Social tools help you connect with readers in a more personal way. This not only gets people to trust you but also lets search engines, such as Google, know that your website is important. This results in a much higher ranking on Google, making your website easier to find. It’s important to include social networking in your daily search engine optimization and to be a leader in your niche.
Use Facebook or Foursquare to show Google your location
Location plays a vital role in Google’s algorithm. If you are on Facebook or Foursquare, the good news is that both networks allow users to check in to a location. Remember that Google uses Web citations from your physical address to verify your location on Google Places and to do your local organic ranking. This indicates that Google does use your location to rank your website.
Google keeps an eye on your Twitter and Facebook activity
Your level of influence on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, along with the authoritative value of reviews you receive on websites such as Yelp, are combined to determine how Google ranks websites within a particular location. Google pays attention to Twitter followers and mentions received. For Facebook, the focus is shares and likes received by your page as well as for your website content. The authority of people who follow/mention or share/like your website, content and social media pages also are taken into consideration for ranking. Growth or decline in those areas also carries weight for how SEO works.
Keep up with your Google+ account
Always remember that even if you choose to forget about Google+, Google won’t. Your website ranking is influenced by the number and quality of certain interactions on Google+. The better your performance, the better your chances of having your ranking improved. Some things Google looks at on Google+:
- Adds/shares: The location of an individual performing an activity plays a vital role in what Google decides to do. It will first consider the number of shares coming from people in a certain location and the authority of these people, along with the acceleration or deceleration of sharing. Once all activities are legitimate, your website will benefit.
- +1 activity on your website: Similar to adds/shares, Google pays attention to the authority of +1’s — the speed and volume influence your ranking. Your +1 activity carries similar weight to adds/shares, so work at getting those +1’s.
SEO and social media are deeply linked, and both help determine how well your website is ranked.
Charles Dearing is a business SEO consultant. His articles appear mainly on Web-development blogs. Learn more about SEO Works.