Rob Garner discusses how social signals have become crucial to search engine optimization. Social interactions like sharing, liking, commenting and other engagement are considered a new form of publishing and link building that search engines factor into visibility. Successful publishers of content think like search engines by understanding language trends, publishing quickly across broad relevant networks, and consistently creating new content without expecting every piece to go viral. Social networks like Google+ provide key signals through sharing and interactions that search engines may use to determine relevance.

1. Influencing Search with Social Signals
Rob Garner, Chief Strategy Officer, Advice Interactive Group
October 23, 2013
© Advice Interactive Group, 2013. All rights reserved.
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2. Introduction
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Longtime member of WebmasterWorld, and
speaker at Pubcon
VP of SEMPO International
Founder and past president of the Dallas/Ft
Worth Search Engine Marketing Association
Chief Strategy Officer at Advice Interactive
Working in online marketing for 18 years
Focus on digital marketing strategy, paid
media, SEO, social, content, web
development strategy
Previously worked for Omnicom, iTraffic,
Agency.com, iCrossing, Hearst
© Advice Interactive Group, 2013. All rights reserved.
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3. SEARCH & SOCIAL–
The Definitive Guide to Real-Time Content
Marketing
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Covers interdependent
search and social concepts
Social signals on search
Interview with Brett Tabke
and many others
406 pages
Stop by the Advice
Interactive / Local Site
Submit booth to get one of
75 free copies
© Advice Interactive Group, 2013. All rights reserved.
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4. Today
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Why Are Social Signals Crucial to Search?
Social Engagement and Search Visibility
Our Approach to Successful Search and Social Publishers
Social Signals in Google+
© Advice Interactive Group, 2013. All rights reserved.
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5. 01 Why Are Social Signals Crucial to Search?
© Advice Interactive Group, 2013. All rights reserved.
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6. Shift in Linking Measurement:
Social impact on SEO
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Links are the cornerstones of natural
search algorithms, and now social is a
cornerstone as well
But influence of links has shifted
greatly from webmasters and technical
influencers, to the average Internet
user
As a result, the social graph has taken a
massive bite out of the link graph
Examples of this include:
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Tweeting (not a direct link)
Publishing via blog CMS such as WordPress or
Blogger
Rating, commenting, posting
+1s, Likes, various types of shares
Bookmarking
Etc.
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7. The Share Graph:
A New Kind of Social Link Graph
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Search engine view of sharing activities across the social graph takes into
consideration:
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Authority of the network sharer
Theme of the user, or related concepts of the network sharer
Depth of the network sharer’s network, and the authority of those in the network
Trustworthiness of the network sharer (in relation to the likelihood that they
produce spam or low-quality content
– Velocity of keyword usage across a network, and the spreading of that keyword or
phrase over time though shared networks
– Velocity of link being shared, over time, based on time frequency, volume, and
level that it cascades though various networks
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The link graph is to the web graph, as the share graph is to the social graph
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8. Social Signals Reveal High Velocity
Content and Interests
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Keyword Search Velocity:
– Google trends the rise and fall of keyword usage over time
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Sharing:
– Google+ is tracking the speed of traffic by time-stamping every click
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This helps determine “QDF” factors and rank sites accordingly
© Advice Interactive Group, 2013. All rights reserved.
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9. Social Signals Reveal High Velocity
Content and Interests
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Keyword Search Velocity:
– Google trends the rise and fall of keyword usage over time
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Sharing:
– Google+ is tracking the speed of traffic by time-stamping every click
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This helps determine “QDF” factors and rank sites accordingly
© Advice Interactive Group, 2013. All rights reserved.
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10. Natural Language Signals Connect
Social and Search
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Language is a living concept
Keywords are connections to people
Language reflects the words, voice, tone, and tastes of audience
Used to find and connect with your audience through content and
conversation
Enables the spirit of your audience into brand of business conversation
Search engines have historically been the best at mining and processing
natural language
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11. 02 Social Engagement and Search Visibility
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12. Building up your social networks
is a SEO tactic
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13. Engagement is both a strategy and a tactic
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14. Social Interaction is a new form
of publishing
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15. 03 Characteristics of Successful Search and
Social Publishers
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16. Social Signals Reveal High Velocity
Content and Interests
1 Think like a search engine when engaging in social
They live in the language and sharing trends of
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their audience
3 They publish fluidly and quickly
They have broad and/or relevant networks in
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which to disseminate their content
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17. They publish a lot, and they don’t expect every publishing attempt to
be a home run.
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18. 03 Social Signals in Google+
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19. Social Signals and Synergies
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20. Key social signals in Bing and Google
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21. Google Glass: The Social Impact on
Search
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22. Common Reactions
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Delight
Curiosity
Fear
Uncertainty
Bewilderment
Overwhelming excitement
Shock
Awe
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23. © Advice Interactive Group, 2013. All rights reserved.
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24. High-Level Impact of Glass
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Google Glass and similar type
hardware is the “new screen,” in
addition to the iPad, mobile, desktop,
etc.
Marketers will have to optimize for
Google Now – meaning context and
proximity, among many other new
factors
Get your local house in order
Start determining your company’s
unique value proposition for Glass
Create your app
Glass is bigger than just email and pics
– it represents the coming
digitalization of the physical world,
with search and social at the core
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25. Thank You!
Rob Garner
Chief Strategy Officer
Advice Interactive Group
(O) 214.310.1356
rgarner@adviceinteractive.com
© Advice Interactive Group, 2013. All rights reserved.
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