Web News

Google Search Pushes Twitter Traffic to Record High

Social networking service Twitter reached its highest number of unique hits in January, following a deal with Google that allowed users to search user's "tweets" (micro-blog entries) directly from the search engine.

The site welcomed 21.79 million unique visitors in January, beating the previous month's record of 21.25 million. Social Media Portal founder Tim Gibbon believes the news is proof that social media, particularly micro-blogging, is closely tied to the mainstream.

Gibbons added that as the technology becomes more and more available to non-tech savvy audiences, as Twitter and its contemporaries have done, social media will be an important and lasting part of the marketing landscape in the years to come.

Internet marketing professionals should not look upon social media as a fad, adds Gibbons. According to him, mainstream interest in microblogging has only started, and its role in the marketing game should not be overlooked.

Sam Tilson, marketing director for computer accessory retailer Zoombits.co.uk, agrees that social networking is vital to success in any online business, singling out Twitter and Facebook as the two main vehicles to search marketing success.

Google was among the first to recognize the importance of tying social media to search marketing. In late 2009, it launched a new search system that incorporated more social media content, such as blogs and tweets, into search engine result pages.

Twitter was created in 2006 by software architect Jack Dorsey and has since become one of the fastest-growing social networking sites, with Facebook and Zimbio coming in only in second and third place in 2009.