How Does Social Media Affect My SEO Rankings?

social media seo rankings

Every day we see more social networks popping up. Tweet this, Share that, Stumble-Tumble everything… it’s enough to make your head spin. You probably wonder, is it really worth it? Should I try to keep up with all of these social networks? The short answer is yes. Even with Facebook stock still under $20 a share (as of 9/10/12) using social networking sites is a must to promote/define your brand or content.
The fact is, Search Engines like Google love fresh new content. Everything you post on your website or blog should be posted on your social media sites. You should also install social media sharing buttons on pages or posts of your website. Why??? Sites like Twitter, Facebook and Google+ are considered authoritative sites composed of tons of influential people that can share your content. The more they share the better.
When posting new content, keep a couple of things in mind:
1. Share all content on all of your social networks
2. Make sure that you have social sharing buttons installed on pages or posts on your website.
3. Make sure that the Title of your article reflects the keyword that you are trying to rank organically on.
4. Try to create a strategy that will get your article or content shared by as many people as possible. More importantly, try to get your content shared by influential people. These people have access to larger audiences, which yields great exposure and potentially more shares.
5. Engage with your community and the ones that share or comment on your content.
People who share your content will increase your chances to rank organically on search engines, at least for a limited amount of time. If your article is dynamic and engaging, a goal to strive for would be 50-100 total shares, depending upon the size of your community.
Following these steps does not guarantee that your content will show up on Search Engines, but it does help. Search Engines factor social signals into their rankings but for long-term sustainability, you need to have both your internal links as well as external authoritative links linking back to your site/content.
We know that search engines are factoring and monitoring social media sites for content. Be sure that what you are posting is Quality and Relevant content.