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Update: Now the game is really on with Google rolling out real-time search results into regular search results pages.
Original Article: Real-time search is still an emerging concept. At this point, using a real-time search engine will bring you results by time/date. This doesn’t always cater to relevancy, which is why there is still a lot of work to be done in this field.
Do you see traffic coming from real-time searches? Comment here.
So, if real-time results are based upon time/date, and the user’s query, it stands to reason that time and those queries are the most important components in getting your content found in these types of searches.
1. Use Keywords
This seems obvious, but use keywords in not only your content, but in your titles, and your updates. If you’re writing an article, you have to consider what people are going to include in their updates if they share it on a social network, whether this be Facebook, Twitter, or anything else.
More often than not, they are going to include the title. If the right keywords are in the title, then those keywords are also more likely to appear in any ensuing tweets, Facebook updates, etc. If someone searches for those keywords, they will be more likely to find your content in a real-time search.
The same goes for your own Tweets/status updates. Even if you are not sharing an article, if you want your update to be found, use relevant keywords. Again, obvious, but true.
2. Talk About Timely Events
Simply mentioning events that are current will put you directly into the results for any searches having to do with that topic, provided the right keywords are in play. This is a method that could and (surely is) being exploited by spammers, but that doesn’t mean you can’t provide legitimate conversation and simply put yourself on more people’s radars, without throwing links at them every time.
3. Have a Lot of Followers
If you have a lot of followers or friends on social networks, or even just readers of your blog, you are going to get more people sharing your content. The more people sharing your content, the more impressions of your content will be making their way into real time searches.
There is no easy way to instantly get a bunch of legitimate readers/followers. It will take some promotion. Provide useful content that people will link to and it will spread virally. Provide clear ways for them to follow you (like links to Facebook pages and Twitter accounts on your blog).
4. Promote Conversation
Whether on your blog or on a social network, spark conversations. Talk about topics that people are interested in. This is tied to number 2. The more conversations you are involved with, the more retweets (and equivalents on other networks) you are likely to get. And again, this means more impressions in real times searches.
5. Include Calls to Engagement
I recently talked about why there is more to retweeting than meets the eye for businesses. I mentioned the use of buttons like Tweetmeme’s and Digg’s. These are buttons you can put on articles that show the amount of retweets/diggs that article has. They kind of act as a meter for engagement.
These buttons are certainly not all-encompassing. They only represent the conversation on 2 channels, and not the web in general. I’m sure there are other buttons that can be used in addition.
More importantly though, they provide a "call to action" to share the content. People can digg or retweet a story with a simple click, and you’re one step closer to being found in somebody’s real-time search.
Wrapping Up
Real-time search is much more basic (at least so far) than say, Google Search. You’re not ranking for relevancy. Really, you could hardly call it ranking it all. It’s about visibility. That means, you have to get people talking about your content/updates.
Social media by nature is viral. Real-time search is nothing more than putting things in chronological order. You have to keep people talking to stay relevant to "right now."
Do you have additional tips for increasing visibility in real-time searches? Share with WebProNews readers.
Nice article. This is especially important for real time shopping search.
Thanks
Visibility is the main goal for marketing your business on twitter. So the more you engage in conversation the better
The viral nature of Twitter is a huge benefit, but it takes good content that people want to share.
These are cool tips!
One more thing I was considering is whether frequency of updates would have any effect on your visibility in real time search?
Frequency is extremely important because real-time relevancy is largely determined by “most recent”.
Rich Ord
CEO, iEntry, Inc.
Publisher of WebProNews
What we have to think is if when we share our links at sites with rel nofollow, it will affect our Google PR.
Some great confirmations and new information. Thanks for sharing.
Very nice sharing Chris as Google is alos implementing Real Time Search . Thanks for nice tips.
Dear Sir ,
Your face is very polite when I see you in the internet.
I am 64 old , my knowledge about computers are very little , and I want to ask you :
Can you make something with my website , so that she became a better rank .????? And a better number of visitors ???????
Because if you are starting to tell me that or this , for me is
china – language !!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you very much ahead ,
Best Regards , Andreas ( Owner of ” Villa Galini” in Naoussa of Paros /Greece , )
great advice. Real time is the place to be right now.
I don’t know if it’s THE place, but it’s certainly A place to be.
Your articles are all helpful. Thanks very much. Now everday I keep reading your articles.
Thank you for the kind words. Sounds good!
The news about Bing allowing you to share search results on Twitter only makes the real time vs “static” search relationship all the more confusing.
Yes, very interesting. It pulls together into a cogent theory the kind of stuff we have been doing anyway. As corporate culture analysts we blog and tweet and report on stuff like the banking crisis, corporate compensation, professional sport, the media and other current events that bring one of our own ongoing themes into immediate focus. Seeing it expressed as a search strategy like this opens many new possibilities. It is one of those “win-wins” – create good, current content and get rewarded for it. Great insights. Regards, Malcolm Evans
Great insight, thanks for the post. I think real time search matters, making use of twitter and digs helps a lot.
Thank you, appreciated.
We have 2 sites but our new site http://www.VIPGiftsandBaskets.com is our main SEO baby right now. Your article and insight in different avenues of search and sharing are very interesting and we plan to follow each article you write while we tackle the enormous hill of “being found”. Our products are stunning we hope with more of your articles we can learn and grow. Thanks a bunch for taking the time to share your knowledge and thoughts.
That’s not enough, let’s wait for more uses.
We have been using twitter for a long time now and I was surprised to find a lot of valuable information in this post. Thanks for the information.
How many people really use a ‘real time’ search engine to find the products and services they require ?
As a consumer I may use Google News search to find details of the latest news stories, I may use twitter to find the latest celeb gossip, but if I want a product or service I’m going to use the normal Google Web search.
It is possible that I might ‘follow’ a particular store if they had regular one day discounts advertised via Twitter… but they would be a particular store I had chosen.
If I was searching on a ‘real time search engine’ and found random companies trying to market themselves by using irrelevant but popular keywords in the message I would just consider it irritating Spam.
I guess there will always be the ‘impulse’ buyers who will be attracted by such irrelevant marketing – but me, I would always use a proper web search to find goods and services
great article. I would also add that backlink building is also very important for getting traffic from the search engines.
Thank for the article it is very interesting. I wonder if any of my 5000+ followers actually reads my tweets.
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How irrelevant. Don’t you read any articles about how posting links in irrelevant threads can hurt your SERPs? More work to do, I guess.
this was a good article i always am looking for ideas or updates on more seo and ways people use it ,, thanks for posting this article and teh replys.
As owners of a home furnishings and accessories ecommerce site (http://www.QuiltedClassics.com), we are always trying to find ways of being seen more on the web. We currently are at 1000 followers on twitter, but have seen virtually no sales conversions from this medium. We will keep trying and learning!
Have you tried tweeting a sales code offering a % discount to your Twitter contacts base?.
I have found twitter not much use for my site as the amount of text is not descriptive enough. my site is already optimised as stated & does seem to work for real time searches.interesting article.
http://www.libertyship.co.uk
Good article.
Since I have started my travel online business, http://www.SingaporeHotel.com.sg , i really benefit from search engines and online ads.
After earn enough from my travel business, I start get other to start their own travel business and earn passive income.
I have to agree with “Real Time Relevancy” in that, for most small business, putting emphasize on regular Google search optimization is still number one. Don’t see many people looking for small business services based on date/time.
Thanks for sharing Chris!
I agree I do not think small online business will really benefit from real time search.
Real-time search (visibility) = branding.
This is still critical to gaining business momentum and then keeping it. We try not to think of real-time search as a click-getter, but rather as a way to elevate our brand’s mindshare. Ranked results still provide the best direct value for us, but it is very important to continue brand-building exercises, and real-time search is one avenue for promoting your brand.
I post funny news stories relavent to our products and we get a lot of visitors from them. However, we have never sold a single sewage treatment plant system as a result.
Getting found in real time and online social networks would soon be more significant in future than getting found in search engines for most of business. Retweeting is definitely like the RSS.
Useful Article. With the new Facebook Search, which is still accessed by entering search terms in the box on the top right of any page, users will now see the latest status updates and shared content from both friends and all users who have made their profile open to everyone
This is a very enlightenining article. This seem quite unfair to people who work hard to build great content.Thst is why I have to post or edit my welcome to jamaica blog daily to make sure I am found in real time.
Thank you for sharing your tips. I do believe that real time searches are absolutely relevant in certain situations. Use of the proper keyword is so important.