Social Media Becoming The Next Content Discovery Tool

When it comes to succeeding on the internet, there’s not such thing as the ‘good ol days’. Either you keep up or you’re left behind to straggle for scraps. The latest hot commodity on the internet is social media. There has been a fuss made about how effective social media really is when it comes to business. Especially small businesses. The arguments go back and forth about social media and if it helps closing rates at all.

Nielsen has released a study that puts social media into perspective, and shows at its current state how it’s viewed by the people. The basic results state that while search and portals are still dominating, social media is making it’s way as a defining search method. Here’s a chart showing the percentage of people who use social media for searching the internet:

Again, portals and engines still dominate but a 18% pie isn’t anything to snicker at. Especially considering how new social media is. Knowing the base numbers isn’t enough though. The trick is figuring out how to make social media work for you. And to do that you have to figure out why people ’search’ with social media.

We can look again to the Nielsen study to formulate an answer. A single question was asked in the survey that sheds light on the emergence of social media:

After seeing these numbers, have you stopped to think how flooded we truly are with information. It’s almost too much to handle for some, which is why many turn to social media. When you search for something using an engine you are met with cold and calculating answers. The sites that ranked high for your search might have amazing keywords usage, or have inbound links from sites but does that mean it will be useful to you? Instead, would you trust friends and colleagues you know personally with helping to find relevant information?

So, social media is growing and people are comfortable having it as a search option. What does this mean for your business or site though? Basically, you have to start thinking of how to evolve your site and the experience you want to offer visitors. Developing trust is becoming paramount, and if you don’t believe me then search for social media blunders recently. If you can develop trust and have people rave about your site then you’ve got a healthy base. Which in turn will lead to a better closing rate.

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