Google Algorithm
Back in the day, SEO meant knowing your keywords. They are still relevant, but Google changed things up in the past two years.
- Google Hummingbird attempts to search within the context of a phrase and relies less on keywords.
- Google's encrypted search takes away the option of having access to you or your competitor's keywords that aren't in paid advertisements.
Why Social Media? So, what does this have to do with social media? Well, it has opened the doors to keyword research from a whole different angle. It sets the stage to learn about what words your customers associate with your business in real-time.
Keyword Research via Social Platforms
Social media can let find out way more about your audience than other options will.
- See how popular your keyword is
- Who discusses your keyword and how (the context it is used in)
- Find keyword synonyms and related terms
- Learn about your niche trends and its related words usage
Read more on why you should use social media for keyword research here.
Google Hashtag
- When you type in your keyword with the # sign, you will have access to a live feed from Google+, Twitter, and Facebook posts that mention your searched hashtag.
- This is a great way to gain insight for who is talking about what and with what terms.
- Trending hashtags also appear on the sides of both Facebook and Twitter
- This is a great way to see the popularity of each term, but be careful, the trends can end within a day and the issue may be irrelevant
Tools of the Trade
There are a variety of tools to help with keyword research.
- TweetScan and Summize will also show you who is talking about your keyword right now and what they are saying.
- You can use tools like GoFish and FollowerWonk (recently acquired by SEOmoz) to find people who are talking about your topic.
- Facebook Lexicon shows what is discussed throughout Facebook discussion walls.
- Del.icio.us will show your keyword related terms and most popular bookmarks about it.
- Social Mention lets you see what the user wants and searches their content.
- TweetVolume will show you how much your keyword is discussed and also compare its stats to other neighboring terms.
- Topsy lets you specify the time frame, language, and social media source that you want to scrape.
Find more social media tools here.
The new Google search options make it difficult for those that relied completely on keywords, but it also brings a focus to good content and consumer relationships. We can work around the keywords, but in the end it is all about quality work coming up first on the search engine.
For more information on SEO, contact a Blue Archer Professional.