When it comes to combining humor and the Internet, my favorite quote comes from actor/comedian Denis Leary in a television spot for the online video provider Hulu.com: “Now I need you to take your stubby little human fingers and hit this button on Hulu. Then you can share TV shows on your bliggety blogs and your Facey-spaceys and your Tweety pages for all of your bookwormy anti-Boobtubey friends.”

I have been encouraging readers and clients to embrace and take advantage of the various social networks online, and Leary nails the proverbial nail on the head with that statement by referring to the leading social networks on the Internet—Blogs, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Of course, there is also potential in MySpace, LinkedIn, Squidoo, StumbleUpon and more waiting to be joined and to improve online exposure. What it all brings us to is this issue’s topic: Social Search.

You can opt into Social Search from google.com/experimental. Creating your profile will allow you to add links to your website, blog and social network profiles.

Social Search is one of the latest opportunities coming from the search engine gurus at Google. Google Social Search is a feature that helps displays relevant web content from people in users’ social circles when they’re signed in to their Google account. For example, if I were to search for a set of tires for my pickup, links and reviews from my social networking contacts may appear more prominently in the results. Likewise, contacts of those contacts who have reviewed or linked to tires provides Google even more relevancy to the term by understanding that we all have something in common.

What that means for those of you who have been building a solid online presence within various social networks is that your time and effort is well on its way to providing even more benefits in terms of SEO (search engine optimization). This is due to the fact that once Social Search is integrated into Google’s existing algorithm, the number of contacts you have established will effect the search results for your products and services. The more followers you have on Twitter, fans on your Facebook page and contacts from all of your social networks the better, as these will all be inclusive and relevant in the eyes of the mighty Google Bot.

In simple terms, consider the organic search results I get for my dart shirts website. I tend to rank number one with the website, and my blog, Squidoo pages, Facebook and other social networks variously sprinkle themselves throughout the top 20 results (and possibly beyond). Plugging myself into Social Search Google should find not only those results, but additionally find me through all of the fans on my Facebook page, friends on MySpace, subscribers to my blog, readers of my RSS feeds and followers I have on Twitter… not to mention those connected to my online contacts that are active dart players. In short, the results could easily be multiplied in a huge way.

To get started you must of course have a Google account. Then login to http://www.google.com/experimental/ and opt in to Social Search. You will then need to create your Google Profile. This will not only create another avenue for search engines to find you, but will also allow you to add links to your website, blog and of course plug in the social networks you use. It is also a good idea to include links to relevant websites that link to you such as vendors, partners and colleagues in the industry that may share similar search terms. Be sure to make your profile keyword friendly. This is, of course all about SEO. Once your profile is tuned in, Google does the rest. 

On your end, maintaining your social networks remains just as relevant as before. Be sure all of them include links to your website, blog and other networks. Keep them all updated, active and targeted. And of course, encourage your followers/friends/fans to spread the word to gain even more exposure. Plug your blogs RSS feed into your social networks, and plug your social networks’ RSS feeds into each other. The more you have everything talking to each other, the more your audience stays updated and the more information the search engines have to discover.

Social networking has been a valuable tool for Internet marketing for quite a while now, and Social Search may just take that to a whole new level. Jump in with both feet first and ride another wave to success before your competitors discover this new opportunity.