Social media marketing and SEO are becoming more and more intertwined as time goes by. The search engines have freely admitted that they look at social signals to influence the SERPs. This means that the more times a piece of content is shared on the social networks the more valuable and trusted it becomes in the eyes of the search engines.
Watch this week’s SEO video lesson here!
For more social media marketing tips and lessons from Nick Stamoulis, check out the Brick Marketing social media marketing video lesson archive.
If you look right above this post next to the author byline you’ll see a row of widgets (Twitter, Facebook, Google+, email and ShareThis). These little social share buttons are actually a critical component of my content promotion campaign, and they should be part of yours! Social share buttons allow your readers to submit your content to their favorite social networking or social bookmarking site without ever having to leave your blog. Essentially, social share buttons allow your readers to promote your content for you. However, a recent BrightEdge report shows that about half of the largest 10,000 sites don’t display any kind of social sharing link or buttons at all.
If you are one of those sites without social share buttons, are you aware of what you’re missing out on?
Social Signals
The search engines have freely admitted that social signals are being included in their ranking algorithm. This means that the more times a piece of content is shared/Tweeted/Liked/posted etc. the more value it has in the eyes of the search engines. If you don’t have social share buttons on your site, you’re not getting all the social signals you could be. The BrightEdge report I mentioned earlier also found that pages that show Twitter share buttons get 7 times the social media mentions than sites that don’t! Reaching a Wider Audience
It may be a hard pill to swallow, but not everyone has heard of your company. Your social network doesn’t include everyone in your target audience, but that doesn’t mean your content can reach beyond those you are connected with. Social share buttons allow your readers to share your content on their social profiles, which means everyone in their network now has access to it. You never know exactly how far a Facebook post or Tweet may reach and how many potential customers will be exposed to it. Even if you don’t get new social connections or customers right away, you are building more touch points with a broader audience.
Makes Your Content User-Friendly
Adding social share buttons to your site is one small thing you can do to improve the overall user-experience of your site. Social share buttons allow your readers to post content they find interesting to their social networks right then and there, and they don’t have to leave your site to do it. It may not seem like a lot (to have them leave your site, login to their social network of choice and then submit your content) but that’s three extra steps you are asking your readers to take. Not to mention that it drives traffic AWAY from your site. Social share buttons let your visitors post your content to as many social networking sites as they want AND keep them on your site for longer, increasing your chance of conversion.
Twitter is one of the Big 3 of social networking (alongside Facebook and LinkedIn) and a valuable component of any social media marketing strategy. There are probably hundreds of blog posts out there telling site owners to get a Twitter account because they are “supposed” to. But what are the real benefits of incorporating Twitter into the online marketing mix? Can Twitter actually help your SEO or is it just another place to make noise and hope someone notices?
Here are 3 ways Twitter affects your SEO:
Social Signals
Both Google and Bing have admitted that social media signals are being incorporated into the search algorithm as a ranking factor. While we can only speculate as to how important social signals are, it’s probably save to say very much so. Bing patterned with Facebook to create a more personalized, social SERP and Google launched its own social networking platform. I doubt the two search behemoths would do so if they weren’t assigning some value to social signals.
So how does Twitter play into this? Content shared on Twitter can be indexed by the search engines and actually rank in the search results. The more time a piece of content is Tweeted and reTweeted, the more important it becomes in the eyes of the search engines. Just like your site thrives off of quality links, so do social signals.
Author Authority
Author authority is why it is important to take the time to actually build a Twitter profile and connect with real, human users. The search engines know that when they announce a new ranking signal, the spammers come out of the woodwork and try to manipulate it. If Google says reTweets are important, you can bet that black hat companies are creating hundreds of dummy accounts that exist solely to reTweet their content. Author authority aims to put a stop to that.
The search engines don’t just look at how many times your content is being Tweeted, but who is doing the Tweeting! How long has that person been active on Twitter? Who are their followers? What kind of content do they usually share? They want to make sure that spam profiles don’t artificially inflate the popularity of a piece of content. Having a dozen real profiles Tweet your blog post or article is worth much more than having 100 bots do the same.
Brand Awareness
If you think the only goal of SEO is to rank number one, you’re missing the bigger picture. Of course you want to rank well, but SEO is also designed to increase your overall online presence and brand awareness so your target audience can more easily find you. Twitter is a great way to increase your brand awareness. It allows you to connect with your customers in a new and personalized way. When someone Tweets about your brand/products, they are broadcasting your message to their social network as well, increasing your reach.
The worlds of SEO and social media were rocked the other day when Bing announced they will incorporate Facebook data into their search results for the most personal social-search integration to hit the web. What does this mean for the user? If you search for something on Bing and are logged into your Facebook account, you will see which pages, products and websites your friends Like and recommend high in the results, regardless of where that page ranks in the general SERP.
Back in October 2010, Bing one-upped Google be forming a partnership with Facebook, establishing the importance of social factors on search results. The amount of information shared between Facebook and Bing was limited, but the foundation was set. Then in February of this year, Bing announced they were incorporating Facebook Like data into their search results. The newest integration is the most personalized to date.
According the Bing blog, …Bing is bringing the collective IQ of the Web together with the opinions of the people you trust most, to bring the “Friend Effect” to search…you can receive personalized search results based on the opinions of your friends by simply signing into Facebook. New features make it easier to see what your Facebook friends “like” across the Web, incorporate the collective know-how of the Web into your search results, and begin adding a more conversational aspect to your searches. Decisions can now be made with more than facts, now the opinions of your trusted friends and the collective wisdom of the Web.
Check out this video from Bing about the Facebook information integration
Here are a few things Bing and Facebook have done to create a personalized search like none before:
1. Instantly see which stories, content and sites your Facebook friends have “liked.”
2. Bing will surface results, which may typically have been on page three or four, higher in its results based on stuff your friends have liked.
3. Bing shows well-liked content, including trending topics, articles and Facebook fan pages, from sites across the web.
4.By combining Facebook’s communication tools with Bing, search can become conversational and turn decision-making on Bing from a passive experience to an active dialogue.
5.Bing not only shows you what your friends like and share online, but also what major brands and companies are saying.
Some are saying that this integration has changed the face of SEO forever. Others are saying it’s still not enough to take on Google.
How do you think the Facebook-Bing integration will affect SEO?
