Although it is unclear exactly how social signals can affect a site’s ranking, it is understood that sites ranking well tend to have more social signals than those that do not. Whatever the relationship between social activity and SEO, it is clear that social media amplifies good content and makes it more visible.
This chapter looks at this social-search relationship and how brands should harness social in their SEO strategy. It covers:
- Social and links: In many cases, social shares lead to links to the brand’s site. How can brands work with journalists and content creators to encourage more social links?
- The ranking power of long tail queries: Discussions on social networks about long tail search queries can rank well. How can this be harnessed in an SEO strategy?
- User-generated content: User-generated content (UGC) covers any content posted to a site or social platform by a user, and can include comments, product reviews and Wikipedia entries. In what four key ways can UGC have a positive impact on search engine marketing?