Google opened up its Social Search feature for all (English speaking) Google account users last week. In a nutshell, the feature let’s you see search results that friends, co-workers and other members of your social networks have posted online about a topic or keyword you were searching for. This should deliver more valuable results, because they come from sources that the user trusts.
You can see how this works in practice here, but as a PR pro I’m more interested in how Google’s Social Search would affect our day-to-day business. The feature will clearly have an effect on the way an organization’s online reputation has to be managed. Since search results play an important part in how customers and prospects find and perceive an organization online, SEO has always played an important part in marketing strategies. When adopted massively, Google Social Search will have a major influence on the way we do SEO and how we manage online reputations.Because Google Social Search focuses on the ‘social circle’ - a set of online friends and contacts -, connections on social media platforms will become even more important than they are now. Content from online contacts will determine if people will be able to find your company when searching on relevant keywords. Next to that, the experiences this social circle has with a product or service will influence greatly how an online friend will perceive your company.
The new Google feature will therefore not only have a great impact on SEO itself, but also on a company’s online reputation. Connections on social media platforms will be even more influential in the information we use to make decisions as whether to book a flight with airline A or B, or to trust our savings with bank C or D. Yet another reason to start listening to what these contacts are saying online and build relationships that help to give them the best online customer experience you can offer.
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