January 17, 2008
Social Network Internet Marketing – Content is no longer King!
Social Network Internet Marketing can skyrocket your Search Rankings. In the 1990’s, getting a site ranked so customers found you with ‘meta-tag style keywords was an cinch. Recently, blogging and article directories have been the key to ranking well in Search Engines, particularly with Google who coined the phrase “Content is King”. Now Social Network Internet Marketing has changed all that. What this means is that you need to be in a group and making ‘Friends”, as Content is no longer King – Friends Are!
Why… Where’s the Proof?
Google a phrase. It can be any phrase. It’s guaranteed a social network site will be in the first 10 spots. This is why, Social Network Internet Marketing can help you get at least one (in some cases up to 
spots on the first page of search engine results for many of your keywords.
This is the main reason existing Internet marketers should be looking at Social Network Internet Marketing – to rank in search engines and pull in traffic from them. If you are not – then your competitors will be.
This is particularly true for highly competitive keywords. Stompernet.net recently tested the term “Beautiful Girls”, which Wordtracker reports gets 366,000 searches per month. Eight out of the top ten results on Google and Seven of the top ten in Yahoo are for Social Media Sites.
The bottom line is that there's no faster way to the top of the search engines than through Social Network Internet Marketing.
Sticking to the old way of just blogging and article directories may even damage your existing business.
Example
Look at Flickr.com. Expertly marketed, Flickr is the largest photo sharing site… or should I say WAS. Flickr gains just 2.4% of its traffic from social media sites. Photobucket, on the other hand, generates 55% of their traffic from widgets and application on MySpace and Bebo. Which is exactly how it bumped Flickr OFF the number one spot and became the largest photo sharing site in the UK.
Perhaps the most exciting thing about traffic / SEO strategies built around Social Network Internet Marketing is how quickly things start to happen. A Myspace campaign can see your ranking boosted to page one positions in just 24 hours.
If you have been working your butt off trying to keep rank – or have been subject to a Google Slap last year, then Social Network Internet Marketing is the fastest way back to the top available on the Internet. Full Stop!
Filed under Web 2.0 Techniques by Ryan Shamus
Comments on Social Network Internet Marketing – Content is no longer King! »
Wow, and I thought that content was still king. I guess I may want to read this article 2 - 3 or more times before I get it into my brain.
I am also surprised that flickr only gets 2.4% of its traffic from social media sites. I wouldn't have thought that a Myspace campaign could see my ranking boosted to page one position in such a short time. What can I say.
Ted Grischuna is a freelance writer and journalist. My blog address is: http://onlinemarketinggame.blogspot.com
Tapping into online social networks really is the next logical step for those involved in network marketing since both involves reaching out to more and more people to build a network. So I really wouldn't be surprised if network marketers go from just blogging to joining sites like Facebook and MySpace to build their network.
You did not convince me. Because how you get your site listed in social networks - to be sphinn-ed, digg-ed…. so on? Only if you have great content. Otherwise, your site is forgotten somewhere at the back. You need to have something to say to people to be part of a social network. So, for me, content is still King, because he can get you there.
I agree the search engines like the social networking sites. Having pages on the sites can get you a link to another site you own, plus traffic from the social network site and traffic from the search engine ranked pages.
I really, really, really appreciate your sharing your insight into these things ryan. I run a free community (ordinary website/forum/some unique software tools I code) for my niche interest, which has very fierce commercial and 'control' competition from many sources with tons of money and media. We only have our volunteer staff (who being working adults have limited time) and my rather pitiful single mom left over income. We're the 'free welcome to all science-sanity-based' option in a field that's mostly cult and money. So we're trying to work out how we can best leverage what the internet offers for 'grassroots' stuff to stand a chance of ever getting seen in a search engine (we're like off the map despite being the biggest free community in our field, sigh). With limited time and limited budget. I'm going to work on implementing your ideas right away. Thanks so much for taking the time to post them!! I've added your blog to my reader.
Best,
PJ