Finding the right mix of content that works for social as well as SEO is a delicate balance. On one hand, keyword-heavy copy does not lend itself entirely to "click bait" and "share bait" on social networks. This session will look at strategies, options, tools, and specific tactics you can pursue for making your content attractive for social sites as well as search engines.

1. 2015 PubCon – Austin
Search and Social Content Strategy

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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, Twitter
Firehose ended.
• Feb 2015, new Twitter/Google agreement.

5. 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.”

6. 2015 PubCon – Search and Social Content Strategy
Google Vocal on Social Signals
Matt 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.”

7. 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…

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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.

11. 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!

12. 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

13. 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!

14. 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

15. 2015 PubCon – Search and Social Content Strategy
Watch, Use Google+ Ripples
• Watch hot posts, network with influencers based on Ripples

16. 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

17. 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)

18. 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 Austin
33 People I Want to See at Pubcon Austin
33 To See at Pubcon Austin

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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.

22. 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

23. 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 Plus
Impact on Search Rankings
http://bit.ly/1CIM2F4

24. 2015 Pubcon – Search and Social Content Strategy
Case Study: Matt Cutts Joins Globe Runner
• GlobeRunner.com 2015 April Fool’s Prank

25. 2015 PubCon – Search and Social Content Strategy
We Even Made the News that
Weekend

26. 2015 PubCon – Search and Social Content Strategy
Not Everyone Was Impressed,
Though

27. 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.

28. 2015 Pubcon – Search and Social Content Strategy
Our Japanese Friends Were Horrified

29. 2015 PubCon – Search and Social Content Strategy
Jill Had the Best Comments, though

30. 2015 Pubcon – Search and Social Content Strategy
But What Overall Traffic, Rankings?

31. 2015 Pubcon – Search and Social Content Strategy
Traffic to the Post?

32. 2015 PubCon – Search and Social Content Strategy
Impressions, Clicks According to
GWT

33. 2015 Pubcon – Search and Social Content Strategy
Overall Rankings, Too Early to Tell,
But…

34. 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