The timing just felt right for another “dance to what is” blog post (we’ve linked to part I and part II of this series at the bottom of this post) because, now more than ever, marketing professionals have to be comfortable “dancing to what is.”
Why do I say that? Because last time I checked there were about 30 different AI search engines vying for adoption by searchers who welcome being able to get summaries of content that comes from a variety of websites, and particularly summaries/overviews that answer the specific question they, as searchers, entered in a search engine. In addition, these searchers want content to be accessible all in one spot/the same place that is helpful and understandable, i.e., content that can easily be absorbed by the searcher and that allows the searcher to take action, if necessary.
We’ve talked about the above in a number of blog posts, so we aren’t going to recreate the wheel. You can learn more about AI search engines, and the future of search in these previous posts, but continue to scroll down past them to learn more about Reddit and Quora and why you should consider developing a plan to incorporate them, or other discussion forums, in your organization’s marketing strategy:
Don’t Ignore The Role That Discussion Forums Like Quora and Reddit Play Related To Ranking Well In Search Engines For Relevant Terms
One thing that I and fellow marketing consultants are noticing related to AI Search is this. Google is starting to serve up more and more Reddit, Quora and other discussion-forum threads/conversations/discussions in search-engine results and serve them up higher in results. Why? Because Reddit and Quora and similar online discussion boards are community platforms/forums that already serve the purpose that AI search engines want to serve — providing answers to a extremely large and diverse number of questions that users of their tool have.
Hey, if there’s already a post on Reddit, Quora, or some other community-discussion platform addressing the question a searcher has and the post has a number of helpful answers associated with it, why not serve that thread/discussion up in search results? It’s a no-brainer for search engines, at least for ones who want to be successful in playing the role that AI search engines are supposed to be playing — answering searchers’ questions. Of course, with AI search, there’s always the concern that what’s being shared up in the form of answers to questions on Reddit, Quora, or similar platforms is not accurate or current, and often, it may just be a matter of someone sharing their opinion without a lot of research or data behind the opinion to support the opinion. But, these are the times we live in and the challenges that come with limitless ways for anybody, anywhere able to share information or thoughts on anything.
So, Where Does Dancing To What Is Come Into Play Related to Reddit, Quora or Other Similar Platforms?
Whether or not the answers to posts are accurate, current, backed by data, etc., Google and other AI search engines are likely to continue to serve Reddit, Quora, and other discussion-community-site conversations in search-engine results. In fact, we expect that the number of listings spit back in search-engine results that are related to a Quora, Reddit, or another platform discussion thread to continue to grow.
The other day I was investigating what organizations came up in search-engine results related to a question along the lines of “What’s The Best Place To Have Brunch In The Greater Boston Area?”
You’ll see below, that the listings that Google served up in response to the above question, included the following:
Fairly high-up in the above-mentioned search-results listings (Google responding to my brunch question) — just under several Google My Business Profiles/Google Search & Maps listings, and the two “organic” website listings — Google served up “Discussions and Forums” and included links to Tripadvisor and Reddit discussion-forum conversations.
Dancing To Discussion-Forum Conversations
So, as we alluded to above, you can’t beat ’em, so why not join ’em? So, how do you capitalize on discussion forums to support your organization and the services you offer?
- Dance to the new search-engine environment we all live and work in now, and start your own post or question related to the products and services your organization offers. It shouldn’t be too salesy or too self-serving and you should really only be providing a link to your organization’s website along with your post if the information that the link takes one to is particularly beneficial or helpful and highly related to the question at-hand, and therefore, allows the reader to understand what next steps they can take related to their question.
- In addition to, or in lieu of starting a new question/discussion/thread where you start the conversation by posting a question or sharing information, you could simply respond to posts of others that are related to the services you offer. Again, you don’t want to be too salesy or too self-promoting, but there are ways you can weigh in and offer advice without doing so. For example, I’ve answered countless questions related to SEO in the past on Quora. Doing so may cause someone to look me and my business up and reach out to me for help, and certainly if someone is asking for names of the best provider of xyz products in xyz town/city, and you believe your organization offers the best product or service, you can weigh in in a tasteful way.
Note: you can be Banned from discussion forums for too much self-promotion, particularly sharing links to your website that aren’t appropriate, or simply sharing them too frequently, so take it slowly and carefully consider when and how frequently you share links back to your organization’s website.
Example Of Post On Quora That Supports An Organization Being Found On Search Engines
As part of composing this blog post, I posted the question below on Quora today, so that I could provide an example of a non-salesy post that could still be effective in establishing your organization as an expert on a particular topic and/or cause someone to check out your profile and reach out to you.
My Quora Post:
My Quora Profile That Could Cause Someone To Look Me Up And Reach Out:
Reach Out For Help Capitalizing On Quora, Reddit and Other Discussion Forums
We think you get the picture, but our team of Boston SEO experts is always here to help regardless of where in the U.S. your organization is located or where you offer your products or services. So, please reach out to our Boston SEO services team, to schedule a complimentary discussion of your marketing challenges and opportunities!
B?n có th? xem th?ng kê cá nhân t?i 66B : t?ng c??c, s? l?n th?ng, game yêu thích… – d? li?u tr?c quan giúp b?n ?i?u ch?nh chi?n l??c hi?u qu?. TONY06-22
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