Tweets will now be shown in Google search results. For years there has been talk of this but now it is actually happening. Say hello to social search results.
If you would like the see the new Twitter results Google me, Lee Giacopazzi or Lucky 6 Marketing.
We believe the following six positive improvements will add a whole new dynamic to Twitter.
Until these developments, what happened on Twitter stayed on Twitter. Yes, it was public but you still had to navigate to the website or to the app on your phone. Now the updates will be published to Google's search results exposing your content to a much larger audience.
Let's say you publish three tweets a day and within each tweet are two keywords. This gives you a total of six keywords a day and about 30 a week. Not only will your business Twitter profile be shown in Google but so will your keywords. So let's say you publish a tweet about #Preston. If a Google user was to search for the keyword "#Preston" your tweet will show up with all the others also featuring that keyword.
If you are sending regular tweets these will show in a timeline tab that will scroll horizontally. With each Tweet comes a time code displaying how long ago the update was published. Obviously, if this shows updates from only a few seconds or minutes ago customers will know you are active and present online. If the feed is old and out of date customers may presume you are busy or closed.
It is a huge advantage for any business to be found easily online. Therefore, when someone searches your business on Google you want your information to appear. This new Twitter result will take up one of the 10 results on the first page. This is a huge advantage. Especially if you can fill the following nine results with your information.
One of the cool features of this "mini timeline" is the embedded photos. They really make the search result stand out from all the others and will be a great asset for grabbing customer attention, the holy grail of SEO.
Finally, this new Twitter/Google update will add personality to your Google listing. No longer is it a list of titles, a summary of content and thumbnail of the photos you use. Now it will be a dynamic stream of updated real-world content. A great asset for giving your business a direct voice to search enquiries.
There are big shifts in the social media arena that have led to this latest development. Twitter shares have fallen to their lowest since the company became public. Twitter has struggled to win new active users and, in a like-for-like comparison of Facebook, fails to generate as much as Facebook does.
Enter Google into the equation. In its weakened state Twitter and Google have begun to work more closely. Earlier this year Google announced it would display tweets in mobile search results but as of last week, they have rolled this out onto desktop.
There is talk in the business and social media sectors of Google possibly buying Twitter in the near future with this close collaboration being a test of the water. Either way, it should be a considerable boost for Twitter by offering published Tweets to a much larger audience.
Are you excited about these developments? Do you think it is a positive change or are you worried about how Twitter may be developing? Your thoughts are most welcome below.