CALL US 
Businesses are always fretting about social media. Are we doing enough? Are we on the right channels? Are we delighting our fans? Is it really making us money?
These are all great questions (we particularly like that last one) and it actually takes a lot of work to answer each of them. One of the ways to measure the value of your social investment is in the context of how it’s helping to bring traffic to your site. Sure, there are the folks who come through from a link on one of your social channels, but there’s also some indication that your combined social presence is a factor in how well you rank in Google search results.
The Social-SEO Connection
Google has been pretty quiet about how much social factors contribute to your search rankings. They have said it was one consideration among many in their algorithm and then in their typical fashion came out a couple years later and said it wasn’t. Thanks for making life easy on us, Goog.
We know 2 things for sure:
1. Most SEO professionals believe that social media presence and engagement is indeed one of the ranking factors Google considers. No one thinks it’s a primary factor, but it is a top 10 factor according to the most recent Search Engine Ranking Factors published by Moz, a highly respected name in the search marketing field. Their annual survey is based on both objective and subjective analysis by marketing professionals around the world.
2. Social media has the ability to bring traffic to your site and Google IS paying attention to that. Traffic stemming from social media profiles can be a real plus. Social engagement and interaction lets Google know your business is being talked about and linked to. It’s a sign that your business is open, focused on customer service, and responsive online.
So what does this mean for you?
1. Ensure your social profiles are optimized as each social media site recommends. If your profile is only 70% complete, get in there and make it 100%. Ensure your profile is linking to your site and your brand, office, staff and products/services are well represented.
2. Social media sites are hungry for content, so give them what they want. Facebook in particular is making it easier and easier to share more content right on their platform, including streaming video and longer-form articles (through their Notes feature). Whenever you are developing content, think about its “share-ability” factor and how likely it is people will engage. Infographics, articles, videos, surveys and the like are all things known to gain traction with users. Always make sure to link back to a relevant resource on your site.
3. Keep the conversation going. Always keep in mind that if you’re in a social space, you must be ready to engage in and monitor that space. Thank users for their comments publicly, give additional links to check out, and keep them wanting to contribute to your profile. Never let comments, good or bad, linger for more than a day at most without a personal response.
While Google isn’t coming right out and saying that being active on social sites improves your search rankings, it’s really hard to fathom at this point that such activity wouldn’t have a positive effect. If you’re doing everything a competitor is doing, plus delighting your customers and fans on a variety of social channels, why wouldn’t Google want to send more people your way? As we’ve said many times before, full-circle online engagement is what Google wants and what it rewards in its rankings.
