The document discusses the integration of social signals into search engine results, emphasizing how platforms like Google and Bing utilize social media interactions to enhance search relevancy and rankings. It highlights the importance of social connections in boosting content visibility and suggests various tools and strategies for marketers to leverage social networks for improved search performance. The overall message is that maximizing social engagement can lead to better search traffic and outcomes for businesses.

1. Why Search Needs SocialAnd how marketers can gain a competitive advantage in bothDownload: http://bit.ly/mozsearchsocialRand Fishkin, CEO & Co-founder, SEOmozMay 2011

2. A Little Google Algo HistoryMaps + Local ResultsWebSpam TeamCaffeine(Freshness + Speed)Sandbox2004200120072009-1019982003200520092011Vince (Brands)Panda/FarmerPageRankNofollowFlorida UpdateGoogle’s had many other big shifts over the years, but I wanted to call out these specifically. See http://www.toddnemet.com/timeline/ for more.

3. What is Google Trying to Do?

4. Make Better ResultsI’m actually looking for a good grill for this summer. Google’s not very helpful.Unfortunately, none of these are comprehensive or accurate enough to fulfill what I’m looking for (and many use affiliate links, calling into question their motives.)

5. Why Social?

6. These results are quite good; mostly because I’m connected to people who share useful, interesting stuff in this niche. I need to find some grilling experts.Social signals – Facebook Likes, Shares, Comments; Twitter tweets; LinkedIn Status Updates; even references from smaller social platforms (Quora, StumbleUpon, Flickr, Blogs, etc.) can help Google gain more relevancy by showing what users really enjoy and share!

7. Let’s explore how search and social are merging and talk about some cool tactical wins for marketers, too.

8. Google’s Accounts Deliver Social IntegrationYou can see and connect your own social accounts to your Google profile via https://profiles.google.com/connectedaccounts

9. Now When I Search…Geraldine’s blog is awesome, but it would never rank on page #1 for this query without the power of the social connection.You can see and connect your own social accounts to your Google profile via https://profiles.google.com/connectedaccounts

10. Bing Does this Too (at least with Facebook)More info on the Bing/Facebook integration: http://searchengineland.com/bing-now-with-extra-facebook-see-what-your-friends-like-52848

11. Wait… Doesn’t that mean?

12. Bigger Social Network +More Social Sharing=More Search Traffic & Better Rankings

13. That’s Not All…

14. Social Signals are Likely to Be Directly Influential, TooControlling for links, social metrics are well correlated with higher rankings in Google. This strongly suggests a direct influence. More http://www.seomoz.org/blog/facebook-twitters-influence-google-search-rankings

15. Let’s Expand Our Network!

16. Using the query string parameter for profiles, you can find people to connect with across networks who will then see your shares in Google, e.g. http://www.google.com/search?tbs=prfl:e&q=seattle+blogger

17. FollowerWonk makes it easy to find and connect with Twitter users in the same fashion: http://followerwonk.com

18. Using http://bit.ly for tracking can help us see when/where we’re effective with shared content and track clicks that Analytics can’t. BTW – You can use + with goog.gl or bit.ly to see other people’s shared links, too, e.g. http://goo.gl/BMIGz+

19. Analytics on Socially Shared Links MattersBy aggregating your metrics from bit.ly (and twitter/facebook/etc), you can see patterns that can suggest better ways to share content. More here: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/calculating-and-improving-your-twitter-clickthroughrate

20. Facebook Offers Direct InsightsSpeaking of analytics, Facebook’s Insights widget can be installed on your site to see data about your visitors who are logged into FB: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/4-facebook-marketing-tactics-you-might-not-know-about

21. Newer Networks Offer Outsized ReturnsNamesake is an emerging discussion network that looks very promising: http://namesake.com/

22. Newer Networks Offer Outsized ReturnsAnswering a few questions on http://www.quora.com send us several hundred visits a month already

23. Tools like http://trunk.ly and http://summify.com can help you discover great content to share + spread, as well as learn what types of content performs well in your niche.

24. OKCupid has this awesome drop-over box after you finish reading, encouraging you to share.Ian Lurie’s blog uses a subtle, single message that “likes” his whole site’s profile, so that anything he shares in the future appears in your search results.Check out http://blog.okcupid.com/ and http://www.conversationmarketing.com to see these in action.

25. The Possibilities for Social + Search Synergies Have Never Been Better.

26. Download: http://bit.ly/mozsearchsocialRand Fishkin, CEO & Co-Founder, SEOmoz Twitter: @randfish

27. Blog: www.seomoz.org/blog

28. Email: rand@seomoz.orgTry SEOmoz PRO free!http://www.seomoz.org/gopro