Barry Welch, developer of FurnishWEB and founder of Internet Databases, is one entrepreneur who has taken steps to imprint social search with his company's growing social media footprint.

In just one year, Welch has gone from hosting a traditional business web site to expanding his presence as an entrepreneur and business founder, as well as that of FurnishWEB, in multiple social media channels.

His list of social media channels includes:

• The FurnishWEB Blog
• A CEO blog
• @furnishwEB and @barrywelch on Twitter 
• A Barry Welch profile page on LinkedIn
• A FurnishWEB YouTube Channel
• Ongoing media coverage by Handshake 2.0
• A FurnishWEB Facebook Fan Page 
• Membership on the Ning GoFurnish network

Has Barry Welch become the Guy Kawasaki of the Furniture Industry? No.

Is FurnishWEB the SaaS armchair of the Furniture Industry? Not yet.

Can FurnishWEB and Barry Welch be found in search results due to their expanded social media footprint? Yes.

By expanding the social media presence of his company and himself, Welch has increased the number of opportunities to be found in search engines. Since social search was added to the search algorithm in December of 2009, social networks now play an important part in how results are ranked in a search. You've read it before: Google yourself. Video yourself. It works.

To read more about FunishWEB's evolving online presence, click here.

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Z. Kelly Queijo is the founder of SmartCollegeVisit and a frequent contributor to Handshake 2.0. You're invited to follow SmartCollegeVisit on Twitter, @collegevisit.

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Internet Databases, developer of FurnishWEB, is a client of Handshake Media, Incorporated, the parent company of Handshake 2.0.