The usefulness and relevance of human endorsements has long been the ally for Google’s searchbots. Recently, however, this human ante has been upped by Google even more with the introduction of the Google Social Search.
Now one personal endorsement by a popular personality/authoritative entity outperforms shares by 10,000 casual users in the blink of an eye. So, a blog link shared by Brian Clark will definitely carry more weight than if the same link is shared by thousands of casual users. Don’t be surprised if this small RT or a +1 by an eminent personality in your Google circles jumps your site in the SERPs from #20 to #2 someday.
Yes, we’ve finally come to the courageous new world of social SEO that no SEOer can afford to ignore anymore. Leveling the field, Google has now made it easy for new modern startups to compete with the big names that have enjoyed the SERP pedestal for a long time for competitive keywords.
Earlier, only rigorous campaigning for years could have knocked off these big names from the SERPs. But social SEO gives a fair chance to the small fishes to counterattack the authority of these big guys. This is why if you haven’t incorporated social SEO as a part of your Internet marketing strategy, it’s high time that you do it now – or you risk seeing your competitors smoothly pave their way to the top rankings you’re aiming for.
Furnish Your Presence on Google+
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Okay, this is a very obvious one but this still needs to be said. Google+ has become too useful a tool for SEOs and must not be ignored, whether you like it or not. Although the network here is not as heavy as Facebook or Twitter as yet, but Google+ is emerging as a big time champion in search results.
Even the most casual G+ posts are easily spotted in search results. Related Google+ pages and users also show up easily in standard web searches.
From +1s to authorship and shares, social G+ results are seen everywhere in Google Social Search. Jump from page #5 to page #1 only because someone added you in their G+ circle? Now that’s a benefit no site should overlook.
Emphasize on Building Relationships and Growing Your Followers List
Even if your followers are not on the social site where you shared the link but whatever you write or show will still pop up in the search result of your followers. Relationships we assume online now impact our search results to a great extent.
Every follower that you add in your list may see the site of your brand in their SERPs in the future; this is why it’s important that you focus on increasing the number of your followers. You may extend your outreach efforts, give away an interest eBook to your followers, or host a giveaway for entrants for anyone who follows you on G+ or any other social networking site, maybe?
Don’t Forget to Link Your Name to Your Work
Searches these days show the thumbnails of the authors of the article people are intending to read. If people tend to like the article, they can come back to the SERPs and click on “More by author’s name” to view the complete catalogue of author’s work.
To hint Google that you’re indeed the author of that piece, you’ll have to use “rel=author” in your blog posts. Don’t know how? You can read this guide by Google to find the answer.
Unleash the Power of Pinterest
Yeah, I know it’s getting quite clichéd to talk about Pinterest but this new social marvel has earned its praise well due to its immense SEO power.
Many of you might even be aware that the referral traffic sent by Pinterest is almost the same as Twitter (which comes out to the combined referral traffic from LinkedIn, G+, and YouTube). But something new to add onto your knowledgebase now is that these boards and pins are now all crawled by Google.
Use relevant keywords for optimization of your pins. To optimize your Pinterest searches exceptionally, always hashtag the relevant keywords on every pin.
At the end of it all, the key point is to focus on producing the content that is easy to share. Only power-packed content can get you the desired results for all your efforts on social media.
About Brandon Leibowitz
