The Key to Online Success in 2010 – Social Media

If the 1990s was the decade of Microsoft, then the last decade belonged well and truly to Google. As search became the prime source of online traffic and income, Google.com became the internet’s most visited page, and Google became one of the world’s most consistently profitable businesses.

 But is the decade of search coming to an end? If it is, what will replace it? And how will businesses need to adapt?

 Is Search Over?

In a word, no. Search makes information instantly accessible – it may adapt and advance, but it’s very unlikely that it will become obsolete. However, it’s almost certain that the days of search as the be all and end all of online interactions will come to an end.

Search and SEO will still be immensely important to success online, but they’ll need to share centre stage with a young pretender to the throne. Social Media.

How is Social Media Becoming More Important?

2009 saw the rise of Real Time Search. Bing was the first search engine to incorporate Twitter updates into their results pages, with Google following suit in December. As 2010 dawns, Google’s results now include Tweets, Yahoo Answers and news articles – as they are posted.

As real time search becomes more prevalent, companies will need to embrace it. And the easiest way to do that is through Twitter.

Interacting in Real Time – The Rise of Twitter

In 2006, a micro-blogging website crept onto the Internet and allowed users to share 140 character messages. Nobody paid much attention. Then, as the decade drew to a close, millions of people stood up and took notice. By March 2009, Twitter was the fastest growing website on the internet and businesses were signing up in their thousands.

Why? Because it let them interact with customers. From sales to customer services, the ability to see exactly what a target audience was talking about was too attractive an opportunity to pass up. But no man is an island, and no social networking tool stands alone either. If you’re going to use Twitter for your business, you’ll need linkable content.

Taking Content Off Your Website – The Rise of Blogging

At the start of the 2000s, all the content a company needed could be found on its website. As we move into the next decade, more and more content will be found on external blogs. Search engines love blogs, social networks love blogs, and users love blogs. Why?

Because they’re accessible. Where a company website is their corporate face, a blog is an altogether more personal experience. Tongues are looser (and sharper), information is more freely given and conversation flows in the comments sections. What’s more, you’re not just relying on the search engines to get your blogs found. Social networks seem tailor made to promote your blogs.

Social Networking or Corporate Opportunity?

Digg, StumbleUpon, Sphinn. These sites exist for one reason – to drive traffic towards interesting and informative pages. A stuffy corporate website won’t make waves in the social bookmarking community, but an open and entertaining blog will. And then there’s the daddy of social networking sites.

Facebook. If you’ve not heard of Facebook, congratulations on finding this blog from your cave. The chances are that you’re one of over 350 million users, so you’ll know how easy it is to communicate. And if you’ve joined the fan page of a cartoon Meerkat selling car insurance, you’ll know there’s money to be made using it.

In fact, there’s money to be made through Twitter, and through Blogging, and through Digg and YouTube and pretty much any social networking site. And from 2010 onwards, if you want to be making money online, you’ll need to embrace social media marketing.

This week, we’ll show you how.

 Where Next?

 Over the next week or so, we’ll be looking at social media in depth. Don’t forget to check back soon for the rest of the series.

Social Success in 2010 Part One – Twitter

Social Success in 2010 Part Two – Blogging

Social Success in 2010 Part Three – Taking Your Business to the Masses

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• Social Success in 2010 Part One – Twitter (1)
• Social Media SEO, is Your Business Web 2.0 Compatible? (4)
• Social Success in 2010 Part Three – Taking Your Business to the Masses (1)
• North Korea Hits the Social Media Trail (0)
• Social Success in 2010 Part Two – Blogging (3)