I'm still not sold on social media. I just don't get it. Why should I spend time building profiles on Facebook or Twitter or claiming my business on geo-location sites like FourSquare when these appear to not help my search rankings. Aren't all these sites nofollow anyway?
Answer: You would be shocked at how OFTEN we get this same question in SEO support or from our own clients who still believe that a Facebook Fan Page or a Twitter account is just not for them.
As you stated in your question, the most oft-repeated complaint about social media has always been that there appeared to be few, if any, search engine ranking benefits to using it regularly.
Yet it's ALWAYS been our contention here at Search Engine News that social media signals (be it in the form of Tweets, Stumbles, Facebook Likes, or Check-ins) add incredible value to the average site or blog. Simply stated:
"Social media is INVALUABLE at attracting links and traffic. BOTH of which are necessary to get better, higher, organic rankings in Google and Bing."
The above was what we had been telling our clients regularly for quite awhile. So imagine our not-so-surprised faces when early last month Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land published a detailed Q & A with both Bing and Google that in a nutshell stated the following:
"Both Google and Bing use social media signals in their organic Web search ranking algorithmic calculations."
Specifically, these weighted considerations may and do include the following:
* The social authority of the user - the higher the authority (reputation, clout, etc.) of the social user sharing the content, the more value given.
* Shares of the item - the more shares (stumbles, likes, tweets, etc.) recorded of the content, the more attention algorithmically it will receive.
* Traffic consideration - content that has noticeable share levels leads to increased traffic, which results in the entire site achieving higher organic rankings.
* Local signals - pages that record more check-ins, reviews, and a greater breadth of geo-locational signals receive increased consideration in Google Places.
In other words, yes: social media, even if most links are nofollow, can and will help you rank better in Google and Bing. In addition to the clear SEO implications, bigger CUSTOMER-FOCUS benefits also arise from social media.
Think about this: most everyone reading this article is either in a service-oriented or product-oriented online business niche. The best way for either of these niches to generate new business is from EXISTING CUSTOMERS!
Where are those customers interacting with each other? On Facebook, Twitter, local review sites like Yelp and CitySearch, and locational networking sites like FourSquare and Gowalla. If that's where your customers are, why aren't you?
Look at this example: you have a San Diego chiropractor who decides to set-up a Facebook page and get his customers to join. We'll call him Dr. Straight Spine for the sake of this example. Dr. Straight Spine also sets-up and CLAIMS his business in FourSquare, Gowalla, Facebook Places, etc.
Now, whenever someone visits Dr. Straight Spine's business (waiting in the lobby, after an appointment, etc.) they check-in and this appears in their various social media streams (their Facebook feed, FourSquare stream, Twitter account, etc.). This is in turn SEEN by all their friends or followers. Those same friends/followers may make the connection "hey, I need a chiropractor, why don't I check out this Dr. Straight Spine that my friend has visited (or "liked") in their Facebook feed."
Dr. Straight Spine then takes this one step further and sets up rewards that can be earned by his best customers who check-in the most at his locations, refer new business to him, or leave reviews for him on sites like Google Places or Yelp. These rewards can be set-up QUICKLY and EFFORTLESSLY with sites like SCVNGR.
What does this result in? You have just generated the increased social media signals that Google and Bing are NOW using to rank you better algorithmically. So what are you waiting for? 2011 is the year of social media. Get busy!
Make sure to check-out this Google Webmaster Central YouTube video by Google Engineer Matt Cutts that was released in late December. Matt addresses both the post above by Danny and talks in more detail about how and when Google uses social media signals in their organic ranking calculations.
Source form http://www.searchenginenews.com/
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