GOSO

By: Chris Garrett Co-Author of Best Seller of ProBlogger, our celebrity blogger, Chris has helped thousands of individuals, non-profits, small businesses and blue chips make the most of the web.

If you thought you got to choose between looking after your search engine results and engaging in social media … think again.

Yes, as is so often the case with this kind of thing, the choice has been taken out of your hands. Social media messages and content are turning up in search results, whether you like it or not.

What does this mean?

Well, for a start, it means that Google is just dipping their collective gargantuan toes into these particular digital waters, and we should all brace ourselves for what might be just around the corner.

But right now it also means that you might have an opportunity, or perhaps a big problem on your hands.

Where before it would take some effort for a disgruntled ex-employee or customer to cause a huge headache for you, pretty soon (or even right now) it could be just a case of going on to Twitter and bad-mouthing your brand.

Real time results are not present for every search phrase but they are being rolled out. Bizarrely there is a real time result for my name. Think about that for a moment. Luckily I am not in the job market and my clients are not easily swayed by random opinions from Internet people, but if your customers are in the market for a new car and they put in the name of your dealership … well, let’s hope what they see is positive.

If your customers use Google then you need to be doing some reputation management. You need to react appropriately to social media brand mentions, either to support the positive or to mitigate the negative. Even if you are not monitoring your brand, it seems the search engines are, and this is only the beginning.

Happy New Year!