Do Social Media Signals Help Rank in SEO?

I have been asked this a lot and I thought it was time to share my thoughts. Before I do, let me present to you what Matt Cutts says about Social Media signals and if they play a role. Well you guessed it, the answer is no. At least from what he says…..

Now let’s put yourselves in his shoes, do you really want to reveal the true works of SEO and any new signals/changes that may help? Of course not! They will spam the hell out of it and make it useless like guest blogging has become over the years. 

If you want to be the  popular search engine, you want to show something we all know is part of SEO, great content. Well what is considered great content? Content that people share and discuss about. Google knows from referall sources where traffic comes from. Even with Share This tools we can see what is or isn’t popular. So for those who think otherwise, that’s fine. I mean Matt Cutts did say it didn’t play a role.

Some interesting findings in my history of this theory was I took two pages with about the same idea and content. I sent one with traffic from referral sources and tactics with Reddit, sharing all my social media channels etc. And the other I just left as is. After about a few days I was able to determine my more popular page was indexed quicker, higher positioned and actually started getting natural comments and shares. Even my rich snippets of authorship were showing. 

For the other content, it was indexed after two days after, no little to any traffic. No rich snippets, and couldn’t be found in the top 10 pages of rankings. So to just say social media doesn’t affect SEO, I can’t say for certain that is true. 

There is however a part in Matt's video that explains in the future he expects Google to be able to better identify who is writing the content and where and place a more importance based on the influence an individual may have. So perhaps Klout score may be some thing to consider as a good source of where you stand. 

 

What kinds of social media signals have you seen on your website or blog? Has the popularity and sharing helped you? Did you see any natural comments or links come to you? Or maybe you feel that social media is just no cooralation to SEO period…. Hey I look at both sides of the fence and totally agree with all the positive and negative thoughts about this.

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Great Twitter Program to Build Influencers: Target Pattern

If it’s one particular program I have been invited too and enjoyed recently it’s most certainly this one!

Target Pattern is a great way to build your Twitter audience and actually have the engagement we so desperately want. I can’t express how quickly not only my targeted audience has become but how when I share my ideas and content how it’s shared throughout. 

I have seen an increase of around 30% of my referral traffic from Twitter ever since using this program. I must say I was quite skeptical at first, but was proven wrong!

One of the milestone’s was being followed and actually engaged with one of the most influential social media woman, @SandiKrakowski. She was named the top 20 woman in social media by Forbes Magazine. To be even more excited I been invited to write an article to become a influencer in the Paid search area!

I must say if it wasn’t for Target Pattern I have no idea how my reach couldn’t have made it. I am sure other programs are similar and had some great success, but I wanted to share my thoughts and success with it!

(If it's one thing I cannot stress enough is how SEO will now be about the influence and weight you carry for being a trusted source. If you can build a genuine and organic following of others who are in your industry, who wouldn't want to share your thoughts!? )

The payment plans are most certainly affordable, you can view them here. If you have any questions or maybe you had personal experiences like mine, let me know! Thanks guys!

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Best Practices for Sharing Content & Getting Valued Traffic

I tend to get this question a lot with my clients, “Alex, how can I take my content and be able to get the traffic quickly?”

Well, the these are some steps I take in sharing my content and being able to increase Alexa rank and overal SERP’s (search engine result position).

1.       Share your new post on all social media platforms.

 Begin sharing on all your accounts, but not just the main post. You want to also post in the groups as well. Did you even know Linked In, Facebook, and Google Plus have those? If not, I suggest you either create one in your market or look for some that are relative to not only your post…. But your audiences as well.

Don’t even forget to hashtag the discussion that may be popular for others to discover as well. I see this strategy overlooked a lot. Although it may not see immediate results from this, it’s best to conquer all areas then to question “have I done it?”

2.       Post on forums and discussions.

 The main one I find to help a lot is Reddit. This site can do wonders for traffic! I mean gaining quick traffic with people constantly browsing for things is great. You wouldn’t imagine the different topics you can find that will fit your post. So be sure to look into this one as a priority.

3.       Place photo’s on Pinterest, Tumblr, and other picture oriented sites from your content.

If you have an image that your posting about, or just perhaps something to place in the content to make it more visual for the readers… share it! There are ton of websites to work with on your image. Be sure to link it. (Sure it may not be a back link, but it’s still an outside traffic referral source.)

4.       Social bookmark your content.

Sure Digg isn’t the same as it used to be, but it is still a source. I find to use Stumble Upon Toolbar a lot more cause  I actually see the page index from it, and it's convient. But be sure to use this tactic as another source for people to share as well.


For more information I would be sure to refer to this site. I believe his outline covers mine but gives some additional tips. Best of luck and keep writing!

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Poor Social Media Management: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Out of the Shadows

If it’s one thing that pisses off a consumer is the lack of social media engagement. So far to this date with the new year approaching the last known post from the company Red Fly Studio, was October 4^th, 2013.  

With myself being a TMNT fan as well I feel so upset being a PlayStation owner. I mean how awful it is knowing any other platform can play the game?! Patiently waiting I was hoping someone even from the company would respond by now….

TMNT Out of the Shadows

There is a lesson to be learned here and the consumers voice doesn't end with just Facebook. All social media avenues have been sent with negative responses and questions when will it be released? I feel to represent such a high brand of one I grew to love you should put effort into good companies running it. (Hopefully something positive will come about this, sheesh!)

Now I haven’t played personally, aside from the issues at hand I am confident the game is worth the $14.99. This thing could have blown up and became a huge thing with online play etc.

My advice for all this is that eventually this comes out soon. No matter how long I will move on with a newer system and get purchases here and there. I am hoping the company itself personally apologises for the lack of response and updates of the progress. We deserve not only the finest polished game, but a discount and bonuses as well. This will be the only way to maintain somewhat positive reinforcement in your brand.

So what not to do:

•           Ignore your social media engagement.
•           Not post updates for over 3 months.
•         Open sales for certain platforms for gaming. Your limiting your consumers.

Let me know your thoughts and how you truly feel about the company. If it's one thing we know is that social media can play a huge role in a positive way or negative. 

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About Alexander Hemedinger

Alexander Hemedinger is an Internet Marketing specialist with over 8 years experience. A native to Florida, he has received his Associates Degree in Computer Science from the University of Phoenix. He Specializes in Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Click Advertising, and Social Media Marketing. Alex has worked with several large companies such as KFC, Denny's, and universities around the United States to help achieve their internet success!

Alexander is happily married with his high school sweet heart, Jennifer Williams. He has two children and resides currently in Coral Springs, Florida.

Specialties include: Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Click, Social Media Marketing, Web Design.
 
Still not enough here what experts see in the future:

Facebook will have a 17.7 percent share of the market for online display ad sales this year.

That’s eMarketer’s latest forecast for 2011; in March the consultancy first said that Facebook was on track to outsell Yahoo and Google in the online display ad market.

By contrast, Facebook had 12.2 percent of the online display ad sales market in 2010. And eMarketer expects the social network to take 19.4 percent of the online display ad market in 2012.source: http://www.allfacebook.com
Online sales in France, Germany, Italy and Spain are rising more rapidly than those in market leader the UK. B2C ecommerce in these four countries will grow an estimated 15.2% in 2011, to $93.5 billion. By 2015, the total will approach $149 billion.  source: http://www.emarketer.com/

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