How Social Can Effect Search Engine Ranking

Many people consider SEO and Social Media to be separate entities, but over the years their value has steadily intertwined. When searching for companies through Google and other search engines nowadays, often you will see Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn profiles mixed in with website results.

While Google denies that social media is an official part of their ranking algorithm, social media can help boost many of the factors they do recognize. For instance, it can help give your site credibility via relevant link building, and can make you more easily accessible to Google Spiders, which help to rank websites. One of my Real Estate clients more than doubled their monthly crawls (to over 10,000) and website visitors within 3 months of developing their social media presence, and their search history went from nill, to being included in searches for "Vancouver House For Sale." #goals

In my experience, social media can be particularly effective in improving your search engine ranking when paired with blogging. The more you can convince Google that you are a resource in your field, the more likely you are to rank highly on the search engine. In this regard, quality, educational content is important. Traditional growth-hacking tactics surrounding generic link-building, cliche stock photos and inspirational quotes are going to become irrelevant in this new SEO climate. Google is looking for meaningful engagement - to see that your content is attracting a consistent demographic in relation to certain keywords, and that it is relevant and interesting enough to them to engage them in discussion, have them share it with others in their networks, etc.

I truly believe that Content is going to be King going into 2018. This is not only because it caters to Google's algorithm rankings, but also because it is an incredibly accessible form of SEO. For instance, you don't need extensive coding or back-end programming knowledge, it doesn't involve media releases and you don't need a list of influencers at your disposal. For small businesses, this gives them a way to compete in local markets through simple, streamlined processes and greater exposure.

What are your marketing resolutions for the New Year? Are social media and search engines a part of your plan?