Google’s Guide to UGCs

Gone are the days of traditional marketing. People no longer enjoy TV ads. They seldom go out for window shopping and impulsive buying during a sale in physical shops. A digital marketing speaker Hong Kong highlights that the 2020 pandemic has significantly disrupted consumer behaviors. From brick-and-mortar stores, modern consumers prefer to search and purchase products and services online.

Most brands and businesses now build shops using their social media pages. According to a social media agency Hong Kong, these digital shops are directly connected to their eCommerce websites. Such a system is called social commerce. As they make the buying experience easier and faster, people are getting more interested in such schemes.

Even a video marketing agency Hong Kong notes that online SEO can greatly boost brand discovery and sales. That is why most brands and businesses seek to optimize their SEO ranking on Google. Being the world’s largest search engine, Google also uses user-generated content to promote brands, products, and services. Below is Google’s guide to UGCs.

WHAT ARE UGCs?

UGC stands for user-generated content. They are content uploaded by users on a social media platform like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. They are not curated because they are not meant as an advertisement. In an organic way, they can promote products and services. This is by boosting the discovery and reach of a brand. They also validate the good reputation of the business.

As a Google publisher, there are things that brands and businesses need to consider when running ads on the site.

First and foremost, running Google ads must follow Google’s Publisher Policies. It is to ensure that comments, forums, and social media posts strictly follow the Program Policies of Google. Any content violation is subject to Publisher Restrictions. To comply with the guidelines, brands and businesses should strictly monitor UGC and other content on Google. Alternatively, they can partner with a third-party website to do so.

Second, Google strongly recommends publishing a content policy on every social media page or website for a brand or business. Users should clearly be informed on what is allowed and prohibited. If possible, encourage users to report bad content. They should also set aside time to review their UGC pages consistently. A page moderator can perform such tasks.

Third, Google provided filtering tools to monitor UGC content. It includes a CAPTCHA to eliminate bots posting spam content. With an automated filtering system, you can detect harmful UGCs.

HOW TO IMPROVE SEO VIA UGCs

More than 1/3 of shoppers start with online searches. That is why it is very important for brands and businesses to improve SEO via UGCs.

When posting UGCs on social media pages, brands should see to it that the right caption, meta description, and title should contain relevant keywords. When we mean relevant, it should relate to the brand, product, or niche. It also means that these keywords are commonly what searchers type when looking for your product or service category and line.

Every social network attracts a specific group of audiences. So, brands and businesses should be smart enough to choose which social network they should post their UGCs on:

Facebook members are divided between 777% females and 66% males.
Millennials cover around 60% of Instagram users.
Twitter houses more male users than females.

It is also important to build social proof in Google using UGC. Brands and businesses can do this by activating user ratings and reviews on their Google listing.

Reference: https://blog.google/products/adsense/your-guide-user-generated-content/