Search engines are constantly updating their algorithms to improve the search engine results and reduce spam. When Google launched it was clearly head and shoulders above all other search engines at the time.
They used the links between pages to judge the “authority” of pages and sites.
For a long time now simply building links to a website helped it rank. However as link spamming has become more and more of a problem the search engines have looked at new ways to judge a sites authority and everything has started to change.
Social Signals
There is no doubt that links are still the primary authority signal for Google, but over the past year or two Google have begun integrating social signals into is algorithms.
Google can see the number of likes, tweets, +1’s etc. that a page receives and uses this data to their advantage. In fact they have publicly shared how they use data such as the number of shares on Twitter.
Google has used all the social data to improve its search results in two very different ways.
Authority
The first way in which Google uses social signals is to help measure a pages authority. If a page receives lots of “likes”, then this give Google the impression it is well trusted and therefore could rank higher.
It is still unclear how exactly Google integrates this data into their algorithms, but it is clear that this data is having some form of impact.
I personally really like the idea of more social integration, in many ways it is harder fake these social signals so it should lead to an increase in quality of the search results.
Personalization
The second way Google is using this data is for SERP personalization. If Google sees that your social connections have shared or liked a page that is relevant to your search, then they are likely to show you this page over others.
What is important to remember when considering social signals in comparison to link metrics is the much lower barrier to entry.
Running your own site requires at least some technical knowledge, good ideas and planning. However being active on Twitter and Facebook is much simpler and a much wider variety of people are doing this.
This means Google no longer has to rely solely on the opinions of the small amount of people with their own websites.
They can now look into the 140 million people sharing links on Twitter, the near 1 billion people sharing and liking content on Facebook and that’s not to mention Google +, Pinterest and other networks.
Social & Search
Many people are already engaging in social media due to its benefits for branding, traffic and conversions.
If you currently work for a company and have budget for SEO but not Social Media, you can now show that all efforts put into Social will have even more benefit as you will be getting some SEO value from this work as well.
About Ben Inder
One good this about the recent Google update has been that it has made everybody realize the importance of social media, the menace off spamming is reducing!
The best part of social media is that if someone doesn’t want to see the updates that you are posting, he can easily hide it. So if you want to be there, you need to create interesting and unique ideas and content!
Molly Groman recently posted..Search Engine Optimization Basics – 6 Key Components for Law Firms
Google (and search engines in general) are becoming a lot smarter and if internet marketers want to stay ahead of the game, we need to start doing things like utilizing social media in our businesses more and actually giving a crap about our customers.
Thomas
Thomas recently posted..Announcing My First Mobile App: SharePrayer
Hi Tomas,
I agree, putting your customers first and delivering them a great user experience is on of the most beneficial things you can do for SEO these days.
Ben
There are lots of changes that have been going on with Google and it’s a smart move to know more about those you mentioned. Totally significant.
Thanks!
Hi Ben….
Thanks to put light on importance of ‘Social Signal and Search Engine’.
Now a days it is a hot topic amont the webmasters.
I don’t know how Google detect whether the likes are organic or paid one?
The main reason behind Search Engine algorithm updates is to improve search result for their users. So SEO professionals need to focus on quality not on quantity.
The reason why there are a lot of people going into the social realm now is that it can really help a site build a reputation that would make them considered as a good source of information, i.e. an authority in the field. If the content on the site is something that’s worth sharing, the readers will definitely share this on their respective pages, thus spreading your link to the deeper networks. Another good thing about having great content is that you have a better chance of being linked to. And we all know that links are major ranking factors.
Social media marketing is great way to increase traffic on website. It’s great part of SEO because Google considers social media and many other marketing techniques for website ranking. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google Plus are effective websites for social media marketing. Thanks for your concept about SEO and Social media.
Although social media is very important in marketing. But it takes long time but give long term result. Seo and social signals both support each other. This post guides us a lot.
ayesha recently posted..5-Level Horizontal Drop Down Menu