Most online marketers have already heard the recent news about Google indexing "tweets" in its search results. If you're a Twitter novice like me, you may be wondering what it means for your business, your marketing efforts and the way you handle social media. 

Thankfully, there is plenty of online discussion among marketers, social media mavens and others who are weighing in on what this Twitter/Google deal really means. How will this recent announcement have an impact on your job and your work? Find out.

But before we jump into a discussion about exactly what the deal means for you, let's explore a little background on the deal itself. Back in late October, Google announced on its blog that in the next few months, it would be indexing Twitter tweets into its search engine results, saying:

"Given this new type of information and its value to search, we are very excited to announce that we have reached an agreement with Twitter to include their updates in our search results. We believe that our search results and user experience will greatly benefit from the inclusion of this up-to-the-minute data, and we look forward to having a product that showcases how tweets can make search better in the coming months."

With Google owning around 65% of all US-based online searches, news about changes and additions to the way it indexes results is guaranteed to create quite a bit of buzz within the search marketing industry. But, as I was surprised to find out, Google wasn't actually the first search engine to take the tweet-indexing step; Microsoft's Bing beat them to the punch, announcing that it would not only immediately index Twitter tweets but also Facebook status updates in the near future.

So what does the Google/Bing/Twitter announcement mean for search marketers? And how can those actively marketing a product or service use Twitter to their advantage? For answers to these questions, I put on my researcher hat and found some interesting information and perspectives.

"The Medium May Have Changed, but the Strategies, For the Most Part, Haven't"

With the announcement having happened relatively recently, the jury is still out on exactly how marketers should optimize their tweets to give them a better chance of inclusion on the Google and Bing SERPs. ClickZ author Julie Batten admits that, while part of the Twitter deal leaves marketers somewhat in limbo, there are some search engine optimization tactics that currently work on other content, and are likely to apply to optimizing Twitter tweets as well. According to Batten:

"The same approaches and tactics that work for "regular" SEO can more or less be adapted to the Twitter environment. The medium may have changed, but the strategies, for the most part, haven't…That said, over the coming months we will hopefully see some case studies emerge that will provide further insight into more discrete tactics that can be undertaken."

Batten's main advice is to optimize your tweets for both relevancy and authority. How? By ensuring that you:

• Have a well-written, keyword-rich profile page
• Beef up your list of followers
• Create outside links back to your profile
• Encourage followers and others to retweet your content

Like she said, all good practices to engage in, no matter what the medium.

"Once an Esoteric Concept…Now Cemented into the Algorithmic Approach"

Rob Garner over at MediaPost Search Insider gives marketers some pretty keen insights that answer the question, "So what do the Twitter/Google/Bing deals mean to me?" Garner says:

"Twitter was already important to driving external buzz that made domains more relevant in search engines. But what was once an esoteric concept on the benefits of social and search has now become cemented into the algorithmic approach of the major engines."

I think another way of stating what Garner is saying is that the abstract has now turned concrete…we've always known that Twitter had an overall impact on Web sites and search engine rankings, but now it's actually part of the search engine's makeup. What used to be on the outskirts is smack dab in the middle.

From my own in-the-trenches marketing perspective, this thought seems extremely important to me, especially for those marketers who may be facing resistance from upper management when it comes to launching and maintaining social media initiatives like Twitter. Even the most technologically challenged bosses can see the value of having your product or service show up in the top ten of the search results - perhaps approaching them from the angle of engaging in social media because it appears in the search results will be a way to ease them into the larger social media environment.

"If You Haven't Already Got a Twitter Strategy in Place…Get one Quickly"

UK-based Revolution Magazine has a fantastic article authored by iCrossing's Doug Platt on the five things that marketers need to know about the Twitter search deal. Among other suggestions, Platt notes that the deal will certainly be good for travel brands, and will have a big impact on retailers this holiday season. The main thing that stuck with me, however, is what Platt says about Twitter being an increasingly important medium for marketers. From the article:

"This announcement shows how important Twitter is becoming to the internet ecosystem. If both Microsoft and Google have decided that Twitter is the only game in town when it comes to this sort of real-time search, then you can take it that it's going to be an ever more important part of the way people navigate the web. If you haven't already got a Twitter strategy in place then you're going to need to get one quickly - Twitter's audience is going to jump massively as a result of this announcement and if you're not on board then you're going to miss the boat."

There's a real sense of urgency in Platt's tone - one I'm sure many of us marketers have felt as we try to make sense of the social media landscape and prioritize the social media environment. In terms of prioritization, I think Platt's idea about quickly developing a Twitter strategy is a good one. We have a few months before Google starts actively indexing and displaying tweets in search results - take this time to catch up if you aren't already in the social media game. And if you're trying to figure out which medium to start with, you may as well give Twitter a try given the potential of its extended search benefits.

Top Three Twitter Takeaways

So what are the takeaways from all of this? Here's what I've learned from what I've read:

1. The Google/Bing/Twitter deal may help marketers more easily sell social media initiatives to others in the organization because now there is a direct impact on search results.

2. The same SEO qualities that help get your Web pages, PDF files and other messages to the top of the search results - keyword-rich, relevant and valuable to your target audience with back links to your content that is worth sharing with others - are likely to help your tweets enjoy similarly good search engine positioning.

3. The time to develop a Twitter strategy is right now. If you're considering getting started in social media, start with Twitter. Soon.

Is there something I've missed, or do you have other ideas on how Twitter will have an impact on the way that you do marketing? I'd love to hear them…share them with me and your fellow newsletter readers by commenting on this article.

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About the Author

Lori Gariepy is a marketing communications manager at Lyris. She is the editor-in-chief of http://LyrisHQ.Lyris.com and of the company's Inside Lyris HQ newsletter, and manages social media and online communications. Connect and converse with Lyris on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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