32 replies to this topic

[sherrillh]

I am curious as to the value of all the different social/shopping networks out there. Anyone know of anything I could read up on or have an opinion/experience with?

My main perspective is in reference to online retail sites and how the tagging of their sites affects rankings or traffic. Any and all feeback appreciated.

[Jill]

Does this thread on social bookmarking help?

[arteworks]

Does this thread on social bookmarking help?

No.

[Jill]

How about these?

[arteworks]

Maybe. Okay yes.

[qwerty]

Is the question about social bookmarking sites (e.g. del.icio.us) or social networks (e.g. friendster or myspace)?

[sherrillh]

qwerty - Bookmarking sites, like wists, del.icio.us, bluedot, etc.

I really like the idea of these types of sites and am trying to find the SEO benefit of them. I would think with the sites have millions of pages indexed and seeing peoples profiles that there would be some link benefit at the very least. The only problem site I can see is with del.icio.us and their nofollow tags on the links. I couldn't seem to find them on the others.

Has anyone seen the SEO benefit? Or is it more of a future thing?

Edited by sherrillh, 25 July 2006 - 08:41 AM.

[Comtrad]

Hello All,

I was wondering if anyone has setup a Myspace or any other Social networking profile for their business or clients. If so, does it actually bring anything to the table? I am sure it would be different for different types of businesses, but I just want a general answer. I know that most of these sites are filled with teens, that would be of no use for lots of businesses, but I have found that their are plenty of older people that are on the sites as well. Is it worth the effort?


Thank you for any input,

Joe

[arteworks]

Would people stop bashing myspace? 80% of myspace users are adults. http://www.post-gaze...9/705912-96.stm That is what, 74.5 million adults?

I am actually in the process of testing this myself. I have added a link to my business on my myspace page, then signed up for various networks such as "website designers" and "search engine optimization" and "IT". I have noticed some increase in traffic. I have released press releases in my myspace blog.

Begining this month, I am setting up myspace accounts for clients, with the caveat that this is an untested theory but it can only help and can certainly do no harm.

Some myspace profiles have very high toolbar pageranks. Some myspace pages show up at the top of search results for some terms. Presumably, if you are active in inviting friends and networking on myspace, the link will eventually have some value.

Also you might try LinkedIn, this is another portion of my little experiment that I am begining this month.

Now obviously, a business that catered to pop culture (clothing, music, movie reviews, dating, etcetera) would stand a much greater chance of getting highly targeted traffic from this source. However, I am setting up myspace accounts for a property lawyer and a business that sells mannequins for store displays. We'll see what happens.

If the client is willing to pay for the time, there is no harm done.

[qwerty]

Despite the fact that sherrillh's original question was about tagging sites rather than social networks, eMarketer happened to publish a piece today on Hooking Up With Social Networks and this is as good a place as any to link to it.

[arteworks]

That's right. It's a HUGE audience to ignore. And only 75% of the U.S. population is over 18 ( http://www.imdiversi...lation_0506.asp ) which means that there is actually a higher percentage of adults on myspace than the percentage of adults in the total population.

Myspace is not for

So back off anyone who says myspace is for kids and predators! Or else I'll sic all my bouncy myspace girls on you.

[sherrillh]

qwerty, sorry I didn't phrase my question correctly. I was just hoping for an SEO perspective on "tagging", "networking", "bookmarking", etc. How do the search engines view or can they even view the links associated with these sites?

[qwerty]

It's not your fault. I just wanted to make sure the links Jill posted above actually dealt with your question. They do.

[Jill]

It's not your fault. I just wanted to make sure the links Jill posted above actually dealt with your question. They do.

Did you get a chance to read them, Sherrill?

We have discussed those things you were wondering about in some of those previous threads.

[sherrillh]

Yes, Jill I did, and I understand that there is no real link value with del.icio.us, but was hoping for a more solid connection with the others.

I am in agreement with Rand about social bookmarking being something that will impact relevance and importance. In fact, I think that should be Rand's next study after the PR study

I keep seeing a new bookmarking network almost daily and really wonder how the search engines are going to adapt to this medium.