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Jul 15, 2015

Google Gets Social: Tweets Showing Up in Google’s Mobile Results

A shift in Google’s practices is great news for law firms: your firm’s tweets could show up on Google’s mobile search results and help you dominate the first page for relevant search terms.

Why Do Tweets Show Up in Google Results?

Tweets have been showing up in Google results for quite some time, but until now, the Googlebot was unable to provide up-to-the-minute results. If the Googlebot had tried to keep up, the sheer number of crawl requests would probably cripple Twitter.

Earlier this year, Google struck a deal with Twitter to make tweets more searchable online. Twitter gave the search giant direct access to the stream of data that they constantly pump out, which means that Google doesn’t have to crawl the site to fetch tweets.

How Does Google Show Tweets in the SERPs?

Google has two ways of displaying tweets related to search queries. They unleashed the Twitter Carousel on May 19, which hasn’t reached all users yet. A search for “brand name + Twitter” delivers the carousel, which you can swipe left and right on your mobile device. Clicking on a tweet brings you straight to Twitter.

Traditional searches – particularly for celebrities and brands – bring you different Twitter search results. A mobile search for “Taylor Swift” or “Snickers” will show up in a slider on the first page.

[Insert 1. Twitter Slider for Taylor Swift and 1. Twitter Slider for Snickers somewhere in here.]

Why Does Google Show Tweets in Search Results?

With 284 million users, searchable tweets are a brilliant idea – they let Twitter capture more traffic from non-users and increase ad revenue on their site.

What’s in it for Google? As always, they aim to please searchers. They’ll be able to enhance search results with real-time updates from Twitter.

According to the Google Blog, “It’s a great way to get real-time info when something is happening. And it’s another way for organizations and people on Twitter to reach a global audience at the most relevant moments.”

How Can a Law Firm Use Twitter in the SERPs to Improve Visibility?

One of the best ways to beat your competitors (and get the most clicks) is to ensure that they’re not showing up on the first page of Google’s search results.

Your tweets can help you edge out your competitors.

Mobile is incredibly important, too, because this year mobile search will outpace desktop search. Google has already kicked off Mobilegeddon to clear out search results that aren’t compatible with what phone and tablet users are looking for, and that means you have an even bigger opportunity to corner the market.

The numbers don’t lie: 80 percent of Internet users own a smartphone and 47 percent own a tablet, according to Global Web Index. When tweets show up on the first page, they edge out the competition – and the more page one results you can get, the better.

While Google hasn’t rolled out this new service for desktop search, Ardan Arac, Senior Project Manager, says they will soon.

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