Social search is a neat thing that happens when search engines display results that show social media profiles and pages on their result pages. Usually you will be delivered personalized results, especially if you are connected to the profile or page through a like, add or follow. When this is the case, some search engines will display the results in a sidebar and explain you are seeing those special results because you have a connection. Other times, the social page or profile is actually ranking for your query. Either instance, you may also see your social results displayed in with regular results without a sidebar.
What is the Social Graph? – Connections, Interests, Likes and Dislikes Among People, Brands and Interests
This is a small part of search, but it shows you an important part of how search engines work. They want to deliver results from a variety of means. Google’s knowledge graph includes many different areas, including the social graph. The social graph mathematically calculates people, interests, brands and connections and identifies likes and dislikes, commonalities and differences between each.
The Social Graph – Part of Google’s Knowledge Graph
Search engines are putting more emphasis on social media than they ever have before. They rely on the public to show them information about who is talking about what, how popular content or a brand is, what kind of influence there is over others and many other factors. This helps them to return more relevant results than ever before. With all of the interest in making things more social – the social graph was born. This idea came from Facebook, and they call it the open graph.
The Open Graph – A Facebook Creation to Deliver Relevant Results to Users
Facebook will collect information from websites that have open graph tags filled out and will associate a user with an action and then an object. This allows Facebook to send their users relevant information and suggestions based on their interests, connections and actions. Facebook is striving to be an authority like Google for delivering people relevant information. In our opinion, they are definitely a contender and have made some incredible strides. There is also a benefit for website owners…
Why OG Meta Tags are Excellent to Use on Your Website – Increase CTRs
The open graph can be seen on many sites across the web. It is indicated by an “og” in source code. This allows you to set a title, description and image for use on social networks like Facebook and Twitter for example. Filling out and optimizing OG meta tags can give you a really good click through rate (CTR).
Optimize Your Website for Social Media / 2.0 Friendly
Social search crosses over into social media in the way that it displays results from social networks and also involves some website setup. Once we create social profiles for our clients, we then link them to their websites, fill out any necessary markup and integrate social media into webpages. This helps to create a 2.0 friendly website. This is done in a number of ways, from icons to fan badges to activity feeds and beyond. When the web is more social, there are more eyeballs – and that is good news for our clients.
Contact Us for More In formation About Social Search – A Part of SEO You’ll Want to Add to Your Inbound Marketing Mix
Social search is a part of SEO that is here to stay, so we need to pay attention to it, optimize for it and connect it with a strong Social Media campaign for the biggest impact. Connecting SEO with Social Media can be tricky and we can help. If you would like more information please contact us by sending us an email, calling us at 604-779-8438 or by chatting with us online. We’re a dedicated inbound marketing team in Vancouver and can’t wait to work with you.
Fun tidbit – Check out Google’s Social Search for social results across the web. Same Google engine you love, more tailored social results.