MANILA, Philippines – The presidential candidates in the country's 2016 elections appear to be making their mark on social media. On Facebook, for example, 20% of the 49 million users in the Philippines are "actively engaged and are sharing their opinions on key election issues."
But how are the candidates faring on Google – another key player in the online arena? Are they making headway in the world's biggest search engine as well? Or, in the first place, are they even aware of what turns up when their names are searched?
Landing in the top results of Google is no easy task. Getting to number one involves implementing a sound search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. SEO entails goal setting, understanding user behavior, and knowing when to complement that behavior with the use of keywords.
Top searched presidential candidates
One has to remember, though, that there are multiple reasons why people search for candidates' names on Google.
It could either be because you're thinking of voting for that candidate, or it's also possible that you want to dig up dirt. Another reason might be because you want to verify what you saw on social media, watched on TV, or read in the newspapers.
We used Google Trends, an online tool that shows the amount of interest, to check who among the 5 presidential hopefuls have drawn the highest level of interest in the Philippines starting January this year.
Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel "Mar" Roxas II is leading the pack, while Senator Grace Poe ranks second. Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago is in third place, closely followed by Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. Vice President Jejomar Binay is in last place.
Where interest is coming from
Still based on Google Trends, we checked out the top 3 places where interest is coming from for each candidate:
- Roxas – Eastern Visayas, Soccsksargen, Bicol
- Poe – Caraga, Bicol, Cagayan Valley
- Santiago – Cordillera Administrative Region, Western Visayas, Bicol
- Duterte – Soccsksargen, Eastern Visayas, Caraga
- Binay – Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Northern Mindanao
Interest during the presidential debates
We then checked if there were any changes in the level of interest during the weeks of the presidential debates.
Cagayan de Oro presidential debate – February 21, 2016
Roxas was the top searched candidate, followed by Poe, Santiago, Duterte, and then Binay.
Cebu presidential debate – March 20, 2016
The rankings were the same for the second debate in Cebu.
Pangasinan presidential debate – April 24, 2016
Roxas was still in the lead, but Santiago ranked second, Poe third, Duterte fourth, and Binay last.
Searches for all the candidates except for Binay increased significantly from the previous debate.
Google search results
After getting a glimpse of the amount of searches for each of the candidates, we wondered what would turn up first if we searched for each of them on Google using their surnames. Here's what the basic results showed as of posting time.
Binay
All the top results point to the Vice President, including a Wikipedia page and the latest news about him. Rounding up first page results are his Facebook page and the official website of the Vice President.
Santiago
Similar to the results for Binay, a Wikipedia page about the senator turns up first, followed by her Twitter account and then her official website. Santiago's Senate profile page is also included in the top 10.
Duterte
All top search results directly refer to the Davao City mayor. Note that his Facebook account currently ranks higher than the Wikipedia page for him. News articles about Duterte also appear on the first page.
Poe
It's completely different, however, for Poe. The search results are a combination of webpages about American writer Edgar Allan Poe as well as Path of Exile, a role-playing game. There was nothing about the senator on the first page, even when we scrolled all the way down.
Roxas
The top search results lead to the former interior secretary, with the latest news and a Wikipedia page about him showing up first. What's interesting are the image results showing another Roxas – a character from Kingdom Hearts, also a role-playing game.
What can candidates do?
Knowing how a name appears on a search engine like Google can be a useful guide to improve online presence and reach more voters.
Candidates can play around with different versions of their name and then research which of them has searches. They can build their brand from there, starting with a website and social media accounts.
To our readers, do you consult Google for information about the 2016 candidates? How will the stories influence your vote on May 9? Let us know in the comments. – Rappler.com