2015 PubCon – Austin

Search and Social Content Strategy

2015 PubCon– Search and Social Content Strategy

About Me

• Senior SEO Strategist, Globe Runner• Founder, DFWSEM Association• Brand Ambassador, Majestic.com• Personal Blog: www.BillHartzer.com• Practicing Organic/Natural SEO since 1996• Twitter ID: @bhartzer

2015 Pubcon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Overview• History of Social Signals

• Google Vocal about Social• Setting Up Social Profiles• Sharing content properly

• Social Signals’ SEO research, studies• Social Signals’ Future• Case Study

2015 Pubcon – Search and Social Content Strategy

History of Social Signals and SEO• Real-Time Search Launched December 2009

http://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-launches-latest-results-realtime-search/15290/

• Google, Circa 2009

• July 2011, TwitterFirehose ended.

• Feb 2015, new Twitter/Google agreement.

2015 PubCon – Search and Social Content Strategy

History of Social Signals and SEO

Google’s goal in 2009:

to strive to bring us “the freshest, most comprehensive and relevant search results over an ever expanding universe of content on the multitude of devices” we “use to access it.”

2015 PubCon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Google Vocal on Social SignalsMatt Cutts at SES San Fran 2012 Keynote:

“Google has a 10 year plan for relying on social factors as a part of the algorithm… In the short term, Google is still relying on links as an important ranking factor.”

Question: Are social signals a ranking factor?“They have to have access to the data. Some sites are blocked, Facebook, etc.. If they can’t crawl, then they won’t have the data.”

2015 PubCon – Search and Social Content Strategy

What Can You Do Now?

• Set up social profiles• Contribute, update regularly• Share content• Add friends/followers• Be active! Every single day…

2015 PubCon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Setting Up Facebook Pages• Set up Business Page (Facebook.com/bhartzer)

• Google crawls biz pages, not personal accounts

• Promote Facebook posts, even for $5

2015 PubCon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Pubcon Austin 2015 Post• Wrote a post last week about Pubcon Austin• Posted on blog, promoted on social• Facebook sponsored post• Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Ello

• Result? It got indexed quickly

2015 PubCon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Setting Up Social Accounts• Don’t follow more than following you

• Post on your blog? Share the full URL, not a shortened URL.

• Tweeting URL helps get it crawled quickly.

2015 Pubcon – Search and Social Content Strategy

LinkedIn• Full personal profile with good photo.• Share your blog posts, articles, updates.• “Like” contacts’ updates, they get emailed.• Put URL in comment = “do follow” link!

2015 PubCon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Setting Up Google+• Google+ Local biz (page), verify listing, used for

Publishership• Google+ Personal Account, used for Authorship• Google Publishership: Important for home

page, content pages

2015 PubCon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Optimize Profile on Google Plus• Fill Out Entire Profile, Every Field• Summary with Facts• Add relevant keywords• Get local – add location• Add anchor text links!

2015 PubCon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Optimize Profile on Google Plus• Write Great Content, share Great Content• Manage Your Contacts, Put in Circles• Join Niche Specific Communities• Pay Attention to Your Ripples• Create a Visually-Rich Experience• Use Google+ Hangouts• Display Your Google Plus Badge on Your Site

2015 PubCon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Watch, Use Google+ Ripples• Watch hot posts, network with influencers based on Ripples

2015 Pubcon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Adding Followers on Google+• Search for Circles “Keyword Circle” or “SEO Circle”.• Find others who shared their circles• Add people all at once, move later to other circle

2015 Pubcon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Promoting Social on Your Own Site• Include Social Icons in Key Places• Show actual number of +1s, Tweets, etc.• +1 buttons, Tweet, LinkedIn, Facebook Like Button• WordPress? Social Media Counter Plugin(s)

2015 PubCon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Promoting Posts on Social Media Sites• Post on site, get ready to promote immediately• Write alternate titles, headlines, summaries• Each social share gets unique title, headline, summary

33 Speakers I Want to Meet at Pubcon Austin33 People I Want to See at Pubcon Austin33 To See at Pubcon Austin

2015 Pubcon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Promoting Posts on Social Media Sites• Network with others to help promote:

- bloggers write alt post, summary post, links to you- promote both summary posts and main post

2015 Pubcon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Promoting Posts on Social Media Sites• Promoting posts must happen quickly: within 2 hours• Building momentum with social shares is key

2015 PubCon – Search and Social Content Strategy

So, What Now?Matt Cutts said “Facebook and Twitter Pages Are Treated Like Any Other Web Page On the Internet”. http://bit.ly/social-signals-pages

Think of social pages, shares, and profiles as web pages.• Get links from those pages.• How to get good links? Network socially with influencers.• When you interact with influencers:

Their profile links to your profile, could pass PageRank.

2015 Pubcon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Future Social Signals for SEO?• Building up a following counts more• History of writing, authoring, sharing good content.• Your content shared by influencers counts more

2015 PubCon – Search and Social Content Strategy

We Know +1s, Tweets, Likes Don’t Count• Technically, we know they don’t count.• Does it matter, really? No. Keep sharing!Studies and research:Does Facebook activity impact SEO?

http://bit.ly/1E9BTCX

Measuring Google PlusImpact on Search Rankings

http://bit.ly/1CIM2F4

2015 Pubcon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Case Study: Matt Cutts Joins Globe Runner

• GlobeRunner.com 2015 April Fool’s Prank

2015 PubCon – Search and Social Content Strategy

We Even Made the News that Weekend

2015 PubCon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Not Everyone Was Impressed, Though

2015 Pubcon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Black Hat SEOs Talked on their Forums• Most were divided. Some though it was a

good PR stunt.

2015 Pubcon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Our Japanese Friends Were Horrified

2015 PubCon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Jill Had the Best Comments, though

2015 Pubcon – Search and Social Content Strategy

But What Overall Traffic, Rankings?

2015 Pubcon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Traffic to the Post?

2015 PubCon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Impressions, Clicks According to GWT

2015 Pubcon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Overall Rankings, Too Early to Tell, But…

2015 Pubcon – Search and Social Content Strategy

Contact Me

Bill Hartzer

Senior SEO Strategist

Globe Runner SEO

Email: Bill@GlobeRunner.com

Mobile: (214) 236-4378

Office: (972) 538-0260

Web: https://globerunner.com

Blog: https://www.billhartzer.com

Twitter: @bhartzer

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bhartzer