The Content Plays 6 Of The Largest Internet Giants Could Use To Control The Fight For Web Content

The internet is becoming a content battle ground, here are what some of the largest internet giants can do to win. 

Google+

Google+ as a platform to many is a platform in crisis, Google+ is primarily an identity engine not a social network and not an engagement engine. That said depending on your niche, depends on how well it works for you (and your business). I have always had success with two different types of posts on Google+, firstly SEO posts and recaps, or images of popular TV shows (namely Breaking Bad), basically both have been a blogging success for me, hence why I propose a blogging platform for Google+, Wordpress power up to 1 in 3 websites currently and Blogger (the platform) is losing its popularity. Google+ posts also rank in personalised search results which is why many people gain additional traffic to their plus profiles, for me there are a number of quick wins for Google and Google+, especially in the blog community which is often the driving force (after tech users) for mass uptake. A simple addition of a rich editor which integrates with the photo editing tool would automatically turn Google+ into a blogging platform, or even something more powerful for users, it would act like a blog extension for many people and would force more regular users as opposed to the “active toolbar users” they use today.

Facebook

Facebook can do no wrong since focusing on UX and mobile, Facebook is really a content hub, reinforced by their recent purposes emphasising its stance on sharing and the open web.
Whatsapp really is the icing on the cake for content sharing and hub sites openly commented on how many article shares happened on Whatsapp, especially in closed groups.

I remember before the games and apps how well notes and the extended status update does, notes where used by a smaller number of users but often acted like a diary or an open space to share thoughts and feelings, my personal opinion is Facebook are missing a trick and could offer open and private Facebook notes and turn it into an alternative blogging platform.

Facebook notes used to rank well and still have the ability to rank well, moving forward Facebook understand that limited characters work but importantly also long form status’ with pictures and opinions cause engagement. Rather than continuing changing their newsfeed algorithm I would be tempted to roll out notes as a blogging platform and seeing the update. Paper could incorporate private and public notes and really drive the content you want to read and engage with. This leads me onto Facebook app Paper. Paper has had solid feedback and generally successful user uptake since its release in the US, with Windows 8 and desktop apps, there is an option for Facebook to offer cross browser and device syncing between mobile app, mobile web and desktop, this will offer a non Facebook themed/branded destination and really push Facebook as a content powerhouse.

Twitter

Twitter is the go to place for many people to read and see breaking news, engage with celebrities, share their recent work or article, or in most cases engage with complete strangers. Twitter for me is many things but what it has done for the digital marketer is open up the industry and engage with people with similar interests and keep up with the continuing evolving landscape.
My Twitter enhancement would be “Twitter showcase”. Showcase in my mind is a place where engagement stays at tweet format (140 characters) but is designed for long form content that engages users. I know what a few people may say is that is what Medium is probably for, however keeping users on the Twitter platforms/apps and gaining more search exposure will help increase the decreasing sign up rates and pick back up engagement which seems the latest stats that investors now look for rather than page views or traffic numbers. Showcase could offer recaps, business and influencers the chance to add LinkedIn pulse style posts which will trend, have the ability to rank in search engines and increase followers at user level.

Pinterest

I love Pinterest, I unfortunately just don’t use it as much as I used to, I was (or still am) a Pin-fluencer in the UK, Pinterest is a great visual storyboard, mood board and showcase for visuals, gifs and videos. Pinterest introduced a feature where you can pin articles and long form articles and as someone who used Pinterest for a number of different reasons I would love to see Pinterest to introduce a “read it later style service”. There are a number of read it later services, namely Pocket, Pocket is my favourite and extremely useful however a product like this (from Pinterest) which leverage's a core pin feature and a display could be the brand push it needs outside the US. If you could read it later on an offline Pinterest themed app it let the brand resonate with more users and push their brand further. It would also allow users another place to showcase their work and allow people to read offline. Pinterest does a great job with image search and ever improving however if Pinterest want to be more and have a greater user base this read it later app is a good idea for them in my opinion.

Amazon

Amazon control SERP’s (search engine result pages) we know all this and mostly respect for it, Amazon rank for every book they stock and in all formats, it has a huge user base and often the first place the publications and authors check for the titles.

Amazon Kindle is another amazing story, a product which ultimately controls the e-book market, I would recommend to Amazon to think about creating a content distribution network for quality content. A CDN would work perfectly for Amazon, this would allow Amazon to appeal to wider authors, allow Amazon to charge small to large fees for distribution and it will also stop other competitors and new sites from becoming the powerhouse in content and the fight to become the leader in content distribution.

Wikipedia

Whatever you think about Wikipedia, you cannot deny their success, despite Google’s knowledge graph removing up to 20% of clicks. Wikipedia probably do not need to worry about the traffic levels but an idea I have had was to create Wikipedia verified accounts and update platform. Wikipedia is mostly trusted by users, imagine the ability for celebrities and their teams to actually update their own wiki page and update their page with news, information and pictures. I know this is not exactly the main idea of Wikipedia but to regain the traffic, increase the accuracy of their entries and increase the number of verified shares.

What would you recommend for large companies?