With all this extra time on their hands, singletons have apparently been turning their attention to the quest to find love, and there has been a reported surge in the number of people exploring online dating sites.

Two online dating sites which invest significantly in online PR and digital advertising, Mysinglefriend.com and Singles365.com, both reported huge traffic increases during the week ending 8th January. Mysinglefriend.com saw a massive 55% increase in visitors on Tuesday 5th, with Singles365.com seeing an increase of 27% over Tuesday and Wednesday.

Katie Mowe, spokeswoman for Singles365.com, said, “January is our busiest month anyway, as many single people make it their New Years Resolution to find a partner. However, the increase in traffic over the past two days has been very unusual, as typically they are quiet days for us – we are usually busiest at weekends. We can only put this down to the bad weather meaning more people are staying at home.”

Similarly, Sarah Beeny, founder of Mysinglefriend.com, said the snow was “proving to be an icebreaker for singles out there. January has always been our busiest month, but this surge in traffic is unprecedented.”

Elsewhere in the online dating world, IllicitEncounters.com, which provides a platform for married couples to conduct affairs, said it gained a record number of new users during the week – 37% more than usual – with the majority of new members coming from areas such as Hampshire, Berkshire and the West Country, which were among the worst hit by the extreme weather.

Spokeswoman Sara Hartley said, “In light of these figures, I’d be interested to see how much work those working from home have actually done!”

These findings can help other online dating agencies to fine-tune their online PR campaigns to take full advantage of this unusual scenario. Any dating company employing a digital agency must ensure they are doing everything to optimize their website’s visibility during this period, and using tools such as strategic link building to ensure their sites achieve the highest possible search engine rankings. And with Valentine’s Day just around the corner, the timing could not be more critical.

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The goal of SEO is to gain the highest possible position for your company’s website in a search engine’s “natural” search results. That’s the results that appear in the main body of the screen on Google for example, rather than the “paid” listings that appear on the right hand side or top of the results. These are the results that 91% of consumers prefer to browse and select from, when looking to make a purchase (Tamar’s 2008 search attitudes report). This statistic alone should highlight just how vital SEO has become.

More than half of all internet users use search engines at least once a day, and when browsing search results, 92% of consumers select a result from within the first three pages.

SEO is therefore extremely effective for online lead generation, increasing online sales or simply increasing your website’s online presence and brand awareness.

There are a number of reasons why SEO is a highly effective part of an online marketing strategy, one of the main reasons being it’s return on investment. Companies do not have to pay search engines to appear in “natural” search results or when a link to their site is clicked, so any click-throughs could be classed as “free” traffic, and investment in an SEO strategy is regarded as being more cost effective than “pay per click” or banner advertising.

Due to the complexity of SEO, many companies choose to employ a digital agency specifically for this task, and one of the many essential aspects they will incorporate into the strategy is link building. Link building consists of the strategic placing of links to your company’s website on third party websites, forums, social media sites and directories, and within the content of press release articles. This increases your website’s overall relevance to Google and in turn boosts it’s position in the search rankings.

Without good SEO a company risks it’s website sinking into obscurity and a significant loss in internet traffic. It also risks it’s brand not being taken seriously and loss of reputation as a result.

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Throughout the journey, these “Happiness Ambassadors”, chosen by online voters from all over the World, will take photos, make videos, conduct interviews and send out updates via Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Youtube and other social networking sites.

Along the way, the trio will visit events like the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the World Expo in Shanghai, giving real-time feedback as they go. Suggestions of places to visit or stay at each location, the places where they dine and shop, and the activities they get up to, will all come from replies and comments made by the public online.

In the build-up to the launch of the campaign, Coca Cola’s Group Director of Digital Communications, Adam Brown, in an interview posted at www.socialmedia.org, stated, “The first mantra we came to live by at Coke was to fish where the fish are. We realize the importance of putting content in the places where our fans already are. The second idea is keeping fans first. Online, our brands are really what our fans say they are. When we participate on Facebook and Twitter, we’re in many ways invited guests.”

He also stated, about Expedition 206, that, “It’s like a reality TV show, without the TV”

Perhaps unusually, the idea for Expedition 206 did not come from a digital agency or marketing department, but from Coca Cola’s senior vice president of Global Public Affairs And Communications, Clyde Tuggle, indicating how seriously big companies are taking social media and online PR.

The expedition itself will begin in January next year, starting from Madrid, Spain and will end in December at Coca Cola’s birthplace in Atlanta, USA.

Coca Cola’s Facebook fan page has almost 4 million fans proving it has already become more than just a soft drink brand. There are also discussions about it’s famous “holidays are coming” Christmas TV ad, which has had over a million views on Youtube.

Gary Collins, CEO of Status Media, a specialist digital agency, based in the UK commented, “It’s no surprise with the growth of social media that big brands such as Coca Cola are investing in global strategies to engage with their audience. We’ll be boosting our online PR and social media strategies for brands in 2010″.

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