Why Social Signals Are Important To Search Engine Ranking
Does Google search factor in our social media activity?
Currently, their algorithm does not directly measure your networks. But it does pick up on social signals, which are generated from conversations, shares, retweets, and content.
Any links that are included with your marketing have the potential to be clicked on and shared. Thus, they create a social signal and a link back to your sales page or website.
If your brand is frequently mentioned through conversations, this can ultimately have an impact on your search rankings. The higher the mentions, the better chances of your business being seen on places like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. And that means more visitors coming in.
The better your content is on social media, the more chances you will have of it being picked up or crawled by the search engines. Convince and Convert illustrates this here:
According to marketing expert, Larry Kim, on Facebook, in particular, there is a correlation between high engagement on posts, which end up having a higher organic CTR.
“It’s about how engaging your content is.”
~ Larry Kim
Google Plus is set apart from other social networks in that certain phrases and headlines help improve your ranking. The number of plus ones on a post from a connection in your circles can also affect how your content is measured. That is shown here in this video on Orbit Media Studios:
Content and trust have become more important on social media, and works together to establish your business as a leading authority, which Google picks up on in search. This affects your website ranking as well as your social influence and relevance.
After major social networks like Facebook and Twitter have combatted spam bots, it has become more important than ever to have a strong, authentic social media presence in order to effectively build your brand.
Here are three ways to use social signals in your SEO marketing plan:
1 – Focus on More Authentic Followers
Your business can purchase fans and followers on social media. But these will not be interested and targeted community members. They will not comment on or share what you have to offer. In order to be authentic you need to have a strong following based on relationships.
Google’s latest algorithm update can detect fake accounts and real conversations. The quality of your connections matter and you will want to evaluate your current networks to eliminate as many spam accounts as possible.
You can use various online tools such as Twitter Audit and FakeCheck for Instagram to find and remove fake accounts.
2 – Include Relevant Hashtags and Links
In the past, external links were very important to include in content in order to get noticed. This is still an essential part of SEO. But it does not have as much weight as what is being sent out from your social networks. Because of this, you will want to include any important website links and relevant hashtags in order to build social proof and attract inbound links that matter to your audience.
3 – Focus on Visual Marketing
In today’s fast-paced mobile environment you need to catch your visitors quickly with images and videos that inform and encourage interactions. These include infographics, live video, native video, and podcasts. The more helpful and appealing your content is, the more chance it will have of entering into conversations. And yes, that will affect your search engine ranking.
As Google continues to update its algorithm based on human responses and interactions, social media will continue to play an important role in your brand being seen in search. This will also increase the need for an authentic and well-established community. If your content serves their needs and desires, that community will become more engaged. It is that genuine and trusted persona that has the most weight. Follower numbers alone, mean little to nothing to your bottom line. Only those who engage, build links in articles. So only those followers actually make a positive difference.
You may also want to read: Want More Instagram Followers? Here Are 3 Foolproof Ways
9 Great Ways to Increase Engagement on Social Media
Featured image: Copyright: ‘https://www.123rf.com/profile_rawpixel‘ / 123RF Stock Photo
Susan Gilbert
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