In the UK, figures are beginning to indicate that more people log on to check out their social network sites than they do to search for information according to a report released this week by analytics company Experian HItwise.
The report shows that during May 2010 the social networks just barely scrapped ahead of the search engines for the first time in the UK. Search engines accounted for around 11.33% of all traffic, while social networking sites took a very slightly more impressive 11.88%.
Of those numbers, over half of the social networking figure is down to the massive popularity of social networking site Facebook. Video sharing site YouTube came in at around 16% while Twitter came in at a very distant third account for 2% of the traffic. Once popular Facebook rivals MySpace and Bebo took an even lower percentage than that.
Research director of Experian Hitwise explained some of the figures:
Social networks are a key part of the online landscape in the UK, and their popularity continues to grow. Although social networks and search engines perform different functions, they both act as gateways to the wider Internet. This data perfectly illustrates the key role that social media now plays in so much online behaviour.”
Google still remains the most popular site in the UK simply because while there are many social networking options, people only really see Google and Bing as the big search engines, and even Bing has yet to really penetrate the UK.
Of course, while social media might be taking over search engines, the gap is still very small. SEO is still a very important part of an online marketing strategy and shouldn’t be cut back or ignored. However, some companies may find that integrating themselves and taking advantage of social networking sites like Twitter could give them a big advantage.
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Saying that social networks are “more important” than search engines is really comparing apples and oranges. Facebook may receive a larger traffic share than Google and other search engines but that’s because FB is a means of communicating. Search engines are much more utilitarian than social networks and people use them as a tool when seeking information. Different purposes. Research and information has never been as popular as communication, but that doesn’t make it any less important.
Kimberlee Morrison(Quote) (Reply)
Interesting Post!
In the present strategy social media can give a business organization a super-charged version of word-of-mouth advertising. That is not to say that SEO strategies will not be important as well. People are still going to go to Google and search for products and services they want or need. However, there are some distinct advantages that SMO holds over SEO.
Social networking agency(Quote) (Reply)
I agree, here at kingpin-seo, we really do feel that an effective SEO campaign should include social media promotion, at least to some degree.
admin(Quote) (Reply)