SOCIAL SIGNALS & SEARCH
THE CONNECTIONS & OPPORTUNITIES




ICROSSING, 22ND JULY 2011
TODAY’S OBJECTIVE


         To show you why search engines are using
         social signals to determine their
         algorithms and the way they display
         results

         To show you what needs to happen next to
         your search & social strategy to take
         advantage of these changes
AGENDA
   About me

   Why search engines are finally taking social signals seriously

   How social media integrates with search engines

   The science bit

   Reaction & recommendations

   Panel session
ABOUT ME
Social Signals
Influencing    ABOUT ME
Search Results




   5
WHY SEARCH ENGINES ARE
TAKING SOCIAL SIGNALS
SERIOUSLY
LET’S FOCUS ON THESE PLATFORMS
TWITTER: THE 140 CHARACTER PHENOMENON

                 “We came across the word ‘twitter’, and it
                 was just perfect. The definition was a
                 ‘short burst of inconsequential
                 information’, and ‘chirps from birds’ And
                 that’s exactly what the product was”
                              Jack Dorsey, Twitter Founder



                                         200 MILLION USERS
FACEBOOK: MORE FRIENDS THAN TOM DREAMED OF

                   “People have really gotten comfortable
                   not only sharing more information and
                   different kinds, but more openly and with
                   more people - and that social norm is just
                   something that has evolved over time.”
                        Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Founder



                                       750 MILLION USERS
GOOGLE+ - THE BEST PRODUCT NAME EVER?

                 “People thought we were crazy – they said there was
                 no money to be made in search over and above a bit
                 of banner advertising. Fast forward to today – it feels
                 like we’re watching the same movie again in slow
                 motion. We have a tremendous new businesses being
                 viewed as crazy.”
                                        Larry Page, Google co-founder




                                                10 MILLION USERS
HOW SOCIAL MEDIA INTEGRATES
WITH SEARCH ENGINES
BING TAKING THE CHALLENGE – AND THE LEAD?


                          90% of people seek advice from family and friends as part
                                                    of the decision making process

                         Bing will surface results, which may typically have been on
                         page three or four, higher in its results based on stuff your
                                                                    friends have liked
GOOGLE EVOLUTION

   ………………
WHO AM I CONNECTED TO
                         ………………
THE SCIENCE BIT
WHAT DO PEOPLE THINK




 There is a clear correlation between
  social signals (tweets and shares) and
  sites ranking well

 Correlation is NOT causation though
  Rand does say the correlation is high in
  his opinion
WHAT DO PEOPLE THINK




 Can help pages get indexed via Twitter
  scrape sites

 Third party sites can provide inbound
  links that positively supports the
  traditional ranking method of gaining
  links
WHAT WILL HAPPEN WITH GOOGLE?
REACTION & RECOMMENDATIONS
LINK TACTICS FRAMEWORK
˃ Directories                     > Article submission to blog network            > Internal Linking

˃ Anchor text Reconfiguration     > Blogger Add-In – Zemanta                      > Industry links – sourcing internal gov & edu comms

                                  > Blogger Events                                > Branch & store Linking opportunities
˃ Broken link reconfigurations
                                  > Link Bait                                     > Intern & graduate career pages
˃ Asset consolidation (domains)
                                  > Domain purchasing                             > Secondary link building
˃ Free link request
                                  > Partnerships                                  > Question marketing
˃ Widgets
                                  > Affiliates                                    > News, articles & blog internal linking
˃ Video widgets
                                  > Social Prompts                                > Social bookmarks
˃ Press Releases
                                  > Competitions                                  > Local link opportunities
˃ PR Summary
                                  > Infographics                                  > Link opportunity training – PR team
˃ Article Syndication
                                  > Vouchers                                      > Authoritative content generation
˃ Advertorials
                                  > Competitions                                  > Client training
˃ Text Adverts
                                  > Quizzes                                       > Product giveaways
˃ Blogger Outreach
                                  > Top Tens                                      > Group cross linking
˃ Guest Blogging                  > Twitter promotion campaigns linking back to   > Facebook corporate pages
                                    landing URLs
˃ Content – onsite & offsite                                                      > Hearst Properties
   24
LINK TACTICS FRAMEWORK
˃                                                                          >   Internal Linking
    Directories                     > Article submission to blog network
˃   Anchor text Reconfiguration                                            >   Industry links – sourcing internal gov & edu comms
                                    >   Blogger Add-In – Zemanta
˃   Broken link reconfigurations                                           > Branch & store linking/blogging
                                    > Blogger Events
˃   Asset consolidation (domains)                                            opportunities
                                    > Link Bait
˃   Free link request                                                      >   Intern & graduate career pages
                                    >   Domain purchasing
˃   Widgets                                                                >   Secondary link building
                                    >   Partnerships
˃   Video widgets                                                          > Question marketing
                                    >   Affiliates
> Press Releases                                                           > News, articles & blog internal linking
                                    > Social Prompts
                                                                           > Social bookmarks
> PR Summary                        > Social Buttons
                                                                           >   Local link opportunities
˃   Article Syndication             > Infographics                         >   Link opportunity training – PR team
˃   Advertorials
                                    > Vouchers                             > Authoritative content generation
˃   Text Adverts
                                    > Competitions                         >   Client training
> Blogger Outreach
                                    > Quizzes                              > Product giveaways
> Guest Blogging                    >   Top Tens                           >   Group cross linking


                                    > Twitter promotion campaigns          > Facebook corporate pages
> Content – onsite & offsite
    25                                  linking back to landing URLs
                                                                           >   Hearst Properties
ROADMAP RATIONALE
                                  Site
                              Architecture
                User data                    On page
                    signals                   factors


                                                                    Factor strength
                               Search              Links – paid
        Social media
          signals
                               Engine                   media
                                                                  High          Low
                              Visibility           placement




                    Links –
                                              Links –
                    content
                                             online PR
                 strategy
                                Links –
                                outreach
AGENCIES OPTIMISE
THANK YOU
@ADDHASS

Social Signals and Search, 2011

  • 1.
    SOCIAL SIGNALS &SEARCH THE CONNECTIONS & OPPORTUNITIES ICROSSING, 22ND JULY 2011
  • 2.
    TODAY’S OBJECTIVE To show you why search engines are using social signals to determine their algorithms and the way they display results To show you what needs to happen next to your search & social strategy to take advantage of these changes
  • 3.
    AGENDA About me  Why search engines are finally taking social signals seriously  How social media integrates with search engines  The science bit  Reaction & recommendations  Panel session
  • 4.
  • 5.
    Social Signals Influencing ABOUT ME Search Results 5
  • 6.
    WHY SEARCH ENGINESARE TAKING SOCIAL SIGNALS SERIOUSLY
  • 9.
    LET’S FOCUS ONTHESE PLATFORMS
  • 10.
    TWITTER: THE 140CHARACTER PHENOMENON “We came across the word ‘twitter’, and it was just perfect. The definition was a ‘short burst of inconsequential information’, and ‘chirps from birds’ And that’s exactly what the product was” Jack Dorsey, Twitter Founder 200 MILLION USERS
  • 11.
    FACEBOOK: MORE FRIENDSTHAN TOM DREAMED OF “People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people - and that social norm is just something that has evolved over time.” Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Founder 750 MILLION USERS
  • 12.
    GOOGLE+ - THEBEST PRODUCT NAME EVER? “People thought we were crazy – they said there was no money to be made in search over and above a bit of banner advertising. Fast forward to today – it feels like we’re watching the same movie again in slow motion. We have a tremendous new businesses being viewed as crazy.” Larry Page, Google co-founder 10 MILLION USERS
  • 13.
    HOW SOCIAL MEDIAINTEGRATES WITH SEARCH ENGINES
  • 15.
    BING TAKING THECHALLENGE – AND THE LEAD? 90% of people seek advice from family and friends as part of the decision making process Bing will surface results, which may typically have been on page three or four, higher in its results based on stuff your friends have liked
  • 16.
    GOOGLE EVOLUTION  ………………
  • 17.
    WHO AM ICONNECTED TO  ………………
  • 18.
  • 19.
    WHAT DO PEOPLETHINK  There is a clear correlation between social signals (tweets and shares) and sites ranking well  Correlation is NOT causation though Rand does say the correlation is high in his opinion
  • 20.
    WHAT DO PEOPLETHINK  Can help pages get indexed via Twitter scrape sites  Third party sites can provide inbound links that positively supports the traditional ranking method of gaining links
  • 22.
    WHAT WILL HAPPENWITH GOOGLE?
  • 23.
  • 24.
    LINK TACTICS FRAMEWORK ˃Directories > Article submission to blog network > Internal Linking ˃ Anchor text Reconfiguration > Blogger Add-In – Zemanta > Industry links – sourcing internal gov & edu comms > Blogger Events > Branch & store Linking opportunities ˃ Broken link reconfigurations > Link Bait > Intern & graduate career pages ˃ Asset consolidation (domains) > Domain purchasing > Secondary link building ˃ Free link request > Partnerships > Question marketing ˃ Widgets > Affiliates > News, articles & blog internal linking ˃ Video widgets > Social Prompts > Social bookmarks ˃ Press Releases > Competitions > Local link opportunities ˃ PR Summary > Infographics > Link opportunity training – PR team ˃ Article Syndication > Vouchers > Authoritative content generation ˃ Advertorials > Competitions > Client training ˃ Text Adverts > Quizzes > Product giveaways ˃ Blogger Outreach > Top Tens > Group cross linking ˃ Guest Blogging > Twitter promotion campaigns linking back to > Facebook corporate pages landing URLs ˃ Content – onsite & offsite > Hearst Properties 24
  • 25.
    LINK TACTICS FRAMEWORK ˃ > Internal Linking Directories > Article submission to blog network ˃ Anchor text Reconfiguration > Industry links – sourcing internal gov & edu comms > Blogger Add-In – Zemanta ˃ Broken link reconfigurations > Branch & store linking/blogging > Blogger Events ˃ Asset consolidation (domains) opportunities > Link Bait ˃ Free link request > Intern & graduate career pages > Domain purchasing ˃ Widgets > Secondary link building > Partnerships ˃ Video widgets > Question marketing > Affiliates > Press Releases > News, articles & blog internal linking > Social Prompts > Social bookmarks > PR Summary > Social Buttons > Local link opportunities ˃ Article Syndication > Infographics > Link opportunity training – PR team ˃ Advertorials > Vouchers > Authoritative content generation ˃ Text Adverts > Competitions > Client training > Blogger Outreach > Quizzes > Product giveaways > Guest Blogging > Top Tens > Group cross linking > Twitter promotion campaigns > Facebook corporate pages > Content – onsite & offsite 25 linking back to landing URLs > Hearst Properties
  • 26.
    ROADMAP RATIONALE Site Architecture User data On page signals factors Factor strength Search Links – paid Social media signals Engine media High Low Visibility placement Links – Links – content online PR strategy Links – outreach
  • 27.
  • 28.