Google have today released its new addition on the Google Toolbar –Sidewiki. The new feature allows users to add helpful information about an entire page or part of a page. This is then published to the browser allowing anyone else with Sidewiki access to see it. So if you happen to like the site then you can give it a positive review. If you hate it you can do the exact opposite.
If you want to use Sidewiki you have to install the new Google Toolbar, if you already have the Google Toolbar then uninstall it and then re-install it from here. When re-installing the updated Google Toolbar you are asked whether you want to enable enhanced features or not to. Click enable enhanced features to enable Sidewiki to work.
Once up and running you will see an icon at the bottom of the page which says ‘write entry about this page’ when hovered over or you can click on the Sidewiki icon in the toolbar. Also when highlighting any text the icon appears to next to the text so you can make comments there. So that’s how to install it in a nutshell.
Naturally an addition such as this will raise all sorts of questions. Possibly one of the first questions that may come to mind is that this new feature can make your site vulnerable to vicious attacks from competitors/unsatisfied customers giving your site a bad reputation. Although still very plausible Google insist that they ‘work hard to ensure that only the highest quality, most relevant entries appear in the sidebar’ and so according to SELand there are some determinates that are taken into account when making comments. Such considerations include the use of sophisticated language (so people are not to use it to make any overly pejorative comments like ‘this site is crap’ for example).
Another determinant is that users get a reputation as comments can be flagged up or down. So a feature such as this can be a massive deterrent of people spamming or using the service in an abusive manner and also destroying any credibility of a comment.
Another major factor is that the user’s history is taken into account –so how long a user has possessed a Google Profile. This again gives comments further credibility and is a sure fire way to stop people from creating hundreds of Google Profiles in a bid to spam comment boxes of their own or competitor sites.
So with these factors all should be okay when it comes to your brands reputation as long as a good service is offered? In theory yes, however there is a lot more to consider as Sitewiki is another piece of evidence that Google are seriously looking at ways in which search results are given to people.
A few months back Google also released Searchwiki which allows users to vote a site up or down in Google search results. So with Searchwiki working in harmony with Sidewiki it could be that these results are incorporated into the natural algorithm which can have an effect on SEO. So this would straight away throw any complacency that brands have with their current rankings straight out the window. Why? Because never before has content been so important for a site.
Searchwiki and to a greater extent Sidewiki is pretty much another word of mouth function and as many brands know word of mouth in the traditional sense can be more powerful than any millions of pounds of advertising and marketing ever could. Bad reviews can be costly and so this has an adverse affect on reputation management – something that most brands begrudgingly want to spend money on. However there is one massive advantage that Sidewiki and Searchwiki have and that is that you still have a great degree of control.
Sidewiki for example can allow you to physically see up-to-date opinions visitors have of your site rather then the behind closed doors opinions that you would normally get from word of mouth. This means that you can use the opinions to your advantage and act to improve your site, eliminating any problems people have expressed and improving on features that people have liked.
This will nine times out of ten go back to the very fundamentals of internet marketing, that which is regurgitated time and time again no more so than in SEO - if you create good content then your site will benefit massively! So Google’s apparent nudge towards having a natural algorithm which will be controlled by the user is really the strongest indicator yet to get your site up to scratch and improve on content.
The evidence is there that Google really want a decent quality “wisdom of crowds” function to augment their results and that this could very possibly enhance their algorithm. So use the addition of Sidewiki and Searchwiki as a calling to get your site up to scratch and start to update your site with good/interesting content. It is certainly worth any expense and time and is guaranteed to stand you in good stead not only for the good of your sites reputation but for your sites rankings as well!