In our blogosphere recap we examine four blog posts from last week that discussed Google+ pages appearing on SERPs, Twitter’s algorithms, Twitter’s redesign, and a survey that says SEO is the number one marketing channel for SMBs. Below are some of the highlights from these articles:
- Google+ accounts are appearing among the top results on Google SERPs for brand searches.
- According to Twitter’s Matt Graves, Twitter’s algorithms are designed to search for the sudden appearance of a topic in large volume.
- Twitter announces a revamp to their services including personal Twitter profile pages, a new timeline that includes rich media and other related information embedded into tweets.
- 32% of SMBs said they would put their entire marketing time and budget towards SEO, when asked.
Google+ Pages Appearing on SERPs: Social Marketers Gain SEO Benefits for Brand Searches
Brafton News | Staff | 12-5-11
Businesses using Google+ Pages may receive an SEO boost from search queries now, as the Google+ accounts are appearing among the top results on Google SERPs for brand searches. Companies that have a Google+ Pages account will see their pages linked just below their website on the Google SERP. In some cases, the accounts seem to be a bit lower on the page, giving marketers prime real estate for brand queries. This adds the benefits of social media marketing with Google+, as the company already allows users to navigate directly to Google+ Pages by inserting the “+” character before a company’s name with a search query.
Key Takeaways:
- In some cases, content businesses have shared on G+ are also directly published on the SERPs.
- Users can add companies to their Circles directly from the SERP as part of the feature.
- By integrating Pages more seamlessly with its search, Google can help drive traffic to its social platform. Moreover, making it as easy as possible for users to access and share content on Google+ will encourage greater use.
How Twitter’s Trending Algorithm Picks Its Topics 
The list of “trending topics” on the right side of Twitter’s home page is a coveted spot because millions of people see it. It often reflects what’s hot in the news, from the death of Steve Jobs to Kim Kardashian’s latest exploits. Sometimes a topic that seems hot, like Occupy Wall Street, doesn’t trend, leading some activists to charge Twitter with censorship. But the complex algorithms that determine trending topics are intended to find what’s trending in the moment, and not what’s been around for a long time.
Key Takeaways:
- According to Twitter’s Matt Graves, Twitter’s algorithms are designed to search for the sudden appearance of a topic in large volume.
- Twitter’s algorithms act a lot like human news editors who are more interested in the latest news than an ongoing story.
- As much as programmers may think their algorithms will deliver objective results, those calculations may be just as biased as a real human being.
Twitter Just Fired A Cannonball At Facebook And Google+
Business Insider | Matt Rosoff | 12-8-11
Twitter is revamping the service with personal Twitter profile pages, a new timeline that includes rich media and other related information embedded into tweets. They have also made it easier to search for information based on @ symbols (usernames) and hash tags. founder Jack Dorsey and CEO Dick Costolo explained that the changes are meant to make Twitter more accessible to everybody.
Twitter’s Redesign Goals:
1. Expose the “universe within every tweet.” Tweets aren’t just 140 characters — there’s also context like retweets and replies, and embedded content like videos, images, and songs. Today, accessing this material still feels like opening a “side drawer,” said Costolo.
2. Make Twitter less obscure to use. Today, the @ and # symbols are too obscure — people don’t know what they mean. This contributes to a lot of people visiting Twitter but not really participating actively. The redesign surfaces these symbols and makes them the gateway to find out more infrmation about people and topics on the surface.
3. Share it with everyone. The world has 7 billion people. Most of those people are “not yet on Twitter,” said Costolo. The redesign will roll out to mobile devices simultaneously, and is streamlined to load up to 500% faster.
Survey Says SEO The Single Most Important Marketing Channel For SMBs
Search Engine Land | Greg Sterling | 12-8-11
A new “merchant confidence survey” asked 2,500 US small businesses, “If you had to put all your marketing time and budget into only one channel, what would it be?” The list of choices included SEO, paid search, mobile, social and traditional media. SEO significantly beat the other options. What’s also interesting is how high “traditional media” ranked. That category would include newspapers, yellow pages, direct mail, traditional radio and so on. Newspapers and direct mail were the top traditional channels being used by this group of survey respondents. Just fewer than 80 percent of respondents were businesses with fewer than four employees. The majority (63 percent) had annual marketing budgets of $2,500 or less.
Key Takeaways:
- 32% of SMBs said they would put their entire marketing time and budget towards SEO.
- Traditional media, including radio, newspapers, direct mail and yellow pages came in second with 19.7%
- 70% of respondents use Facebook as their number one marketing tool
