The following post is a point/counterpoint piece addressing the potential benefits Google+ may offer hospitals and health systems. Should hospitals jump in now, or simply observe for future consideration? Is Google+ the next big thing in healthcare, or just one more social network to manage?  I will make a case for getting involved right away,  while Mark Miller (@mmiller20910 / +Mark Miller) from Children’s National Medical Center will argue a “wait and see” approach.  The purpose of this post is simply to provide both sides of the argument to help others weigh the pros and cons.  The thoughts reflected in our arguments do not necessarily represent our own personal views, as we both see opportunities as well as unanswered questions.

GROWTH

Point:

With an estimated 20 million users in the first three weeks, the Google+ project is making a strong case for social media relevancy.  Google’s leadership is clearly committed to adding (and supporting) a social layer to their existing products.  Hospitals and health systems already invested in social media should allocate some of their existing resources now in order to benefit from the early growth of Google+.  Is there a risk those resources will ultimately be wasted on Google+?  Of course, but it’s a calculated risk.  Google+ is worth the attention and poised for long-term growth.

Counterpoint:

This isn’t a question of whether Google+ may have value for hospitals – it surely will for some, if used strategically. But many hospitals and health systems have created Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube accounts that are not being used strategically – many are still communicating one-way instead of truly engaging their constituents (patients, employees, partners, and others). And Ubicare estimates that 68 percent of hospital pages have fewer than 1,000 fans, and 44 percent have fewer than 500. For hospitals that have a grasp on social media and know what’s working and what they want to do, Google+ may fit into their strategies right away.  But for many others, now is a good time to evaluate your current efforts. First, determine what’s working, what’s not, and how you’re measuring your social media efforts. Then ask, who do you want to reach, and how do you want to engage with them? That will help shape your strategy for Google+.

SEARCH

Point:

Social search is real and Google+ is likely the best opportunity to make an impact on SCO (social content optimization).  When it comes to search, Google is still “king of the hill” and any opportunity to positively impact search results must be taken seriously.  A hospital’s online content, social relationships and the conversations those relationships foster are paramount to the success of the overall online presence – not just social media presence.

For some time now, Google has been working towards more personalized search results.  This includes search based on existing online relationships and real-time search rankings.  In fact, the impact of the +1 button, Google+ connections and Google+ shares is already impacting search results.  These two articles from SEOmoz and Search Engine Land are just two examples of the impact of social search.

Counterpoint:

If there’s one area where Google dominates, it’s search. For that reason alone, it’s hard to ignore the potential of Google+.  But it’s one of many tools that can enhance search results.  Hospitals and health systems should first tackle SEO basics – such as optimizing content, keeping content fresh, naming and designing pages appropriately, keyword analysis, link building, using Google Ad Words, and measuring results – before thinking Google+ will instantly push them to the top of search results. See “Social Media Marketing Vs SEO – Which Is Most Important?”  by Pam Lawhorne (@PamLawhorne) and the latest on search ranking factors from from SEOMoz (@SEOMoz).

BUZZ

Point:

Businesses (motivated by social search/analytics) and news media (motivated by real-time search and the absence of a 140 character limit) will likely drive more consumers to Google+ fueling growth.  Google has promised to “fast track” the launch of business profiles and when that happens there will be a frenzy of activity.

The overwhelming success of Facebook and Twitter can be partially attributed to the immense amount of free advertising businesses and news media dole out daily.  You can no longer peruse a magazine, read a print ad or listen to a news cast without some mention of Facebook and Twitter.  Due to the aforementioned search opportunities, it’s logical to expect similar advertising for Google+ with compelling consumer incentives attached.

Counterpoint:

The +1 button is already gaining in popularity and soon may be as omnipresent as that familiar “f” and the blue bird. But just because users can click +1 doesn’t mean they will. The key is providing content that users want to share. Now’s the time to do some analysis – based on your website, Facebook, and Twitter data, what types of content are your audiences responding to? What types of articles, videos, or photos do they click on, comment on, or share? Adding the +1 button is a good way to get started with Google+ while you wait for the launch of business pages, but focus on giving your users a reason to click.

MOMENTUM

Point:

Google+ is already relevant.  With an invite-only launch, Google+ has experienced explosive growth.  However, the most promising indication of future success is the public support it has garnered from a wide variety of social media thought leaders such as +Chris Brogan, +Steve Rubel, +Robert Scoble and +Brian Solis.

Another thing to consider is the inevitable integration of other Google products.  Lurking beneath the surface of Google+ is a whole host of technologies waiting their turn for Google engineers to integrate.  These are products millions of people already use such as Voice, Calendar, Analytics, Translate, Adwords, Docs, Reader, Music and more.  Treating Google+ as a “social layer” on top of these products puts it in a unique position among other social networks.

Counterpoint:

While the numbers for Google+ in such a short time are impressive, 20 million is a lot less than 750 million on Facebook.  Many people and organizations that have spent years building Facebook and Twitter followings are asking: “Does Google+ mean I need to start all over?” Not surprisingly, there is early momentum on Google+ among thought leaders in technology, social media, and health care. It’s already proving valuable for sharing ideas, comparing notes, and networking. But the real value will come with the mass adoption by “regular” people, which I don’t see happening quite yet.

FOCUS

Point:

Google+ is different.  It offers a better platform than Twitter for communicating your message by allowing for threaded comments, inline photos/video and no character limitations.  It also delivers better control than Facebook of your social relationships and the opportunity to easily craft a specific message to a targeted audience.

Counterpoint:

It’s great to be able to craft a specific message to the people you choose to send, but social media should empower recipients to choose what they receive, how they receive it, and what form they receive it in. One function I’m hoping to see in business pages that’s not currently offered on individual pages is the ability for people to “opt in” to the kind of content they want. If Google makes this a priority, Google+ will provide a valuable service that Facebook and Twitter do not.

I have some concern when I hear health care professionals talk about how great it will be to be able to create “circles” of patients. Physicians have generally been reluctant to connect with patients online, but that cautious approach is often thrown out when people discuss Google+. Health practitioners need to remain vigilant against privacy violations. Through human or technology error, many “private” or “limited” messages on Google+ will surely be shared more widely.

BUSINESS PAGES

Point:

Healthcare organizations are already getting involved.  According to the preliminary data collected by Ed Bennett (@edbennett), there are several hospitals already using Google+.  Presumably these accounts are temporary as they await business profiles but in the meantime, they are busy building connections on a social platform with tremendous potential.

Counterpoint:  Google has specifically asked businesses and nonprofits to refrain from creating organizational accounts, but the positive reception to Google+ makes me think it will be worth the short wait. In the meantime, hospitals and health systems should discuss how they will use Google+ — relative to Facebook, Twitter, and other social media channels – and prepare content so they’re ready to hit the ground running when Google launches business pages.

SUMMARY

Point:

Although Facebook is not likely to be dethroned any time soon, the potential Google+ promises has a good chance to level the social media playing field.  Historically, early adopters taking calculated risks are rewarded with recognition as industry innovators.  Sure business profiles haven’t been launched yet, but jumping in and getting a head start is not a bad idea.

Will your hospital be the first to answer patient questions as you live stream a Google Hangout with a handful of surgeons?  What about live-streaming a surgery with expert commentary?  It’s an opportunity to innovate.  In the worst case scenario, Google+ flounders and your organization gains valuable insight into the future of social search.

Counterpoint:

With the use of any new technology, there are advantages to being first. There are also advantages to letting other people work out the kinks while you learn from their experiences. The question isn’t whether all hospitals and health systems should or should not invest time and resources into Google+ — the question is whether Google+ is right for your organization. Who are your priority audiences? Where are they? How do you want to engage with them, and (perhaps more important) how do they want to engage with you?

The option to claim your own profile on Google and have it displayed within search results for your name has been available for nearly a year now.  With the growing popularity of social media networks, it’s surprising to see a relatively small percentage of web users have actually utilized this free service.  The truth is, most professionals can benefit by having a Google profile so here are a few reasons you may want to consider it.

Profile results for John Powers

5 Reasons to Claim Your Google Profile:

1. Personal SEO – Google profile links are displayed on the first page of search results (see image above).  Unless you have an extremely common name, there’s a good chance your Google profile will show up on page one when others are searching for you.
2. Personal branding – A Google profile can act as a “home-base” for your online presence.  Not only can you have photos and video in your profile, but you also are given the opportunity to write a detailed bio.  This bio can include a resume, skill sets, achievements or anything else you wish to display to the world.
3. Become part of social search – Last week, Google announced the public beta release of social search.  By having a public Google profile, there’s a greater chance of having your own content displayed within search results.  Others in your social circle (social network connections) are more likely to see your content when they search on Google.
4. Connecting social profiles – Since Google profiles allows you to add links to each of your social media accounts, it provides a way for others to easily find you on various networks.  However, you do have complete control over what is included or excluded.
5. Showing your personality – With space for an online bio, interests, “superpowers” and more,  Google profiles is an opportunity to show a little online personality.  Even if you intend to use your profile strictly for business, there is still a benefit to displaying an appropriate amount of personality.  Isn’t that a significant part of what the social web is all about?

Before claiming your profile and making it public, it’s important to consider what information you would like to have displayed since there is a very good chance others will find your profile when they search for your name.  Without a doubt this is another step in the direction of transparency so it does require commitment and discretion.

Perhaps the most interesting component to a Google profile is the fact that it exhibits yet another example of Google’s gradual shift to becoming a social service.  It remains to be seen how Google intends to tie together all of the existing social fragments in their network.  Maybe we’ll get some insight on that today since Google is expected to announce new social features built into Gmail.

Last week, Google announced the public beta release of Social Search.  The announcement was met with little fanfare as it happened to be on the same day as Apple’s iPad event.  However, the potential for SEO and other marketing opportunities created by this new shift in search should not be overlooked.

What is social search?

Google’s concept of social search places greater relevance on content from people/organizations in your own social circle.  In other words, Google will actually display content on the first page of their search results from those which you have a social media connection.  More importantly, this works in reverse.  Your own content has a better chance of being displayed in Google search results if you have a connection to the individual performing a search.

The video below is a nice demonstration from Google showing social search in action.

How social search works?

Understanding how social search works will help you to make a greater impact with the public content you are currently offering online.  By analyzing your social connections, Goolge creates a “circle” of those you are likely to find more interesting than others.  This circle determines what content may be displayed in the social search portion of the results.  Google currently determines your social circle in 3 different ways.

1. Public Google profile – When you set up your Google profile, you have the option of adding different social accounts such as a blog,  Twitter, Friendfeed, Flickr and Youtube.  You have the option of including or excluding any of your social accounts.  Accounts you choose to include in your profile will be publicly visible to others and also be used to determine your social circle.  For example, if you add your Twitter account, Google assumes those you are following as part of circle.  Consequently, you will be part of the social circles created by your own followers if they add their Twitter account to their own Google profile.
2. Google chat buddies – Interestingly, it isn’t your Gmail address book that determines more social connections.  Rather, anyone added to your Google chat will automatically become part of your social circle.
3. Google reader subscriptions – Blogs you subscribe to through Google reader are also added to your social circle.  This is a very logical step in the evolution of search because your subscriptions indicate which online content your value most.  So if I do a search for “Facebook fan page tips”, Google will now assume articles generated from those sites in which I subscribe may be more relevant.

Content from your social circle is displayed at the bottom of the first page of search results.  In order for this to happen, you must be logged into your Google account and you must have a public Google profile.  When Google social search was launched as an “experiment” back in October, Matt Cutts released an informative video detailing how Google determines who is actually in your social circle (see below).

Why social search matters?

The primary goal of social search is to continue the ongoing effort by Google of making your search results more personal.  Clearly this new offering will have the desired effect for those who use it.

When our algorithms determine that it would improve your search experience we surface public content from your social circle at the bottom of the search results.

Matt Cutts, Google Search Quality Group

More importantly, it reemphasizes the importance of building your influence online by continuing to create new connections through social media.  The more connected you are with others, the more your content will be displayed in the social circle search results.

Obviously, this works for businesses as well.  Would your business benefit by more people seeing the content it has generated?  Google’s new social search is just one more reason businesses should embrace social media and connect with consumers.

The Apple vs Google battle is the break Bing needs

For the moment, you can forget about the combative history between Apple and Microsoft.  Rumors have been circulating about Apple using Bing as the new the default search engine on the iPhone. If this happens, Bing search will immediately become relevant due to the iPhone’s dominance in the smartphone marketplace.

Without question, mobile is one of the most important battlegrounds in the search business.  The rapid adoption of smartphone technologies means an ever increasing number of consumers are searching for businesses on their mobile phones.  Therefore, optimizing local search is a critical component for the marketing of most small businesses.

Historically, I have been jaded when it comes to Microsoft products due to a long history of failures such as Windows Me, Windows Vista, IE 6, MSN Music and Zune.  On the other hand, Bing has been a pleasant surprise and Microsoft has continued to demonstrate their commitment to search by rolling out a steady stream of new Bing services.  This week alone, Bing has launched Recipes Pages, Destination  Maps and Local Events.

So why would Apple decide to start sleeping with the enemy?  Because they now view Google (the current default iPhone search tool) as the bigger threat to their business.  The gloves are off in this emerging Apple vs Google saga and switching to Bing as the default search for the iPhone would be a pretty big blow to Google.  Some of the recent Apple/Google history (see below) suggests the two companies are headed for much more drama in the coming years.

Apple vs. Google Recent Competitive History

October 2008 – The HTC Dream is released which is the first smartphone using Google’s Android OS.  As of December 2009, Android is the fastest growing OS in the smartphone marketplace.  A report released yesterday by TechCrunch, shows the Android OS smartphone market share in North America has climbed from just 4% in the first quarter of 2009 to 27% in fourth quarter.

July 2009 – Apple rejects the Google Voice iPhone application (which would have allowed customers to make VOIP calls on their iPhone) prompting a FCC investigation.

November 2009 – Google announces their purchase of mobile advertising giant AdMob for $750 million.

December 2009 – Apple beats Google to the punch by purchasing innovative music startup Lala.com for $85 million

January 2010 – Apple anounces their purchase of mobile advertiser Quattro Wireless for nearly $300 million and immediately forms a new Mobile Advertising group

January 2010 – Google releases Nexus One to large fanfare but the launch is clouded by hardware problems and falls well short of initial sales estimates.

Now, it seems clear that any cooperation that once existed is ancient history.  This is why Microsoft Bing now has an opportunity to share the stage and why SEO strategists need to take Bing seriously.

Local search is not the only thing at stake here for Bing and Google.  In fact, all of this might mean very little if not for the proliferation of mobile ads.  An industry that did not even exist just a few short years ago, is expected to generate over $5 billion annually within 3 years.  Google obviously has an advantage by the sheer market share of its service, but Apple and Microsoft may be aligning in an attempt to slay the beast.

Rumor has it that iPhone OS 4.0 will be announced and likely released during the Apple event next week on 1/27/10.  What is the biggest new development rumor?  It’s not just the ability to multi-task apps.  Bing may just be the default search engine in the new OS and you may be wishing you had started optimizing your business for Bing (not just Google).

How 8 characters of code can make your site more relevant than your Twitter profile

Have you googled your name lately?  If so, there’s a good chance your Twitter account or another social media account is displayed as the top result.  While this may seem like a positive thing if you’re making an effort to build a personal brand, it may not be the most desirable.  In my daily reading today, I came across a very interesting article at Marshall Kirkpatrick’s blog.  The issue is prevalent enough that merely tweeting it with a link does not do it justice.

I’m apparently not the only one who considers this to be an issue.  With regards to the same article, Whitson Gordon at Lifehacker had this to say.

Having a say in what Google says about you is extremely important these days, especially for professionals such as freelancers, for whom a Google search result of their name is a first impression for potential employers. You definitely want your blog or professional web site to show up before your non-professional social networking profiles.

It turns out that Twitter and other sites often use 8 simple characters of code that may be positively affecting the rank of your account link.  So how do you perform this magic for your own site?  Let Marshall Kirkpatrick explain.

So the long and short of this story is that if you want to make sure that Google understands your blog to be your primary beacon on the web, then you should add the words rel=”me” to a relevant link on your blog. I’ve added that tag to the link on my sidebar that goes to my feedback page, because that’s a good page for me. It’s as simple as making the link text read a href=”http://marshallk.com/feedback” rel=”me”.

While it may seem too good to be true for such a simple change to have that kind of impact on search, it certainly warrants testing.  Does your site already include this tag?  Are you aware of other simple tips to help resolve this issue.  Let us know.

Post updates and badges are the latest additions

For those of you unfamiliar with “Place Pages”, they are the local search listings displayed when a user searches regionally for businesses.  Yesterday, Google announced their most recent changes to Place Pages at their Google LatLong Blog.  While the changes may go unnoticed by many, at least one of them gives you the opportunity to out market less knowledgeable competitors.

Post Updates on Your Page

The most important update to Place Pages is the ability to post updates to a listing if you have claimed ownership.  The updates are similar to a status update you might post on Facebook or Twitter giving you yet another way to convey a message about your business to potential customers.

The image below displays (marked in the red outline) the provided box to post an update to the listing.  You can navigate to this option by clicking on the “view report” link from the Google Local Business dashboard tab.

Once posted, your message is displayed on the information page of your local search listing.  In this case (see below), Mission Mountain Winery has announced a new wine offering.  The message does expire after 30 days but there is no apparent limit to the number of times a business can post updates.

Now that you have the ability to post real-time announcements to a new audience it opens up more possibilities in the local search arena.  Bar owners can announce upcoming band appearances.  Contractors might want to announce the completion of their latest project with a link to pictures.  Restaurants can post their specials.

Whether this is seen by a significant number of consumers remains to be seen, but the fact that it exists is pretty exciting.  The analytics supplied by Google on the reporting page will give you some feedback on how many people are seeing your updates.

Badges For Your Claimed Pages

Google has also added a badge on claimed pages that reads “Owner-verified listing”.  This serves to let the consumer know that the information provided in the listing has presumably been added by the business itself.  Also, a similar message stating “From the owner” is added to the end of any post updates.

The assumption is that readers will have greater confidence in the information provided (such as directions, address and business hours) if in fact it has been verified by the business owner.  This is obviously another reason to claim your listing if you haven’t taken the time to do so.

Summary

If you own or handle the marketing for a small business, Google Place Pages may be the single most important tool in your online arsenal.  These latest additions combined with coupons, photos, YouTube videos and more can make for a pretty compelling local search listing.

It’s important to remember that many consumers access local search listings from their mobile phones so your marketing efforts should account for that.  You can bet I’ll be testing mobile coupons combined with post messages in order to attract mobile users.  For more information on how to claim your local search listing on Google and other search platforms, you may want to try the free tool at GetListed.org.

Will Google and Twitter find a way to curtail the inevitable spam?

After seeing a demonstration by Jeremy Jones on Google’s new real-time search, I decided give it a test drive myself.  In the following screencast, I show how easy it is now to get a tweet displayed on the first page of Google.

As you can see, it’s pretty slick how the search results update in real-time.  I can almost hear the Twitter spammers licking their chops.  The fact that it’s so easy to have your message displayed on the first page of Google’s most popular searches is inviting abuse of the system.  Surely Google and Twitter have considered this, right?

It will be interesting to see how this concept evolves.  The idea makes a lot of sense but I suspect there will be a lot of hurdles to overcome.  While Google has only rolled out this feature to their most popular searches, I’d love to see full integration.  If and when that day comes, it will be a massive game changer.

Status updates to be indexed by Bing in real-time results

There have been rumors circulating for weeks regarding a deal between Twitter and Bing.  Now AllThingsDigital is reporting that Microsoft Bing will announce separate deals with both Facebook and Twitter.  Bing will now provide search results on status updates from both social media giants.

Bing screenshot

What will it mean to you?  When it comes to Facebook, most personal profiles are private which means your status updates likely won’t be indexed.  Facebook is expected to add new tools which will allow users to determine if individual updates can be public.  In the meantime, you could choose to change your personal profile to public (not recommended) or start a Fan Page which is public.

Twitter, on the other hand, is public.  Therefore your real-time tweets could potentially be visible on Bing.  This raises some interesting possibilities with respect to marketing.

While this new development may hit Google in the teeth, they are rumored to be in discussions with Facebook and Twitter as well.  So stay tuned.  This could get pretty interesting.