By now a lot of us may be tired of hearing about Klout, because it just doesn’t seem to make all that much sense to many. Measuring social influence is a great idea, but for some reason people still don’t seem to take these numbers seriously. Even after Klout made changes back in September 2012 (originally Klout scores only used about 100 signals to create this number, now they use more than 400), the response hasn’t grown much more positive.
However, Klout is not giving up. The network that aims to give you a score based on your influence online and on social media accounts keeps making it harder to ignore by bringing in some very serious players. As of this week, Klout has announced that Bing data and Instagram activities will now be a part of Klout’s algorithm.
Changes to Klout Scores: What It Means to You
How the New Klout Changes Will Work with Bing
The first, and probably most interesting, change is the partnership with Bing. Klout and Bing partnered up last fall. However, this week they have actually decided to take things to a new level.
First, Klout is going to use information about search results and Bing rankings in its algorithm. You have to first connect your account, and then watch your score increase (adding any new network to your Klout score will only help it improve) over the next few weeks. You can connect your Bing account by simply clicking the Bing logo that you will see under your name. It takes less than 30 seconds to get synced up. Below is a screenshot demonstrating where you can find it:
Second, Bing is going to show the Klout scores of some professionals right there on the search engine. Below is a screenshot of one celebrity search result where the Klout score is shown right along with other basic information about the star:
As of right now, only some celebrities have their Klout scores displayed on a Bing SERP (search engine results page). Klout is currently working on more ways to use the new partnership with Bing to affect Klout scores.
How the New Klout Changes Will Work with Instagram
Syncing up your Klout account with your Instagram account is a sure-fire way for many individuals to improve their Klout scores. You simply click the Instagram icon exactly the same way you did when you wanted to sync Bing, and you’re set to go. All of your Instagram moves will be factored into your score, and some of your Instagram photos will even make it to your homepage. According to an article on Social Media Today, over 77 percent of users who connected their Instagram accounts will see a score increase of between 1 to 5 points.
What the New Klout Changes Mean for Your Small Business
While only some celebrities can see the change on Bing, it’s safe to say that someday your Klout scores will be on display in Bing search results. Google currently displays the number of Google+ followers an author might have, thanks to Google authorship, and uses this number to help users learn more about a particular search result. Is it safe to assume that someday Bing will be doing something similar with Klout scores?
It’s tough to say for sure. This isn’t really an assumption you should make. However, it makes sense to start getting prepared and looking at your Klout score a little bit more seriously. This is something that is going to set Bing apart from Google, and you never quite know what will come next.
The Prosecution: Regardless of the fact that Klout is making these changes, they likely won’t be enough for some people. It’s hard to reduce your influence down to one number, despite the fact that a search engine is getting on board. It doesn’t take into account different industries where you may have more influence than others, and it doesn’t take into account the success of a website you might have on your own.
I would have to say I agree that Klout still isn’t where it needs to be, but the idea is interesting. It seems to be moving in the right direction, but only time will tell.
What are your thoughts on the new Klout advancements? Do you think that Bing will start to use Klout information when it comes time to rank websites? Will you take Klout more seriously, now that they are using data from Bing?
I am a full supporter of Klout firstly and I agree everything you say in this article. I have always believed in Klout and always will. I also agree that they have many more improvements to make however, they are making them, slowly but surely. The score now is more meaningful than it was a year ago because they are adding a lot more to their system such as info found about you on Bing. Influence is found through other sources than just via your social networks and I am happy that they are finally doing something about this.
I agree Miriam! Definitely have a long way to go, but we can’t completely ignore the fact that they are moving in the right direction. Hopefully this will be a fun network to watch grow and develop. I think people are more sensitive about Klout because it labels you (whereas when Facebook makes changes it more just annoys you sometimes), so we will see what the future holds. Thanks for reading!
Will Klout score become a similar measurement of influence in Bing searches, compared to +1s in Google searches?
As of right now, no. I think if that happend that would really change EVERYTHING. We would see people putting a lot more attention into that algorithm and what their scores are! I don’t think Bing will do anything like this in terms of rankings, but I suppose you never know. Thanks for reading!
Interesting new tactic taken on by Klout, but you’re right. It may not be enough to accurately reflect online presence. I’m not sure there’s any surefire way to tell.
There are still a lot of holes with the whole idea, so like you said who knows if it will really be possible someday. Nonetheless, the fact that they are still going strong and getting innovative is interesting!