And in recent times, another factor has been added to the mix- social signals.
Why
Social Signals for SEO
Social
media sites are online platforms, where people are exchanging
recommendations about various products and services. And since people
are more likely to trust recommendations from people they know (who
are within their social media contacts), Google has decided to
incorporate this factor into the search parameters to deliver the
most relevant results to searchers.
But
the question still remains as to exactly how social
media affects search rankings.
And this post will attempt to answer that.
5
Ways Social Media Affects Search Rankings
- Strengthening Your Social Signals
Social
signals considered by Google include the number of social
recommendations your content has received as well as the social
authority of the sharer. Here
is a comprehensive guide
to using social signals for SEO.
So
everything else being same, the more likes, retweets and +1s your
content gets, it is likely to occupy a higher position on the SERP.
And
when your content is shared by influencers in your niche, it is
likely to have a bigger impact on your search rankings.
- Increasing Your Online Visibility
The
aim of SEO ultimately is to place your website at or near the top of
the SERP to encourage more traffic and enhance chances of conversion.
When you are present on social media, it is one more place where you
can be found online and thus increases your online visibility by that
much.
When
suitably optimized, your social media profiles will rank on page 1
right below your main website results, giving more space and
visibility of page 1. Consider this example below
Dominating
page 1 via social media
- Increasing Website Traffic
You
can use social media effectively to drive traffic to your website.
Share the link for your newest blog post on Facebook with a
compelling excerpt and get more people to click through to your
website. The surge of traffic alerts search engines and your website
ranking for the relevant keyword shoots up.
This
effect is obviously magnified when your content goes viral attracting
huge traffic in a short period. Click
here to know
how to increase the chances of your content going viral.
- Contributing to Your Back Links
Out
of the 200 ‘secret’ algorithms, we talked about earlier, one that
is no secret is that back links are critical for SEO. Of course,
quality of links is more important than quantity.
Social
media can help you get natural back links from relevant and authority
sites in your niche. The increased exposure of your content via
social media increases chances that people will link back to it. And
when people in your social circle share your content, they are not
only contributing to SEO via social signals, but also making your
content visible in their own social circles, from where there are
chances of getting back links.
- Helping You Build Authority
Strategic
use of social media can help you build authority in your niche. Here
are some tips
on how to do it. And authority websites are always accorded higher
search rankings.
Coming back to the 200 algorithms, Google soon intends to add ‘Author Rank’ to the mix. This algorithm considers the credibility and authority of author in the niche for ranking content. And social media presence (or more precisely, presence on Google+) is the only way for you to start building your Author Rank.
Have
you used any of these social media strategies to increase your search
rankings?
This
post has been written by SEO
consultant
Yasir Khan, founder of post
Penguin link building company
Quantum SEO Labs.
