#C3NY

USING SOCIAL SIGNALS TO BOOST YOUR SEARCH RANKINGS

Francis Skipper, EVP Digital Marketing, 451 Marketing

#C3NY

FRANCIS SKIPPER

2

EVP of Digital Marketing

@fskip // @451marketing

451marketing.com

Facebook.com/451Marketing

francis@451marketing.com

451 Marketing

#C3NY

STATE OF SOCIAL & SEARCH

#C3NY

DECEMBER 2010…

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“We do use Twitter and Facebook

links in ranking as we always have

in our web search rankings”

- Matt Cutts

#C3NY

MARKETERS WERE ALL LIKE:

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#C3NY

LAST MONTH…

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“Sike! Suckers…”

- Matt Cutts

#C3NY

IT WASN’T THE FIRST TIME…

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#C3NY 8

WE WERE ALL LIKE:

#C3NY

BUT, WE’VE SEEN THE CORRELATION

BETWEEN SOCIAL ACTIVITY AND HIGHER

RANKINGS

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#C3NY

SO HAS MOZ…

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“Now in 2013, there's strong reason to suspect…that the relationship between

posting to Google+ and higher rankings goes beyond correlation into the territory of

actual causation.”

#C3NY

AND SEARCHMETRICS

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“Social signals continue to correlate

very well with better rankings”

Social signals

Traditional ranking factors

SEO Ranking Factors – Rank Correlation 2013 for Google USA

#C3NY

SO, WITH THIS IN MIND…

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“MUAHAHHAHAHA!!”

- Matt Cutts

SUCKERS!

#C3NY

LET’S TALK ABOUT SOCIAL AND SEARCH

#C3NY

EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL AND SEARCH

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Likes,

Shares,

Follows

Social

Media

Search

Traffic

Queries

Indirect

Social

Media

Search

Results

SEO

Direct

Social

Media

Page

Ranking

Social Signals

Pre-2010

2010

Today

#C3NY

TRADITIONAL RANKING FACTORS “OL’ SKOOL”

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Technical

Content

Links

The 3 C’s

Code

Content

Connections

#C3NY

NEW RANKING FACTORS

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Content Diversity, Depth &

Type

Keyword Research

& User Intent

Link

Building

Social

#C3NY

SOCIAL RANKING FACTORS

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• How many social followers/fans you have

• How many re-tweets, likes, shares, +1s, YouTube embeds

• Who is sharing your content, their authority, their reputation

• Popularity and quality of content

• Timeliness and “trust” of content

• Patterns

#C3NY

BUT SOCIAL ISN’T A SILVER BULLET

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#C3NY

“LOW-HANGING FRUIT” – RESULTS FROM SOCIAL SIGNALS

#C3NY 20

Page R

ankin

g

Level of Effort

“LOW-HANGING FRUIT”

#C3NY

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

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of searchers never scroll past the first page

of search results*

*Search Engine Journal

#C3NY

PAGE ONE HAS REAL BIZ VALUE$$

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#C3NY

SO HOW DO WE LOOK FOR LOW HANGING

FRUIT?

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#C3NY

YOU CAN GO DEEPER TO LOOK AT EFFORT LEVEL

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*Optional – tag keywords as LHF and watch growth

#C3NY

IDENTIFY “LOW-HANGING FRUIT”

Send these to

social!!

#C3NY 26

ENCOURAGE USE OF SOCIAL KEYWORDS

#Homedecor tips on floor coverings from the experts – our

#8x8 #arearugs are a warm addition to any space!

http://bit.ly/3hQYj

#Rugs

Make a space feel instantly cozy with an 8x8 rug

– learn how in our latest blog post

http://bit.ly/3hQYj

#rugs #homedecor #smallspaces #arearugs

#8x8rugs

Check out how our signature 8x8 rugs

pull together a room in our latest blog

post http://bit.ly/3hQYj

#C3NY 27

POSTS AND LIKES AREN’T END OF STORY

#C3NY

FEEL FREE TO REWARDSOCIAL SHARING

#C3NY

• Informational Queries

• Answers

• How to’s

• Top 5’s

PORTABLE CONTENT

#C3NY

PORTABLE CONTENT

“Ride the News” –

Trending Topics

But be careful…

#C3NY

Links to social properties on website

Share buttons with content

MAKING SHARING SILLY SIMPLE

#C3NY

MINI CASE STUDIES

#C3NY

RUCKUS SPORTS

#C3NY

RUCKUS SPORTS - PITTSBURGH RACE

• Pittsburgh Race (new 2013)

• No rankings In May

• New Content on Brand website

• Encouraged social sharing around

Pittsburgh Ruckus Race

• Posted social content using

Pittsburgh + Keyword

• Rankings for “Pittsburgh” terms

increased leading up to and after

race day

#C3NY

PINE CONE HILL

#C3NY

PINECONE HILL – MATELASSÉ QUILTS

• Pine Cone Hill featured “matelassé” “quilts” in content throughout early summer across multiple social platforms

• Kwd -specific posts were promoted through mid-August and resulted in social shares

• September 1st –keywords see an increase in rankings

• Incremental Sales Increase during this period

#C3NY

IN CLOSING…SOCIAL SIGNALS:

• We’ve all seen strong correlation

• Social keyword strategy should be a part of your overall SEO

content strategy

• Not a silver bullet

• Look at the data, not the hype

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#C3NY

QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION

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EVP of Digital Marketing

@fskip // @451marketing

451marketing.com

Facebook.com/451Marketing

francis@451marketing.com

451 Marketing

#C3NY

USING SOCIAL SIGNALS TO BOOST YOUR SEARCH RANKINGS

Francis Skipper, EVP Digital Marketing, 451 Marketing