Organic Search Rankings and Social Media

Today in my blog we will once again be taking another look at the Microsoft Corporation. Specifically, I will be talking about how high their organic search rankings are through a real search engine on the web. Seeing how a company ranks in a search engine is a good way to determine their effectiveness at SEM or Search engine marketing.  Having impeccable SEM is an extremely crucial step for a business in this day in age to run at an optimal level.  Since we live in a digital era having this high ranking is great search engine marketing because a higher ranking gives more potential consumers a chance to see that company first. So in theory having people view that company first when searching for products related to that company can lead to higher sales and overall market share.  In addition to their SEM, finding and analyzing their social media presence on the web will be covered. Social media is just as important to companies such as Microsoft because of the exposure and interactivity it creates with consumers.    

               The search engine I am currently using to analyze Microsoft in this blog is google. In order for a Microsoft to get their name on the web they first develop a strategy designed to show the consumers what they are about. They then start a campaign where they create a website full of information and key words that are meant to be pulled up once searched in an engine. In order to have these words highlighted in a search engine Microsoft writes HTML code that links the searched word or words to their website. After using google to search Microsoft it is apparent that Microsoft’s organic ranking works pretty well for one big reason. Like every other huge corporation they created a SEO campaign and followed the process used by many marketers that is comprised of 5 to 6 steps. They begin this process by knowing for sure who their target market is, which means they know exactly what their customers are searching online. Knowing who their market is makes it a lot easier on a marketer when it comes to placing keywords. This intimate knowledge of who wants to buy Microsoft products helps the company narrow down the keywords needed to register with a search engine company. Altogether this ensures that Microsoft is one of the first companies to appear once chosen keywords are searched relating to them or their products. When it comes to keys words they uses a variety of them for their products. Being a tech company words such as tablet, computer, and windows are what they focus a bulk of their key wording around. These are some very important words since if any of these are typed into a search engine than Microsoft is the first if not one of the first companies to appear from the search. As said before being one the first companies to appear is great for business since people more than likely will click on some of the first links provided to them.

                Another key aspect of Microsoft maintaining a strong presence on the web is through their use of Social media. As stated earlier in my blog Social media is a great tool that Microsoft uses in order to increase popularity amongst existing and future consumers. Still just like their search engine ranking, Microsoft also has to develop a strategy when using social media to best address the consumer. The strategy that many companies follow like Microsoft uses social media in four different ways. These manipulations of social media include using it to listen, communicate, engage, and collaborate with consumers. So to check their presence within social media I started by checking to see if they were on Twitter and Facebook, which I consider to be the big 2 in SM. As far as I can tell they use these two different Medias to mainly listen, and communicate. Through both Twitter and Facebook Microsoft can listen very well to their consumers providing them the information or feedback they are seeking. These sites allow them to become much more active with consumers since SM helps Microsoft extend its ability to reach their target market. In addition the immediacy provided by the internet lets the company listen and communicate back to their market in a real time response that otherwise would not be as quick or open for other to see.

             Personally I think that Microsoft’s organic search ranking has covered all the basic steps of having a good SEO campaign. They know who they are selling to, what they want, and they know keywords associated with their products that will be put in a search engine. I can only really see them improving in the field of Social Media. I say this because they only utilize 2 of the 4 steps seen in any SMM strategy. If they could somehow incorporate more engagement and collaboration amongst their customers than it would not be impossible to think that total value as a company will increase.