Earlier this year the report regarding UK online traffic by Hitwise highlighted that social networking sites, in particular Facebook, received a significantly higher amount of visitors and traffic than search engines did. Whilst this may not seem like too much of a concern giving that the two websites in question offer completely different services, when you delve a little deeper there are elements of Facebook which could lead to people using it as a primary source of information.
The initial thoughts behind Facebook user trends are that the main reasons people use it are for catching up with friends and posting photos and videos, meaning that it is in no way a direct competitor of Google. People visit Google to specifically find out information on specific topics and they do not use Google for social networking purposes. Whilst this may be true, there are a few elements to Facebook which could be deemed as challenging from a search engines point of view, and depending on the way the social networking world develops, there is a hint that Google should watch out.
One of the most prominent factors is that Facebook is very often the first website a user goes to when they go log onto their computers or access the internet via their mobile phones. This means that the social networking site is at the forefront of users minds. If it was possible to search for other information within Facebook, then users who are already on the site are more likely to stay there.
Facebook is a great place for word of mouth. Within any web or search engine optimisation marketing strategy we know the importance of word of mouth. People trust other people and on social networking sites these are no ordinary people, they are your friends. A simple comment such as stating where somebody ate last night is an instant recommendation. What we also see is people asking their network of friends if they can recommend something specific, does anybody know a trusted electrician or anybody know where they can find cheap leather shoes? If your friends can answer these questions successfully, which they usually can, then the need for a search engine is eliminated. At SearchEngineOptimisation.co.uk, we are experts at social media optimization and can help you take advantage of networking sites such as Facebook.
Whether or not Facebook will go down this route remains to be seen. They already include recommendation tags in the form of the ‘like’ button. This enables Facebook users to recommend other areas of the web, which is a great tactic for increasing their web presence. Whilst there are no reports that Facebook will go down this route, it could be a serious consideration for them. Microsoft has backed Facebook in the past so there is speculation this creates an obvious entry for Bing to appear within Facebook.
Google probably should not worry too much just yet. Facebook is successful and its moderators are good at what they do. There is not really a great need to branch out into other areas just yet, however where the world of social networking will take us and what it means for SEO, nobody knows.
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Posted by Steve.
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