Twitter + Google+ = Awesome?

bird-houseBack in the late 2000s, I had a coworker tell me that Twitter was basically a “time suck”. The thought back then was that the SEO activity from Google most websites enjoyed was here to stay and that was good enough. There really wasn’t a need to place budget or time into Twitter as a marketing activity. Looking back, I can see why so many companies (and even marketers) failed to invest time and money in Twitter. There wasn’t a big return on the time spent vs. the exposure. The exposure was still pretty small in those early days. Fast forward to 2015, and Twitter has become a very important marketing tool to reach your audience.

Google… U Better Recognize

Google has no choice but to recognize the power of Twitter (and Twitter’s audience) in the news space. When people want breaking news, they typically check Twitter first, then go a Google search or go to a few other news websites like CNN or Huffington Post.

Twitter & Google+. SEO Super Chargers?

Dustin Stout of Dustn.tv created this nice info graphic that does a good job of explaining what generally gets indexed in Google. The question I have is how much of this is going to truly impact SEO results?

3 Tips to Get Your Tweets Indexed by Google

Image courtesy of dustn.tv

What About the Rest of Us?

What are you thoughts? How much impact will tweets appearing in Google really have on your SEO and social media efforts. It’s clear that tweets from more influential Twitter accounts of greater than 1 million followers are the ones getting indexed. What does this mean for “the rest of us”?

3 Steps to Get Your Tweets Indexed

Some of the same tactics in the past used to gain links can be applied to gaining social shares. Let’s face it, it’s not like you’re going to go from 800 followers today to 1 million plus in the near future. Your best chance to get your tweets indexed is to get noticed by much bigger Twitter accounts than your own. Below are a few tips that may help.

1. Be Original

Its easy to say, but try to come up with unique and original content. Its your best chance and path to shares. I know this is a bad example since I used the infographic above from another website, but this is still the case.

2. Be Controversial?

Proceed with Caution: I tend to lean on the more conservative side of content, as do my clients. From the activity I’ve seen from other very successful articles, the key is to take a popular (but not spoken) or very unpopular stance on a given subject. Either way, you’re going to ruffle some feathers. When the dust settles, you may have several thousand shares and links. One thing you want to avoid is not to do too much damage to your brand and current customers for the sake of social media shares. Balance your social media goals with the overall brand strategy and image of your company. You don’t want your boss to come storming into your office with a nasty email from one of your top clients.

3. Be Aggressive

I’m not one for those annoying car TV ads you see over and over again (and over again). Advertisers trying to pump their message through to enough people with the hopes of gaining more sales. The truth is, it does work (if you have enough budget). If you hear a message enough times and see someone’s face enough times, you start to believe.

The same can be said for social media. If you get your message out to enough people, enough times, you will start to see your shares and followers increase. There is definitely a fine line between annoying and aggressive. It’s up to you and your audience to determine where that line is drawn.

I hope these tips help. Please comment on this post, reach out to me sean [at] interactivecleveland [dot] com, or follow me on Twitter or Google+.