Social media is proving to be an incredibly powerful, tool with staying power in online marketing strategy.

According to new research, Facebook Shares and Likes and quality backlinks are the solid foundations of successful search engine results pages. Twitter lags behind only slightly but is way ahead of other traditional serp ranking strategies like url keywords and optimised metatag text.

International search analytics company Searchmetrics identified that the driving force behind the social media effect was engagement of potential customers.

Facebook’s role in elevating serp results surrounds the dissemination of information between its users, who can Like, Share and comment upon links.

Social media: isn’t it for LOLcats and celebrities?

What are the links they are promoting? Informative news stories, viral YouTube videos, funny pictures and photos; also, sales promotions, good deals online, entertaining blog posts – crucially, whatever they find interesting, amusing or likeable.

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Virtual fur flew on Business Insider this week over an article that drew attention to new research comparing Google and Facebook ad performance.

Jim Edwards’ article DATA: Google Totally Blows Away Facebook On Ad Performance reported how WordStream, a company which is “rather more dependent on Google than Facebook as a medium”, claims that Facebook PPC is less effective than Google.

PPC experts waded into the fray and hotly debated the subject, some supporting Facebook and others agreeing with WordStream’s assessment.

While Facebook targets audiences with ads using education, workplace, likes, location and demographic as its criteria, Google applies interest, keywords, remarketing, location and demographic, Edwards noted.

Larry Kim, WordStream’s founder and chief technical officer, said: “So far, Facebook’s advertising platform hasn’t kept pace with the explosive growth of its social network, and it remains to be seen if CEO Mark Zuckerberg even wants to focus on advertising as a source of revenue.”

Adrac’s commercial director Will Montague suggests that such a narrow view of Facebook’s ad programme is unhelpful.

“The point of marketing on Facebook is its viral and brand awareness potential. Facebook’s PPC is part of a wider marketing mix, one tool in an entire toolbox if you like, and has its place.

“Facebook is not a search engine, so the purpose of being there is quite different from being interactive with Google and Bing, but can be just as important as part of a marketing mix designed to foster a good return on investment.”

You can see the article and the ensuing debate, along with Will’s comment, here.

By Jackie Yeadon
 
Paid search advertising managers will be taking note: the silver pound is strong; meaning businesses who want to expose their products to older generations should be looking to use channels currently considered to be solely for the younger generations.

According to figures published by MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, around a fifth of grandparents over 60 have an active social networking account.
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By Jackie Yeadon

Twitter launched its own Follow button this week, which it claims will make it easier for people to, well, follow more people they like.

These little coding gadgets that are stacking up, colourful and eye-catching, across websites everywhere, are about enhancing the user experience.
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By Jackie Yeadon

Around a quarter of British and US consumers have revealed that they consider social networking sites to be all about fun.

The 2011 Edelman Value, Engagement and Trust in the Era of Social Entertainment Survey said 31% of respondents in the UK thought social sites – such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and YouTube – provided “very good” or “excellent” value. This number rose slightly in the US to 37%.

These figures provide insight into the uses of social networking sites: for a business viewing these figures, obviously it’s pertinent to point out that the survey seemed to be angled very much towards an entertainment focus rather than a purely commercial one: but don’t abandon your business tweeting just yet!
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