ron Hubbard’s legacy. Tom Cruise be damned.

More on Digg next time - and perhaps a short foray into the world of StumbleUpon - same species, different animal.

Being a sales and marketing bod often involves going to a lot of trade shows. This week’s was the TFM&A (Technology For Marketing and Advertising) at Earls Court 2.

A very interesting day it was too. I was particularly impressed with Danny Meadows-Klue, from Digital Strategy Consulting and his talk on “Marketing to the Facebook Generation”. While there was an element of preaching to the converted about his talk, he raised a number of interesting points about the flow of traditional marketing spend to the internet and how best to manage this change.

One point that he made which really resonated was the current underuse of online channels by many companies of all sizes. It was only a small part of the talk, but was particularly interesting to someone who devotes a lot of time and energy trying to convince companies to devote a larger chunk of their marketing spend to the web.

His point was that, for most companies that now advertise online, this media channel would be the least likely to suffer cutbacks in the coming squeeze. The strange thing is that many companies are yet to even dip their toes in online marketing!

(This seems like a convenient point at which to crowbar in the fact that we are now getting some coverage in the print media - check out my internet marketing column in next Tuesday’s Brighton & Hove Argus - it’ll be in the Business Section and called “The Bottom Line”)

Danny gave some examples of great online marketing campaigns - the two which come to mind are Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty and STA’s great travel blogs, which are offered to anyone who purchases a ticket from the company. These campaigns show how a little thought goes a long way with online marketing. The Dove campaign shot from inbox to inbox around the world in record time. STA, on the other hand, is a grower. Both are examples of fantastic social media (or web 2.0) marketing.

Having worked online for a couple of years now, it is amazing to see how seriously people are now taking our field. Even four years ago, internet marketers were viewed strangely by the traditional marketing world, kind of like a geeky subculture. Now, everyone is scrambling to get onboard. Early adopters have seen fantastic returns in both brand perception (one of the cornerstones of Danny’s talk) and - this is particularly true of SEO users - sales.

Next stop SES on the 22nd!

Our work in the sphere of Social Media Optimisation is growing by the day. This is due, in no small part, to the fact that the sphere of social media is growing by the day!

As discussed elsewhere on this blog, the article submission sites like Digg and Stumbleupon are great for generating site visits and links. We
A few of the more established sites built up without the hoohah that now seems to be associated with anything driven by user content. Way before Youtube, for example, there was Flickr.

Flickr was, and remains, the daddy of photo sharing websites. Even before it was purchased by Yahoo!, it was the definitive place to post your pics online, for all the world (or just friends and family) to see. It is testament to the quality of the original idea that Yahoo has now removed their own photosharing site to focus energies entirely on Flickr.

I have been using Flickr for a couple of years now. If you are interested you can check out my photos here.

What is impressive about Flickr is that, unlike many of the new social media sites, they have a great way of making money: they allow you to post 200 photos for free, after which you must upgrade to a paid-for, “pro” account. Becuase Flickr is the definitive photo sharing site, nobody begrudges them the $25 per year for a pro account.

They also offer prints, which are delivered to your door.

Another nice thing about Flickr is that users seem to avoid the “idiot comment syndrome” that affects a large number of sites driven by user content. Most comments that people make are either praise or constructive criticism. If you don’t believe this, check for yourself!

Many people who used to post pictures on Flickr migrated to facebook, wooed by the option of tagging other users. Unsurprisingly, this hasn’t diluted the quality of images on Flickr at all. And how much money does Facebook actually make?

From an SMO (social media optimisation) point of view, Flickr is a great way of adding depth and personality to your site. Do not underestimate the power of an “About Us” section on a website… with so much business done through email and phonecalls now, business is becoming increasingly impersonal. How often do we actually meet with our clients?

One way of adding some personality to a site is to give access to your social media pages. My Flickr photos are there to be seen. Hopefully they give a little insight into who I am (or at least where I drink in Brighton!).

Flickr is one of the great sites on the net. It gives (over 2 billion images are currently hosted there), asks no more than you are willing to give and offers a strong community of like minded snappers around the world. If you haven’t already, you should check it out.

Apologies to Zoolander’s Jacobim Mugatu, but social media is so hot right now!

It is also a concept that is becoming increasingly important in the world of SEO. It even has its own name: SMO - Social Media Optimisation.

Social media encompass sites like Digg, Stumbleupon and, for the SEO-minded out there, Sphinn - they are kind of “highlight packages” of what’s hot on the internet, as selected by users. As a user, you can build up a strong reputation by posting interesting nuggets or being the first to draw attention to something that has recently been deemed newsworthy in cyberspace.

This is relevant to SEO for a couple of reasons. Firstly, from an old school SEO point of view (SEOPOV?), articles that are flagged up and popular on Digg attract links. These links will usually be from blogs related to the theme, but can come from anywhere on the web. Ergo if you post a popular article on your own site you can expect a free link bonanza of sorts.

Sadly, you have no say over exactly what these links say, and they are therefore of limited use when you are pushing to get highly competitive keywords up at the top of natural search. Of course, all reputable links are good links, especially if they bring targetted traffic.

More interestingly, sites like Digg mark a shift away from current search algorithms. At present, the major search engines are focused on who is linking to what and from where. Social media sites are all about what people are actually looking at and enjoying. By “Digging” something as a registered user, you give that particular article a little shove up the Digg listings. The better your profile, the more weight given to your opinions. Yahoo are already experimenting with the integration of natural search and social media, although this is in the early stages.

The idea of “Digging” is closely related to the original concept that Google had, where a link was rather like a Digg… you showed your appreciation of a site by linking to it. The difference is that these social media sites are happening in real time, while natural search results can be slow to update. This leads to the possibility that search will move towards specialist search engines, where user input and usage is given much heavier weighting than at present.

An interesting thought, no?