Content sharing is more closely correlated to higher search rankings than “Liking”

Jun

Content sharing is more closely correlated to higher search rankings than “Liking”

Posted June 15th, 2012 By Kevin Long

Most of us already know that the more content sharing you can drive out of users, the more clickbacks you’ll gain to your site. But did you know that sharing on certain social networks has the potential to help your SEO ranking? According to a new study by Searchmetrics, the volume of social shares on Facebook and Twitter closely correlate with how a site ranks in Google searches.

Anecdotally, we have evidence that supports this. Several publishers have told us they recently noticed a boost in their search ranking shortly after seeing an increase in daily sharing activity on their sites.

It’s important to note that not all Facebook actions are created equal. Contrary to what most people assume, Facebook Likes are not the holy grail of traffic generation. A “Like” of content will show up on the Facebook “Wall” and in “Most Recent,” but it rarely shows in sections where most users scan and click.

To maximize SEO benefits, your site should include all Facebook sharing options, and we highly recommend Twitter, email, and additional niche networks related to your specific audience. If you’d like help implementing new icons within your site, email us at publishers@po.st.

Most SEO pundits agree that Google will increasingly use social signals, though there is some debate over the extent to which this is happening already. Also, how Google will incorporate social shares is unclear.

A strong social footprint is likely to make your rankings more defensible and future proof to algorithm updates. So rather than thinking about the next quick fix or latest SEO or link building tactic, make content marketing the center of your SEO strategy instead!

Social Metrics are Well Correlated with Higher Rankings
To me, correlation alone is interesting because I want my sites/pages to be similar to the pages that rank higher in Google, irrespective of whether those traits are directly measured in the algorithm. Pages that earn tweets + Facebook shares also correlate well with earning links, and send direct traffic on their own – ignoring these services at this point seems foolish.
Testing the Direct Impact of Facebook Shares on Google is Imperative
We’ve already observed several remarkable results from testing Twitter’s impact. Facebook should be next on the list for many search marketers.
I Need to Learn More About How to Earn Facebook Shares
Given the potential importance and the obvious direct impact (traffic from and visibility on Facebook itself), I, and probably many web marketers, need to examine successful strategies and brainstorm new ways to earn sharing activity from Facebook’s massive user base.
Shares Might Be More Valuable than Likes
In Facebook’s own environment, a “like” of content will show up on your own “Wall” and in “Most Recent” (a new feature as of last week), but it rarely shows in “Top News” where most users scan and click. If that alone isn’t reason to encourage sharing v. liking, the data above certainly is (at least to me).
Twitter May Be Less Powerful than I Thought
The correlation data and the presence of tweets in SERPs was less, in comparison to Facebook, than I would have expected. It could be that in cases like those of our experiments, where many influential Twitter users shared a URL in close temporal proximity, Google takes it as a signal, yet for standard search rankings, it’s not as powerful. We’ll definitely keep testing and watching, but my expectations for tweets correlating with rankings, after controlling for links, were higher, and thus the results, somewhat surprising.

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Content sharing is more closely correlated to higher search rankings than “Liking”

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