• by Marshall Clark , July 17, 2009

In the early days of the Web, search was a popularity contest. Links were the original social annotation: people linked to a URL and search rankings rose. Google built a $100B business off of this simple concept of a link as a 'vote.'

Fast forward to 2009 and social annotation is taking on new significance and new meaning. With many people living on Twitter and Facebook, people's 'votes' are increasingly being recorded as tweets, re-tweets, status updates, and wall posts. With so much social annotation taking place within the walled gardens of Social Media; Google, Yahoo, and MSN are missing out on massive amounts of voting data. For example, if I'm sharing a favorite viral video with friends through Twitter (using TinyURL) or through Facebook, Google is missing out entirely on that exchange, and their ability to rank that video is seriously compromised.

What's a smart marketer to do? How do we make sure our brands are positioned in a way that is highly visible both in social media and in the social enhanced search
technologies lurking around the corner?

First, marketers must accept that social references (tweets, posts, comments) will be the 'votes' for a new generation of search ranking algorithms. Consequently, Social Media will become de rigueur for web visibility, influencing not just branding, and engagement, but also secondary visibility via Search results.

Since media mentions in social media will likely influence Search rankings for brand sites, marketers will want to develop social media/PR strategies to insure their brands are always part of the conversation. As search moves towards real-time, smart marketers will work to secure their place in the zeitgeist.

Another likely factor will be reputation-based weighting. Mentions from prominent bloggers & other popular Social Media Personalities (SMPs) will more heavily influence search results. Keeping this in mind, marketers should target high-profile SMPs. However, targeting all influencers is not a smart strategy. Be focused in your efforts. Social ranking algorithms are likely to focus on reputation within specific topics or online communities, so choose personalities that closely align with your target Search market. Want to get your site ranked for the term "fuel efficient cars"? Work to get your Brand mentioned by SMPs that focus on Green or Automotive topics.