Pubcon Las Vegas 2015

Search and Social Content Strategy

2015 Search and Social – About Me

About Me• Senior SEO Strategist, Globe Runner• Brand Ambassador, Majestic.com• Personal Blog: www.BillHartzer.com• Practicing Organic/Natural SEO since 1996

2015 Search and Social - Overview

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 Search and Social – History of Social Signals and SEO

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 Search and Social – History of Social Signals and SEO

History of Social Signals and SEOGoogle’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 Search and Social – Google Vocal on Social Signals

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 Search and Social – What can we do now?

What Can You Do Now?

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

2015 Search and Social – Setting Up Social Accounts

Setting Up Facebook Pages• Set up Business Page (Facebook.com/bhartzer)• Engines crawl biz pages, not personal accounts• Promote Facebook posts, even for $5

2015 Search and Social – Setting Up Social Accounts, Posting

Pubcon Las Vegas 2015 Post• Wrote a post last week about Pubcon Las Vegas• Posted on blog, promoted on social• Facebook sponsored post• Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, etc.Results?It got indexed quicklyShares, engagementVisibility for Me

2015 Search and Social – Setting Up Social Accounts

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

• Post on your blog? Share full URL, not a shortened. • Tweeting URL helps get it crawled quickly.

2015 Search and Social – Setting Up Social Accounts

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 Search and Social – Setting Up Social Accounts

Setting Up Google+• Google+ Local biz (page), verify listing• Google+ Personal Account, used for Authorship• (Don’t remove your authorship code just yet!)• Posting Regularly: Important to keep fresh, get URLs

indexed quickly, jumpstart engagement

2015 Search and Social – Setting Up Social Accounts

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 Search and Social – Setting Up Social Accounts

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

2015 Search and Social – Promoting Social On Your Site

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 Search and Social – Promoting Posts on Social

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

86 Speakers I Want to Meet at Pubcon Las Vegas86 People I Want to See at Pubcon Las Vegas86 To See at Pubcon Las Vegas

2015 Search and Social – Promoting Posts on Social

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 Search and Social – Promoting Posts on Social

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

2015 Search and Social – Future: What now?

So, What Now?Matt Cutts, long ago, 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 Search and Social – Future: What Now?

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 Search and Social – Future: What now?

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/1E9BTCXMeasuring Google PlusImpact on Search Rankings http://bit.ly/1CIM2F4

2015 Search and Social – Case Study

Case Study: Matt Cutts Joins Globe Runner• GlobeRunner.com 2015 April Fool’s Prank

2015 Search and Social – Case Study

We Even Made the News that Weekend

2015 Search and Social – Case Study

Not Everyone Was Impressed, Though

2015 Search and Social – Case Study

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

good PR stunt.

2015 Search and Social – Case Study

Our Japanese Friends Were Horrified

2015 Search and Social – Case Study

Jill Had the Best Comments, though

2015 Search and Social – Case Study

But What Overall Traffic, Rankings?

2015 Search and Social – Case Study

Traffic to the Post?

2015 Search and Social – Case Study

Impressions, Clicks According to GWT

2015 Search and Social – Case Study

Overall Rankings Went Up, Lots of Links

2015 Search and Social Strategy – Thank You

THANK YOU Contact Me

Bill HartzerSenior SEO StrategistGlobe RunnerEmail: Bill@GlobeRunnerSEO.comMobile: (214) 236-4378Office: (972) 538-0260

Web: https://globerunner.comBlog: https://www.billhartzer.comTwitter: @bhartzer