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Why Use Social Media Signals and How They Impact Search Engine Ranking

Table of Contents Social Media and SEOWhat is The Relationship Between Social Media and the Search Engines4 Social…
person holding like social media signal in hand
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Did you think that social media is only a networking medium to bring people to your blog? Of course, you use the social media signals on your blog posts to tell people how popular it is, but did you know that it also impacts your search engine ranking?

I wasn’t that convinced until I read this post of today’s guest, who is a top blogging coach and a freelance writer too. He teaches the bloggers and entrepreneurs the skills to create a lasting Internet business.

So, please welcome Theodore Nwangene, who’s here to show us a different perspective of the social media that we use on a daily basis.

I’m really excited about the new tips he’s given in this post that would help me better promote my blog posts, and who doesn’t want to achieve better search engine rankings too! Without much ado, over to him.

My name is Theodore Nwangene and I’m so excited to be a guest at Aha!NOW today. I’m not going to waste your time with my introduction, so here’s my post that will help your blog be successful.

In this post, I want to share with you the importance of social media as far as search engine is concerned and how to start leveraging it starting from now.

This will boost your rankings in the search engine result pages (SERPs), and also your blog traffic and revenue!

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Social Media and SEO

I’m sure you know what SEO stands for and how important it is for your blog. If you’re one of those people that always condemn SEO then, I will advice that you stop right now.

Instead, start mastering how it works and if you can cool down and learn it – you will regret ever talking bad about it.

However, in her post, Ana Hoffman made it clear that SEO is dead.  This may be true in some ways but, what I will say is that SEO is no longer what it used to be.

A lot of things have changed as far as SEO is concerned. I will never advice anyone to fully focus on the search engines for his or her traffic today because, anything can happen any day.

But still, SEO is very necessary.

The best thing now is to focus on quality first and the search engines will willingly favor you. Also, try and diversify your traffic sources as soon as possible if you’re still relying on the search engines alone.

Years ago, the search engines like Google, Bing and the rest of them used the number of links pointing to a site to determine the quality of the site. But today, all that is gone and even Matt Cutts made it clear that link building is dead and this is because there are now many ways through which one can get those links in a spammy way.

Normally, people link to a blog post they find interesting as a way to vote in favor of such a site. This makes the search engines regard and reward such a site by ranking it high above its competitors.

But link building has lost its value today because of the way people are going about it.

It will now interest you to know that the search engines have found other ways of measuring the quality and popularity of a site, and one of the ways is by monitoring a site’s Social Media Signals.

Most bloggers always see the search engines and social media as two different things.

But if you really want to start seeing tremendous results from your search engine optimization efforts, you need to start seeing them as the same thing.

I want you to understand that SEO, social media, and content marketing are all under the umbrella of Organic Marketing and as such, there is no need to separate them for any reason.

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What is The Relationship Between Social Media and the Search Engines

I’m happy you asked this question – let me to briefly explain this to you.

Like I mentioned above, the days of link building as a way to rank a webpage on the search engines are over, though the search engines are still using it. But that’s only when the link is coming from an authority and reputable site.

Social media signals have now become another way through which the search engines measure the authority of a webpage and I don’t think this will end soon.

So, if you’re not effectively promoting your business blogs on the social media yet, you have to start doing so now. That’s because like I said, social signals have become the fastest ranking factor and those that fail to notice this will be left out.

Furthermore, social media optimization has become a very important factor in search engine optimization.  This is because Google, Bing, and the other search engines are now using the recommendation of social network users to determine the quality of a site and how high to rank it in the search engine result pages.

When a blog post is shared by or liked by a user on a social media, it counts as a vote for the quality of the blog post, and the search engines will use this vote to properly rank websites in the search engine result pages.

4 Social Media Signals Search Engines Usually Take into Account

There are four basic things that the search engines usually focus more on when analyzing the social media signals of a webpage:

1. The number of Facebook likes and shares that the webpage has

2. The number of tweets and retweets the webpage has

3. The authority of the person tweeting the webpage

4. The total number of Google +1’s the webpage has

As you can see, the whole thing boils down to the number of people that shared, tweeted, liked and +1ed your posts.

The best way to get a good number of it is by connecting and building some solid relationship with other bloggers. And also, by sharing their blog posts because the more you share theirs, the more they will also share yours. It’s a win-win game I guess :).

It’s also very advisable to connect with some of the influencers in your niche because the authority of the person that tweeted your blog post is of utmost importance.

Some time ago, Neil Patel announced that Moz’s blog post (Beginner guide to SEO) went viral and also went very high on the search engine result pages, after Smashing Magazine tweeted it.

So you see, that’s why it’s important to connect with some influencers that have lots of followers. When they tweet and share your contents, their huge followers will continue retweeting because of the respect and trust they have for the person.

So, what are you waiting for? I think it’s time you start connecting with more people now. But do you really know how to get the best out of your social media marketing? Read on…

fingers painted happy people and showing media signals

How to Get the Best Out of Your Social Media Marketing

Anything worth doing is worth doing well, and for you to get the best out of anything in life, the first step is always to master the best ways and strategies to go about it.

You can achieve this by finding out what’s working for other people. Below are the methods I’ve discovered that might work for you.

1. Research has shown that adding an image to your social postings can increase engagement by 200%.

So, it’s very necessary to always try and ensure that you have a good image attached to your social media postings.

2. It’s also good to try and be active on the social media.

I know that you cannot be active on all the social media networks out there. But you can focus more on the ones that gives you the best results.

It’s also said that Google plus impacts ranking more than Facebook and Twitter so, I will urge you to spend more of your time there and get involved in some of the communities.

3. Know when best to share your web pages on the social media.

Research also showed that the best days to share a webpage on the social media is on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9am, 12pm, 3pm and 6pm depending on your own time zone. I don’t know if this is true but, you can try it and see for yourself.

4. Ask questions on your social media profiles.

This is because social users are 21% more likely to engage with a good question.

5. Encourage readers to share your contents.

The best ways to encourage your readers to share your contents is by making sure you have social sharing buttons on your blog posts and also, ask them to share it with their friends.

6. Conduct a contest on your blog once in a while.

If you really want to tremendously boost your social media engagements then one of the best things to do is to throw out an interesting contest on your blog. You can ask my friend Enstine Muki how best to do this as he is very good at it.

7. ‘How to’ and ‘List posts’ tend to get lots of social shares if the article is interesting and engaging enough.

So, it’s good to write this type of post once in a while.

Finally, I want you to understand that being social is the best way to amplify your online presence. Even if you didn’t learn any other thing here today, I also want you to know that social media is indeed very critical to your search engine rankings.

So, the earlier you start using social media to effectively boost your brand awareness and SEO, the better for you and your business.

Now, I will like you to take the discussion further via the comment section. What do you think about this post and do you have anything to add here?

Before I end, I’d like to thank Harleena. In fact, one of the best New Year gifts I got this year was Harleena’s invitation to share my knowledge with you guys and I see that as a great honor.

My advice to you is to always stick to aha-now.com because this blog is really exceptional. It’s one of a kind, and my only regret is that I didn’t get to know it on time when I started blogging but, I’m happy I finally did. Harleena is the real deal :).Thanks a bunch!

Over to You –

Do you take the social media signals as the alternative to link building and as a measure of your site’s popularity? Do you think social media signals affect your search engine rankings? Which social media do you use most for marketing? Share your tips in the comments.

Photo Credit: FreeDigitalPhotos

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Disclaimer: Though the views expressed are of the author’s own, this article has been checked for its authenticity of information and resource links provided for a better and deeper understanding of the subject matter. However, you're suggested to make your diligent research and consult subject experts to decide what is best for you. If you spot any factual errors, spelling, or grammatical mistakes in the article, please report at [email protected]. Thanks.

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86 comments
  1. You’re welcome Firdaus,
    I’m pretty happy you enjoyed the post and also agreed with my points. Thanks a bunch for stopping by and, do have a splendid new week.

  2. Hello Theodore,

    I deeply read your all points and believe me I am totally agree with all of your points. I like using Google plus. Thanks a lot brother for providing such a nice information.

  3. You’re highly welcomed Donna,
    Its good to know that you enjoyed the post. Social media is indeed very important and yes, I’m also enjoying Adrienne’s daily questions and I’m also thinking of starting something like that.

    Thanks for your wonderful comment Donna.

  4. Hi Theodore,

    I always loved to be a part of social media. Good thing because I have to use it wisely in order for those bots to find me!

    When on this platform, I not only like it, but also leave a good comment on it when it is from someone else. This sparks engagement.

    Asking a question is the best by far. Look at all the engagement Adrienne Smith has by her question of the day and being consistent with it! I must say I’m giving that one priority lately. But I do have to give all the credit to Adrienne because she showed us how to do it effectively.

    Yes, agreed, we do need a dash of SEO in our content, but our shares and activity on social media these days carries us so far.

    Thank you for your wonderful tips and also for sharing the link to Enstine Muki because “contests” are on my list of to-dos and I do need some training on that one!

    Many thanks,

    -Donna

  5. Hey Theodore,

    What a great share and so nice to see you here at Harleena’s blog. She’s picking some really great guests to share their expertise with us and I so enjoyed this particular post.

    I know that when Google shared with us that our social media sites would be showing up in the search engines that was definitely a sign that social media would be ranking now. It wasn’t any longer about keyword research although I know that does still help. I know that it will never die or the search engines wouldn’t be able to survive.

    I appreciate what you shared about everything that it takes in order to get your social sites ranked and of course your content as well. I know that some sites are doing better than others while some are lagging behind and trying to catch up.

    I’m still in love with Twitter though and it’s been a little harder to get going with Google+ but I’ll get there. I need to just visit more places and find the information I want to share and the people I want to connect with. This is a great wake up call for me as this year starts and I can always start now right!

    Thank you Theodore and hope you both have an amazing week. Appreciate you having him this month Harleena.

    ~Adrienne

    1. I’m already blushing Adrienne,

      I don’t know what else to say because, the kinds words you used here are too much for me:) but, thanks a lot.

      Yea, its now very obvious that social media signals has become an integral part of search engine rankings and its good we start responding to that.

      Of cause, I know you’re a big user of twitter and I love it too. I’m not also finding it easy with Google+ but like you, I will also get there:).

      Thanks for the comment and hope you’re doing good too.

  6. Hi Theodore,

    I totally agree with you on this one, Beside being a huge source of traffic generation social media website can have an impact of your search engine ranking and will have more weight in the future, the most obvious reason is because Google already own a social media website which is Google+, although Google+ is a little bit confusing to use specially for the first time however I do recommend using it, if you go to Google webmaster tool it will show you how Google pluses of your posts have impacted your search engine results.

    The idea for Google is very simple, in future you will be able to see results from website or authors that you already know and trust, how Google would know, because of your previous social interaction with each website.

    1. You welcome Qasim,
      I’m glad you agree with me on this. Google plus is really confusing as you said and I also found it difficult when I started using it but, you will only get used to it overtime.

      Thanks for coming.

  7. Hi Theodore,

    Great insights and information here.

    Yes, social media is so powerful these days, but I didn’t know how much it affected ranking.

    So now, all the more reasons to be active on social media and build those relationships with bloggers,sharing their content, so they may “or may not:)” do the same with our own content.

    Nice to see you here, Theodore, and as always thank you for sharing your great knowledge of online marketing.

    1. Hello Sylviane,
      Thanks a bunch for the kind words. It also feels great to know that you read and like my post.

      Yea, social media do have a big impact on rankings according to research.

      Thanks for coming once again Sylviane and do take care of yourself:).

  8. Hello Theodore,

    Welcome to Harleena’s blog.

    I never really thought about Social Media having so much pull on Search Engines results but after reading your post I can see why they do.

    You have shared a lot of valuable information here with us. I made some great notes here.

    As far as your list of how-to’s go the one I need to focus on is #5. Believe it or not but I’m a little shy about that :).

    Thanks for such a great post. Have a great new week you two!

    1. Thanks Corina,
      I’m happy you like the post and I’m sure all these will help you if you will apply them.

      Yea, the 5th tip is very good and you need not be afraid of it. Some readers might not know what next you will want them to do after reading your post and, that’s why you should tell them to share:).

      I’m sure that you’ll get rid of the shy stuff if you try it once.

  9. Thanks Theodore for the great information. And thanks Harleena for having him.
    I do use twitter, FB and G+. However my twitter account has gotten hacked into, and still haven’t gotten that fixed and straighten out.
    Glad to know that I am doing the right things.
    Have a great day and thanks again for the wisdom.
    Debbie

    1. Hi Debbie,
      Welcome to my post, it also feels good to have you here and I’m glad you agreed with my points.

      Thanks a lot for the visit and have a wonderful week. I pray you resolve your hacked twitter account soon.

  10. Nice to see you here, Theo!

    I stopped worrying about SEO sometime ago (well, I was just not into it, because it seemed like a boring task, so I was glad when search engines changed their algorithms :D).

    One of the things I am trying to do right now is get more social shares (so, more visibility for my blog). In terms of sharing, I think I need to expand my territory (okay, that sounds weird).

    Anyways, I just stick with the same folks (which is great, but I already have a good relationship with then). So, I am going to try and reduce the sharing I do for my friends, and share more outside my own circle. In short, try and expand my sharing circle 😀

    Hopefully that will work out as planned 🙂 Anyways, thank you for the tips, Theo 🙂 And thanks to Harleena for having you here!

    1. Welcome Jeevan,
      I’m happy to have you here too and I’m also glad that you like my post. Its good to build more connections indeed because, it will also widen your reach and boost your social media presence too.

      Thanks for coming.

  11. Once your post is publish promote it on various social media sites such as facebook, twitter, google+, pininterest and all other social media. Social media is one of the best way to drive traffic to your blog .Promote your post on other blogs by blog commenting. Social media promotion will increase blog traffic in a really amazing way.
    Promoting on the socia media is one of the best way to to increase blog traffic and as the google updates they are going to rank high such sites which have high social media values.

    1. You’ve actually said it all Uday,
      Thanks a lot for adding such an awesome comment here. I’m happy you like the post.

      Thanks for coming.

  12. Hi Theodore, A warm welcome to Harleena’s blog.

    I agree with you that social media sharing has benefit, but I do question whether it has an impact on SEO. The reason I question your reasoning is the article you linked to in Search Engine Journal seems to say just the opposite: that Google was having too difficult a time crawling Facebook and Twitter so gave up trying to factor social sharing in its search results.

    Your suggestions to increase social sharing are solid. There really isn’t a downside to social sharing, it can increase direct traffic whether or not it increases search traffic. Thanks so much for sharing your pointers here at Aha-Now.

    1. Hello Carolyn,
      Thanks a lot. Aha-now is an awesome community and I’m also happy you stopped by to read my post:), thanks for that.

      Yea, social media signals do impacts search engine rankings in so many ways and, you can also check out the other link I included on the post by Neil Petal to read more of this.

      Thanks for coming.

  13. Google has reiterated that Social media signals is a ranking factor. Google believes that people will naturally share and engage with posts they find informative and relevant and as such considers the number of these enagements as a signal to the quality of the content.

    Signals like Facebook likes, Tweets, +1s etc are usually considers, but research has shown that Google considers +1s more than the other signals.

    So it will really be great for content creators and bloggers to engage actively on social media networks, build a good follower-base, and most importantly help each other share posts and that way will be generally improving each others chances of ranking higher in Google searches.

    I found this article on Kingged.com and also left a comment on it.

    1. Happy new week Desmond,
      indeed, Google has started taking notes of our social signals and its time we start bumping them up:).

      I’m happy you agree with my points, thanks for coming.

  14. Hi Theodore!

    Thanks for this great post. I second what you said about Harleena’s blog being outstanding. I found it just recently, but I am sure I will stick around.

    I really liked your post. It was informative and written absolutely clear and easy to follow. I am looking forward to reading more from you.

    BTW, I took your advice already and tweeted your post 😉

    All the best to you, Ilka

    1. That’s so kind of you llka,
      I really appreciate the tweet:) and yes, Harleena is a big deal so her blog is worth sticking to.

      You can check out my blog, I’m sure you’ll see many posts that you will also learn some amazing things from.

      I’m glad you like the post mate, thanks for the visit.

      1. I browsed your blog Theodore! And I will surely be back 🙂 Congrats again on your successful guest post 🙂

        1. Hello IIka.
          Thanks for the visit to my blog, hope you like what you saw or, do you have any suggestion for me?:).

          Looking forward to seeing you over again.

  15. Harleena, I read somewhere long ago that Facebook ‘share’s alone count and not Facebook ‘like’s. Is that true?

    1. Hello Kidambi,
      In my own honest opinion, both Facebook shares and Facebook likes are important because, the more likes your posts gets, the more viral it goes.

      Thanks for coming.

    2. Welcome to the blog Kidambi!

      Not at all, I think both have their own place and are important because they both serve different purposes, just as their name suggests. That’s the reason Facebook has both the buttons, or else they would have had just one, isn’t it?

      Thanks for stopping by and sharing your views 🙂

  16. Hi Theodore,

    What an excellent post, and Harleena, thanks for having Theodore over.

    Theodore, your post was both inspiring and informative. I found it really useful to learn about the value of social media signals when it comes to ranking in search engines. Your post demonstrates the importance of continuing to engage and experiment with social media.

    1. Thanks for the compliments Hiten,
      Social media is very important for search engine optimization and we have to continue to engage and experiment with it.

      Thanks for coming.

  17. Great Theodore! It was a wonderful post. It is true that SEO is depending on user’s likeness. And Social shares symbol of being liked. That’s why you must encourage users to share your content.

    1. Hello Junaid,
      Thanks for stopping by and voicing out your awesome opinion. I’m happy you agree with my points.

      Have a fabulous week.

    2. Welcome to the blog Junaid!

      Glad you liked Theodore’s post, and yes, others will surely share your posts provided you do the same for them. I think reciprocation plays a major role, especially for most bloggers, unless you reach the level where your posts are shared for their awesomeness.

      Thanks for stopping by and sharing your views 🙂

      1. Harleena! I agree with your opinion. Reciprocation plays major role for beginners. You like and people will like you, as you comment on others blog. They will notice you. And will comment back on your blog. It’s great strategy.
        Harleena! Hope we will be in touch. Thanks for liking my content.

        1. Nice to have you back Junaid!

          It surely does, and each little visit matters to them, just as it does to every blogger – I guess ones been on that path, so we can relate 🙂

          Blogging is more of a give and take I would say, at least for most bloggers, and the more you give to others, either through their comments or shares, the more you receive.

          Thanks once again, and you are most welcome 🙂

          1. You are very true at your point. This is about all bloggers. I have noticed that even Neil Patel gives so much value to his visitors. He approves comments of spammers as well. And appreciate them for comments. This kind of respect and value really encourages people to be your permanent reader. I think new bloggers should have a community to work together. It will be helpful for them in blogging.

            1. I agree with you there, and what Neil does is something good, something that I also do because even though they are spammers, sometimes their comments are meaningful and they land up in spam, unless they are really spammers, when you just remove their links and approve the comment.

              There are such communities on G+ if you are aware of them, which are just for new bloggers, so a nice place to join up and learn things together.

              Thanks once again 🙂

              1. Thanks! I haven’t joined such communities. It’s my mistake I guess. In fact i don’t think so bloggers really want to participate with you. New bloggers must realize the value cooperation with each other. Well, Harleena! I think you are doing so good.

                1. No worries – just go ahead and join them and see the interaction there. Yes, things take time, but you can go ahead and start the talks and they might follow up, or at least share your posts to start conversation. I keep trying, that’s what I do 🙂

                  1. Thanks Harleena! If you feel easy, you can suggest me communities on my Google+ profile. Well, It was great time with you.
                    Good luck for your blog.

                  2. There are numerous ones on G+, which actually you have to hunt yourself and see what you want to join based on your interest – try new blogger or blogging related and you would find many.

                    Thanks for your wishes 🙂

  18. Hello Theodore,

    Good to see you here at Harleenas blog and sharing a valuable topic. About social media signals,
    Social media is the best place for driving traffic to ones blog. but i wonder why some bloggers haven’t realised that yet?

    Do have a best weekend both of you

    1. Good day Sir Babanature,
      I’m happy to have you here as well. Yea, social media is a very good blog promotion medium but like you said, many people still finds it difficult to realize that.

      I’m sure they will soon learn the truth.

      Thanks for coming.

  19. Hey Theodore, you are right SEO has changed. It is almost elusive. Most people do not want to put the time that it takes to wait on the results.

    Google is not providing good direction here either. They tell us not to use keywords anymore, but that seems to be the way to getting rank.

    I am too confused.

    1. Hello Michael,
      Sometimes, it will also seem as if Google is also confused but, lets just be doing things the right way.

      If you really want to get any meaningful thing from the search engines then, keyword research is a must.

      Thanks for stopping by.

  20. Hi Theodore,

    Thanks for a very useful post. There’s a lot of valuable information in it.

    I didn’t know about the most effective times to share on social media. That’s good news.

    I appreciate you sharing these tips with us.

    Have a good weekend.

    1. Thanks for the compliments June,
      I’m happy you enjoyed the post. Yea, those times have really proven to work for many people, just check it and see if it will also work for you which I’m sure it will.

      Thanks for the shout out.

  21. Hello Theodore,

    Very ultimate guide on how social media impact SEO. Great research. Generally , I believe in Google+ for my blog promotion as it has great impact on page rankings. There were many facts about social media which I was unaware of but you have covered them all. Thanks for sharing.

    Have a great day. 🙂

    1. Hello Nikhil,
      I appreciate your reading this post and I’m also happy you found it interesting.

      Thanks a lot for stopping by and do enjoy your weekend.

    2. Hey Nikhil,

      I won’t welcome you again as you’ve been to the blog earlier too, though mainly on the posts on blogging, but perhaps from a different email ID, so perhaps this shows as your first comment here, which isn’t the case 🙂

      I agree with you about the power of G+, which is certainly much more than FB, Twitter, or any other social media network.

      Thanks for stopping by, and I’m glad you found Theodore’s post useful 🙂

  22. Excellent article on the use of social media. We know that things are changing very fast and we need to keep pace with all of them. Social media the way to go and the trick is to use all of them in appropriate fashion for maximum benefits.

    1. Great comment Shelu,
      You’ve said it all in a well concise and easy to understand manner and I agree with your points.

      Thanks for the visit and have a great weekend.

  23. Really appreciate the mention, Theodore.

    However, in my post I never really said that SEO was dead; mostly made fun of those who think so because it most likely means that they simply don’t know enough about SEO to make it work for them.

    SEO is very much alive and kicking, but of course, it’s important to remember that it’s far not the only or best way to get traffic.

    Harleena is a great example of how to generate traffic through long-term relationship building and it’s paying off.

    1. It feels good to have you here Ana,
      I really love all you’re doing on your blog and, I will always respect your awesome opinions.

      Yea, SEO is still kicking and I love that language :). Like you said, its good to find other ways to get traffic because, relying on Google alone can be disastrous.

      Thanks for the shout out :).

  24. No doubt that now to provide better search experience to the users, Google and other search engine take the help of social signals, But due to increase in the online scams (like buying facebook likes, fake facebook account), Google also penalizes those website with some illegal activities found on a website.But at last thanks a lot for sharing this useful article with us.

    1. You’re right Vikas,
      A lot of people are always trying to game their way through all these but, there is always a way to separate the chaff from the wheat so, the search engines do know how to get the truth I guess :).

      Thanks for stopping by man.

    2. Welcome to the blog Vikas – good to see you here!

      Yes indeed, I’m surely glad that now Google and search engines recognize social media signals even more than before. Oh yes…those who don’t practice the fair way will surely be penalized as well. But I think why should we do that when we have better ways to build relationships through our blogs, isn’t it?

      Thanks for stopping by and sharing your views 🙂

  25. Hi Theodore!

    Thank you for sharing your thoughts on ways to increase our blog traffic. I’m fairly new to all of it but I’m doing both…creating as many links as I can to my site and also using social media as regularly as I can. Right now I’m finding I’m getting referrals from both fairly consistently so especially my Facebook Fan page. But it is a work in progress. I’ve never done a contest so that is something to consider too. thanks for all your suggestions.

    1. You’re welcome Kathy,
      Social media marketing just like every other thing can be time consuming and confusing especially when you’re just starting but, I know it will get better later.

      Yes, contest will definitely help so, its something you might have to check out.

      Thanks for coming.

  26. Hi, I’m in your tribe, so I came to read this.

    This was so informative, and I really appreciate the time put into this post. I started a new website where I have social media link-ups every day and I try to reference posts such as this one. Even though link building isn’t that important anymore–I will be linking to here so that others can read this as well!

    1. Hi Tammy,
      Thanks a million times. It’s good to hear that you found my post interesting and, I will surely appreciate the link. Thanks for coming and do have a lovely weekend.

      Theo

  27. Thanks for this post!

    It’s interesting to know although, kind of frustrating if you’re just starting out. To get likes and shares you have to have a tremendous network, so getting there can be slow. sometimes I enjoy a post but don’t share it because the subject matter isn’t appealing to everyone. This post is a great share though! Harleena is a great example of how to engage people and make friends on the internet 🙂

    1. Hello Lisa,
      Thanks for reading my post, I’m so happy you found it interesting. You just have to get familiar with it though, it can be frustrating as you said but, you will get better at it with time.

      Thanks for coming.

  28. Hi Theodore,

    I always use the Social Media from the very beginning of my blogging. And so after they launch the Hummingbird, my PR went up from zero to one. My Alexa ranking became better. And also my traffic tripled.

    Last night, I was just reading this book regarding SEO. You know in the beginning I hated SEO, I just don’t like writing for it; and now I’m getting better at it as time goes on. SEO is not dead. It is still important but there are more things needed to get better on that SERP ranking. Just DO NOT OVER OPTIMIZE IT.

    “As you do that optimization, you’ll have to abide by some guidelines in order to make Google trust that your content is very relevant for any given keyword search. This building of trust through content really starts at the keyword research phase. You have to find the right keywords that people will be searching for, for each of your articles that you write. You have to get really good at creating your content and writing your blogs from an SEO perspective. Because as soon as you master this, your life will become much more easier.” SEO for Bloggers by: R.L. Adams

    You said: “I want you to understand that SEO, social media, and content marketing are all under the umbrella of Organic Marketing.” — I couldn’t agree more! You’re right on TARGET.

    Btw, I have a question. You mentioned on this 4 Social Media Signals, you said: number of Facebook likes and total number of Google +1’s. How do we do this on our blog? That means we have to include the LIKE buttons for FB and Google+ right? Coz all I have is the SHARE button but not the like or +1’s.

    Anyhoo, thanks for sharing us your nuggets. Happy Valentine’s Day!! 😀

    Angela

    1. Happy St Val’s day too Angela,
      I’m filled with joy knowing that you agreed with my points about Social Media, SEO and Content Marketing being under the umbrella of organic marketing and as I said, all of them should be joined together in order to get the best and maximum result from our blog posts.

      Yea, I also know some people that don’t like hearing about anything concerning SEO and I always tell them that its because they don’t really understand what its all about yet. If you know what SEO truly is then, you will definitely come to like it and, I’m happy you now know its benefits.

      I also agree with you that its not good to over-optimize, this will make you to appear spammy in the eyes of Google and, we all know what that could result to.

      Coming to your question about the 4 Social Media signals, having only the share button is not enough, its good you also include the like and Google+ buttons just as Harleena did on this blog. I’m sure you can get lots of plugins out there that can do this.

      Don’t know if I answered your question?

      Thanks for this wonderful comment of yours Angela and, have a fabulous weekend.

  29. Hi theodore,

    Always good to find new ways to generate traffic so thanks for sharing this post. As a blind computer user i am often frustrated with using th various social media sites. I don’t go on them as much as I would like to and have trouble commenting on other posts especially on fb. So the best way for me to help is to share posts, and i use email notifications to reply to those shares once they get started.

    Best thing that happened to me in the last year was being featured on one of Adrienne Smith’s posts so you are definitely right about getting to know the leaders because they can really push a site to the top of the rankings. Of course if you aren’t genuine then most people won’t help. so you can’t be all about the rankings. Be a good citizen of the blogging community and good things will happen. Take care, max

    1. I agree 100% with all the points you made Maxwell,
      And yes, I remembered when Adrienne mentioned you on her monthly round up post and, I know the benefits that comes with such mention.

      Its all about providing value and quality. Once you do it well, every other thing will inevitably work out for good.

      Thanks for sharing your candid opinion with us Max :).

      1. Hi Theodore,

        Just glad people still like hearing my opinions. smile. I’m at that point where I’m doing it all the right way and have been for a while but am not seeing the financial rewards of my success. My site is ranking well except for google and I’m getting solid traffic around 50,000 page loads a month.

        The problem is no ad revenue yet, no sponsorship money yet, not enough commissioned sales so far, etc. My friends even convinced me to add a donate button to the site as a blind business owner has expenses that sighted ones don’t. I’ve only had it up a few days, so its too early to tell on that. And since people seem to think i need to be more open about my blindness i kept my newest blog post’s title simple and to the point. Let me know what you think of it if you have the time to check it out. Thanks for your suggestions and take care, max

  30. Happy Valentines day Harleena,

    Thanks a lot for giving me the opportunity to share my little knowledge with your readers, it really meant a lot to me and I take it as my new year and Valentine gift :).

    Thanks a million times.

  31. Hey my man Theodore from Top Blogging Coach you are very well welcome to Harleena Aha-Now blog.

    I am very well impressed and fully informed by this informative article of yours.

    As far as i know, trends keep changing with time and one of the characteristics a good blogger should posses is the ability of been flexible( i mean moving along with the trends).

    At one time, search engines depended on the links pointing to one’s blog for them to rank well. And at another time it is depending on the signals gotten from social media which include the number of shares, likes, tweets and the authority sharing and tweeting them.

    The place of Social media have come to stay and i wouldn’t doubt if search engines employ social media’s services to determine activities going on in one’s blog especially the google’s social media(google +). Lately articles have been written of how effective the use of google + have been to increase serp’s visibility.

    Thanks for sharing this informative article.

    1. Hey man,
      I’m so happy to see you here and, thanks for the kind words. Change is indeed very constant and if you must remain on right/winning lane for long then, you must be willing to adapt to change else, you will be overtaken by the competition.

      Thanks for stopping by Philip.

  32. Hi Harleena thanks for introducing Theodore to your readers,

    Though I seldom visit some of the Social sites and I get some traffic out of it I never thought of some of the benefits mentioned here. According to the points brought out here,one needs to regularly concentrate or visit these pages to get the attention of search engines. I have decided to focus on these lines. I usually prefer G+ instead of fb or twitter. I have to do something religiously to get solid attention of search engines. Thanks Theodore for the valuable tips here. Keep informed.

    Thanks Harleena for this educative piece..
    Best Regards seasons greetings
    Philip

    1. Thanks a lot Philip,
      I’m glad you like the post. G+ is an awesome community and, I’m sure you will get the best out of it.

      Thanks for coming.

  33. I don’t think link building and SEO are dead — they’re transformed. You want to link to high quality sites such as AHA Now! But you also want to receive a backlink from high quality sites. SEO is still needed, but you have to be smart about it. Get into the heads of your readers and research their searches. What do they search for on Google, Yahoo!, Duck, Duck Go, Bing and other search engines?

    I believe social media signals can affect your search engine rankings. After all, tweets and Facebook posts that do well have to count for something, right?

    My favorite social media website is Twitter. Why? Because it’s fast and easy; twitter chats are fun. But, I also use LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google Plus and dabble with Facebook. I’ve on occasion use StumbleUpon. The number of social networks is staggering. Choose wisely.

    1. You’ve said it all Amandah,
      Its good to chose wisely based on the ones that are working for you and, I agree with your points.

      SEO strategy has changed and is still changing so, its better we know about this so we can be able to leverage other sources through which we can also rank on the search engines like the Social Media.

      Its about social proof and the earlier we start making good use of the social media, the better for us.

      Thanks for the awesome comment.

  34. Hello Theodore, and welcome to Aha-now..

    I have also read from so many blog that SEO is dead, but the fact is even if seo is still alive breathing, am sure its not going to last long..

    Most wise bloggers have decided to quit SEO and focus on Social media, most especially Google plus..

    thank you very much for this post..

    1. You’re right Tami,
      Social media is the next big deal and I’m happy you already know about that.

      Thanks for stopping over.

  35. I kept putting off using Social Media for a long time because I didn’t know how it would help me or even where to begin! It all seemed so overwhelming. I’ve since adopted Twitter and Facebook (and know I need to get on Google+). As a newbie, it was important for me to start slow and learn as much as I could.

    I don’t really give much thought to the content of each of my SM posts, and after reading this, I feel that I should be a bit more deliberate not only with my words, but with other ways to increase the possibility of it being shared such as adding images.

    I appreciate your history of SEO and link building. I’ve read a lot about link building being dead, but never really knew the back story. So thank you for that!! You’ve definitely giving me something to think about! I’ll definitely start incorporating some of your tips!

    1. You’re most welcomed Jennifer,
      I’m happy you like the post. Social is indeed important for any blog and you have to start learning how best to make use of it now.

      Yes, it can be really overwhelming sometimes but, if you can cool down and learn the acts, you will discover that its worth all your time.

      Just pick few of them and see where it takes you and, don’t forget to reach out for me if you need any additional information.

      Thanks for coming.

  36. Hi Theodore, welcome to Harleena’s blog and hope to see you often because I enjoy reading your post!

    This is my opinion about social signals and ranking, I see you say its very important and I say is not that much and ranking effect is way to little because I see dozens of sites ranked nr.1 in Google and some of them don’t even have a comment box and merely see any social engagement such as likes or shares. And I’m not talking about small niche sites, I’m talking about big money niche.

    How they rank? Well they rank because they have backlinks with rich keyword anchor text on high PR sites, and they say guest blogging, they simply want a backlink from your site and move to next, that’s why Matt Cutts released latest warning, is a warning.

    Small effect because social signals(likes and shares) can be bought with thousands, I can post any article and put 10k people to like and share that article(cost around $200), what I receive is traffic, lot of traffic but not first place in Google.

    Have a wonderful weekend my friend, kind regards from I. C. Daniel

    1. Thanks for that kind word Daniel,
      I’m happy that you enjoy my posts and, that means a lot to me. Thanks

      Yea, I know where you’re coming from but, I will tell you that link building is no longer worth it like before. Except the link is coming from an authority and relevant site, it will not add anything to your ranking again. So, people will now be finding it real difficult to game Google.

      Finally, its not about the number game. You can definitely spend some good $$$$ to buy lots of facebook likes but, the most important thing is…. How are they interacting with your posts? It will be very easy to know the likes that are legitimate and the ones that are fake because, the legitimate ones will always interact with your posts.

      So, I still believes that social media matters a lot even more than the links in the todays SEO.

      Thanks for sharing your awesome opinion with us man.

  37. Hi Theodore,

    Welcome to Halreena’s blog and this is very interesting topic indeed 🙂

    You nailed it with the SMM tips. Actually, I like the idea of contests and few of my friends hosted ’em already. They had vivid experiences but traffic flow was impressive as they mentioned.

    As I find, Social Media and SEO are not two topics we can pick and leave one behind mate. Back in 2000s, the online World was just a Geek Kingdom. Now it’s all social, and Google and Bing almost integrated social features to their search products too. Time flies so fast!

    I haven’t been focusing much on Social Media as a link building strategy, but to deliver content to a wider audience. I know most of my blogging friends do evaluate how their social profiles contributing to their authority, ranking and so on by checking out outbound links to their blog, PageRank and all that lists under marketing. Busy bees!

    Technically, Social Media do contribute to search rankings and there were lot of discussions lately. Anyway, I believe SEO can’t be dead until search engines can be perfect enough as human beings, Theodore. I love where it’s heading now, so manipulations are discouraged.

    However, what I most like about Social Media is that how it helps build the relationships and makes the conversions than helping to build the blog’s ranking. Social networks tops referral traffic for most bloggers. Don’t they?

    In fact, businesses under-perform in search rankings yet successful in their businesses with the help of SM. I’m not sure about BIG businesses, but experienced it with local small businesses which locals barely knew it existed. Now they are profit generators 🙂

    I love active communities such as Adrienne’s, as they can boost the expectations. Isn’t that amazing? Yet I’m mostly active on SM in personal level though. Hmm… I gotta think about that.

    You both have a lovely weekend ahead, Theodore and Halreena 🙂 BTW Happy Valentine’s Day too.

    Cheers…

    1. Happy Valentine day to you as well Muyara,
      You’ve really said a lot here and I have to agree with every word you said man. Oh yes, manipulations are indeed discouraged on the search engines now which is also one of the reasons why I love the transformations.

      I guess it will end up favoring people like us that are doing it the right way? 🙂 So, its good.

      I guess its about time you start leveraging the social media to promote your business because, I’m sure you won’t regret it.

      Thanks a lot for the kind words.

  38. Hi Theodore, and welcome to Aha!NOW as a guest blogger!

    You’ve been a regular visitor to my blog and an important member of the blog community, and I always wanted to give back and show my gratitude to you. And you’ve justified with this power pack post on social media signals.:)

    I’m sure many bloggers aren’t aware that post-humming bird era, the social media signals have become an important part of the criteria considered for search engine rankings. Not that it wasn’t important before, but since link building was pronounced dead, social media has risen to be the leading indication of popularity, and rightly so.

    Many bloggers like myself are not able to spend time on link building, and prefer to work on our content and blog promotion on social media. It’s good to know that our efforts would now be paid off as search engine ranking rewards!

    So does SMO become the new SEO? I understand SEO is not completely written off, but has developed into conceptual and semantic form.

    Thanks for explaining this important relation between social media and search engines. It’s surprising to know the power of a tweet, and good to know the ways to get the best out of our social media marketing efforts.

    Thanks also for your kind words, and I’m too honored to have you as a guest blogger. I’m sure the readers and community members would have comments and questions for you, so I hope you enjoy interacting with them all. I’d only be joining in to welcome the new guests – so the rest are all over to you. Have a great time, Theodore! 🙂

    1. Pleasure is mine Harleena,
      I never knew I will one day be a guest on the almighty Aha-now community and, I’m happy I made it :).

      Indeed, a lot have changed over the years when it comes to SEO though, it’s not completely dead as most people will assume but, the strategies have changed tremendously.

      If you ask me, I will say that social media is becoming the new SEO and it’s good we become aware of it so we will add more efforts to our social media promotion.

      Years ago, it used to be all about the number of links pointing to your web pages and if you can write any crappy post and have some irrelevant links pointing to it, you will be ranking very high on the serps but, all that have changed and the search engines have started taking notes of a sites social media signals to determine how authoritative it is and how to rank it.

      I know you’re super when it comes to social media promotion and, I want to encourage you to keep on doing it and also, I’m encouraging those that are not yet serious with their social media promotion to start paying more attention to it now than ever.

      Thanks and have a splendid weekend Mrs Harleena.

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