The website has had its day.
Okay, there are about one billion websites on the Internet but it is perhaps the beginning of the end. Everyone is turning to mobile and other devices to find information. Apps and other platforms are replacing websites.
Meanwhile the way we search is changing. In fact, we are searching less and listening more. We get our information from those we choose to listen to. They are our friends or people we follow. It is they who feed us with information. Soon we will find all we need by simply tuning into this network of friends we have selected – our social networks.
So now we are sharing information, rather than publishing. And to be interesting you or your brand needs to get noticed.
Of course keywords are still important; the standard form of search has not disappeared. But you must not only use the right words, you must write them in a way that gets people interested. Interest you readers so they share that information with their network of contacts.
You will get noticed, because other people will say to their network “Look, read this”.
If a friend tells you to read something you are more likely to believe it, than a stranger or an anonymous company.
In the recent past Google was interested in measuring how the number of links from your website to others. Today the value of a link is more likely to be calculated by the number of times your content is shared.
How do you get onto the front page?
How do you get your content onto the front page of LinkedIn Pulse or into people’s update feeds? Well the answer is not that simple and LinkedIn won’t tell us all their secrets. It is a combination of the keywords in the text and the relevance of the content to those reading. The most important factor to encourage sharing is the network that you have built and that will see your content and share it.
If your network has just two or three small sub-networks the post is not going to break through. It will remain in a restricted circle. If you have a wide, diverse and active network the number of people likely to view your post is significantly higher.
None of this is new. These principles are just applied to what we now call social networks; as they always have been in relation to the spreading of news.
“Being interesting is not enough, you need a dynamic, sharing network”
The Tipping Point.
In his book The Tipping Point, published in 2000, Malcolm Gladwell explains this in some detail. “The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. A single sick person can start an epidemic. So too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate.”
Examples in the book include how Paul Revere alerted the colonial militia to the approach of the British in 1775. He did it by riding through villages and enthusiastically sharing a compelling message. He knew who to tell and who they would tell. His message spread like wildfire.
Today, to be seen and to be recognized; to be visible on the Internet; to get your ideas across as a brand, as a product or as a person, you need to understand these rules.
-
People are searching less;
-
Instead they are following trendsetters and thought-leaders;
-
To be influential you need to be interesting, but that’s not enough;
-
To really succeed you need a varied and powerful network that will share your ideas.
Please share this article with your network.
This article is also published on LinkedIn Pulse https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/social-tipping-point-robin-young
http://gladwell.com/the-tipping-point/