Twitter has hit the headlines repeatedly. Getting a unique insight into the lives of celebrities such as Stephen Fry (presently handling a diseased squid apparently) has pushed usage up substantially over the past few months. It still isn’t mainstream though, with two-thirds of the random three people I asked what Twitter is, not actually knowing what it does.
In short it is a micro blogging service; you type and post short messages that can be read by anyone else. The tweets as they are called are less than 140 characters and initially it was about what you are doing (having breakfast, reading the paper, or as P-Diddy recently twittered, having a bubble bath with an Oscar).
So does it have any real SEO value? Headlines in a popular politics website are being twittered and the URL's clicks are being tracked using an URL shortening service cli.gs which allows us to see just how much traffic is coming in - typically only about 30 visits per story. Not much, but not a bad bit of additional free traffic.
I think the real SEO value of Twitter at the moment is actually in research and communication within the community. I listen to SEO experts and those with the greatest influence (as well as Stephen Fry); as new aspects of SEO come to light it generally gets discussed by this community quickly and decisively reviewed. I also stay in touch with thought leaders who talk about technological developments. I express a few thoughts and get interesting opinions back. Generally my Twitters are a little more professional in nature, with the odd personal comment dropped in, but it isn’t like my Facebook status – which is uniquely personal, opinionated and unrelated to my profession.
Some related links -
TwitterStream visualisations - requires Java
http://twitter.com/dergal - my personal tweets
http://twitter.com/stephenfry - more interesting tweets
March 5, 2009
March 2, 2009
Social Media Experts?
Apologies in advance if this sounds like an advert for Razorfish (as my previous employer I have a huge amount of respect for the work they are doing in the field of social media).
Whilst at Razorfish, I did find the world of social media fascinating, but couldn't quite get to grips with how people could ever become social media experts. The field was evolving faster and in directions which were truly unpredictable; the meteoric rise of Facebook (which was in essence a glorified alumni forum which got opened up) and people's desire to blog, tweet and share were truly underestimated.
It was odd to read a post by Shiv Singh in which he says "hiring a social media guru is not always the answer". After listening to him talk before, I would describe him as a true social media guru. However, I completely understand his point. Social media shouldn't be the function of one marketing guy in the corner office, but something taken up by many within an organisation and embraced. However, as one girl recently found out, being too honest could be risky (Girl fired or Facebook comment).
My personal view is that I could never be a "social media expert". As an analytics guy I can listen to the chatter about my (or my clients') brands, and be reactive. As an online marketing guy I could start conversations and "ride the wave", but never really be ahead of it. I can provide insight and assistance as to the who, what and how - but no one today has an accurate crystal ball (but isn't that what makes it fun?).
DirectNews and Adfero have had a lot of traffic both with our own sites and our clients as a result of social media. If an article is well received by Stumble Upon (a social bookmarking sharing site), the traffic generation can be immense. We are constantly experimenting, but one thing we are aware of is that social media communities don't like classic push advertisers screaming "look at me".
Whilst at Razorfish, I did find the world of social media fascinating, but couldn't quite get to grips with how people could ever become social media experts. The field was evolving faster and in directions which were truly unpredictable; the meteoric rise of Facebook (which was in essence a glorified alumni forum which got opened up) and people's desire to blog, tweet and share were truly underestimated.
It was odd to read a post by Shiv Singh in which he says "hiring a social media guru is not always the answer". After listening to him talk before, I would describe him as a true social media guru. However, I completely understand his point. Social media shouldn't be the function of one marketing guy in the corner office, but something taken up by many within an organisation and embraced. However, as one girl recently found out, being too honest could be risky (Girl fired or Facebook comment).
My personal view is that I could never be a "social media expert". As an analytics guy I can listen to the chatter about my (or my clients') brands, and be reactive. As an online marketing guy I could start conversations and "ride the wave", but never really be ahead of it. I can provide insight and assistance as to the who, what and how - but no one today has an accurate crystal ball (but isn't that what makes it fun?).
DirectNews and Adfero have had a lot of traffic both with our own sites and our clients as a result of social media. If an article is well received by Stumble Upon (a social bookmarking sharing site), the traffic generation can be immense. We are constantly experimenting, but one thing we are aware of is that social media communities don't like classic push advertisers screaming "look at me".
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