GOOGLE TRUSTRANK AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Google TrustRank is an algorithm that measures trust signals, which tell the search engine if users can trust the content on your website. Google filed a patent for it and made official statements about links and how important they are for establishing trust. Therefore, if you have a lot of high-quality links, you have a lot of trust with Google. With more than 200 trust signals, Google is on the lookout for websites that are considered trustworthy and credible.
Most brands are active on social media, so Google will look at those social sites to see how much engagement you have with followers. But not all social sites are created equal and social engagement factors into building trust with Google.
Google said how social shares don’t count as links, but there is most likely a correlation. Creating good content can become popular on social media. Followers will like and link to your content, which does help your rankings. So while Google has refuted the fact that social activity influences rank, it has suggested that social engagement may impact other metrics – links.
Links really impact rankings. If followers are sharing your posts, that is only going to help the value of your links and bring traffic to your site. Therefore, social media can impact what is considered trustworthy to Google.
QUALITY VERSUS QUANTITY
While regular posting is important, it doesn’t help you if you are not providing any real value to your audience. One new backlink could potentially improve the search rank of a URL. This is why paid social can help you tremendously when it comes to sharing quality content. The cost of an ad will reap the benefits of boosting rankings and search visibility.
As you build a community of followers, provide them relevant content. Quality content or quality social sites are measured by how often their posts are liked and shared. Social media sites have algorithms of their own, and you want to make sure you’re factoring in the types of content that will get seen in your followers’ news feeds.
SOCIAL LISTENING
Google also uses sentiment analysis for search rankings, which includes social media. For example, a communications crisis can spread at great speed on social media. Sentiment analysis can pick up on that. Since Google looks at brand mentions and analyzes sentiment, you should keep a close eye on this. Social media listening tools often have sentiment analysis. Once you spot the problem, do what you can to prevent it from growing large enough to possibly impact your rankings.
You can also utilize social listening to find influencers who have a high following and authority in your industry. Start building a relationship with those influencers by sharing their posts. They may return the favor and mention your brand or link to your website.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a long-term strategy, so it will take time for Google to recognize your website as credible. In fact, it can take six months before you see a result from your optimization efforts. While there is some debate among the SEO community about social media impacting rankings, most digital marketers can agree that links and traffic are definitely a factor on if you end up on page one of Google.
