Greater onus is placed on social signals, or social ranking factors,
than ever before. This article looks at the main social networks and
which signals are given greater weight by the search engines.
The question of whether Google prefers social signals or traditional
links is something of a moot point. The most effective search
optimization campaigns are those that are loaded with high quality and
fresh website content, and those that include a wide variety of natural
links and social signals. Therefore, creating a website profile that
includes links and social signals will give you the best results.
While links have been discussed at great length in many high quality
posts on the Internet, social signals enjoy less exposure and coverage.
So, what exactly are social signals and how can you go about developing
them for the benefit of your website and your business? It’s worth
noting that the exact weight of these signals is not known but they
should all be considered important to the performance of your website
within search engine rankings.
Facebook
When we talk about social media and social networking, Facebook is
the first site that most people mention. It has the largest user base
and is the best known. While it may not prove fruitful as a means of
directly driving traffic to a site it is certainly worth consideration
for the possible social signals that it offers.
Facebook Signals
Facebook Shares and Likes are important because they indicate that
users are not only viewing your content but are passing it to those in
their network and are bookmarking it for future reference. Comments
indicate that your readers are getting involved in the discussions that
you start. As with virtually all ranking factors, the authority of the
Likes, Shares, and Comments that you receive will help improve their
weight.
Twitter
Twitter has proven a beneficial marketing tool for many businesses
and websites. A well-constructed Tweet can be seen by millions of people
and a viral campaign can begin from a particularly appealing message.
The brief nature of Twitter has helped make it popular.
Twitter Signals
In terms of social ranking factors, the number of Tweets you post is
unlikely to yield any kind of benefit. Similarly, the number of
followers you have will bear less importance than the authority of your
followers. Mentions, retweets, and links within these disseminated
Tweets are likely to have a big impact on your social media signals so
look to create Tweets that are popular with a large number of high
profile users.
Google+
Google+ is the newest of the three social networks but its
affiliation to the Google brand gives it obvious relevance and
importance. Ignoring Google’s own social network is folly and the rate
at which the site has ballooned in user numbers is testament to the fact
that others hold similar beliefs.
Google+ Signals
A +1 is deemed a digital vote of confidence for a page or post but it
is the authority of the person that clicks the +1 button that will bear
an influence on your rankings. Similarly, adds and shares will be
considered and greater weight will be afforded to those signals that
come from highly authoritative members. The rate at which your message
spreads is also believed to be of importance and, bearing in mind how
much control Google has over this particular network, the amount of
influence that your Google+ account has is only likely to increase.
Other Social Media Websites
There are, of course, many other social media websites and while the
three mentioned above are the biggest and most popular, it can pay
handsome dividends to concentrate at least some of your efforts on more
niche networks. The likes of LinkedIn have proven very beneficial for
business users and professionals while YouTube and Flickr are excellent
examples of social media sharing websites. Pinterest is one of the
newest social media entities and it has already gained incredible value
in marketing and specifically in SEO campaigns.
The Importance of Authority
When Google considers any social media websites and ranks social
media signals, they are likely to consider authority as much as they
consider total volume. They consider relevance, value, and authority to
be more important than sheer weight of numbers. While it is relatively
easy to buy thousands of likes it is much more difficult to acquire a
few likes from high profile and highly authoritative accounts. This
gives Google the opportunity to promote higher quality pages and sites
within their own rankings.
Other Social Factors
It is possible that the search engines also consider other, perhaps
less obvious factors. If they can measure the Click Through Rate of
links and likes from social media websites then this would prove a
valuable indicator of quality and legitimacy. The age of your account
and how naturally your network has been built will also be considered
where possible.
Social Signals And SEO
Remember that Google looks for quality above all else and in all of
their ranking factors. They will give greater weight to social signals
from the networks that they believe to be of a higher quality and they
will give greater weight to the signals that they believe are a more
accurate indication of quality. Don’t simply opt for a volume campaign
when developing your social media and, instead, consider the quality. Of
course, if you can develop a large volume of authoritative signals then
this will give you the greatest results possible.
Soucre http://www.sitepronews.com
Social Signals and Their Role in SEO