seotworank: SEO lessons: Google drops Twitter

Sunday, August 7, 2011

SEO lessons: Google drops Twitter

Google has let their subscription to the Twitter firehose expire.

That means Twitter's gone from real-time search, for certain. Actually, it appears real-time search is just gone. I don't see 'latest' any more:

I've never been a fan of real-time search: As I said in 2009, a real-time stream of poo is still poo.

The bigger news for the SEO world, of course, is this could mean Twitter will be less of a ranking factor in the future.

If you're a bandwagon-driven internet marketer, and you go diving after the latest gimmick, then you're probably panicking about now. A little voice in your head is shrieking "OH GOD MY TWITTERZ IS GONE NO MORE RANKINGS FOR MEEEEEEE".

That's why you need to change your ways and practice future-proof SEO.

The lesson: Future-proof SEO

I know a lot of folks started spamming Twitter the moment they learned it was a ranking factor. They're the bandwagon SEOs.

Here's how bandwagon SEO works: You hear something's a ranking factor, like links, or Twitter. Then, you spam the crappage out of it, burying Google in an avalanche of worthless links, tweets, etc., and vomiting automated follows and link requests all over the internet. For a while, you see some success, and you get really smug. Those stupid SEO's, you think. They're full of crap.

Then, poof. The ranking factor goes away. That foomp sound? That was the air rushing in to replace the rankings your site used to occupy.

Bandwagon SEO leads to tears. On the other hand, future-proof SEO leads to happiness and that sense of one-ness with the interwebs:

If you built your SEO strategy around Twitter and Facebook as outreach tools, a sound link acquisition strategy and best practices site construction with great content as the centerpiece, then you're fine.

This is the core of future-proof SEO: Do use channels like Twitter and Facebook. Google's move doesn't mean you should stop doing so.

You have to treat these tools as fantastic messaging channels. The link-building and audience-building effects are great, of course. But the real power of Twitter is its ability to put you squarely in front of influencers, media and consumers.

Don't leave Twitter!

Don't stop using Twitter because of Google's move. That would be very foolish. Twitter dwarfs Google+ by comparison. It may still be a ranking factor, too—it'd be easy enough for Google to scrape results for data. Or, they may be planning to integrate Twitter feeds into Google+.

Think strategically: Twitter and Facebook are still your best non-search outreach channels. Don't let them lie.