1. #C3NY
USING SOCIAL SIGNALS TO
BOOST YOUR SEARCH RANKINGS
Francis Skipper, EVP Digital Marketing, 451 Marketing

2. #C3NY
FRANCIS SKIPPER
2
EVP of Digital Marketing
@fskip // @451marketing
451marketing.com
Facebook.com/451Marketing
francis@451marketing.com
451 Marketing

3. #C3NY
STATE OF SOCIAL & SEARCH

4. #C3NY
DECEMBER 2010…
4
“We do use Twitter and Facebook
links in ranking as we always have
in our web search rankings”
- Matt Cutts

5. #C3NY
MARKETERS WERE ALL LIKE:
5

6. #C3NY
LAST MONTH…
6
“Sike! Suckers…”
- Matt Cutts

7. #C3NY
IT WASN’T THE FIRST TIME…
7

8. #C3NY8
WE WERE ALL LIKE:

9. #C3NY
BUT, WE’VE SEEN THE CORRELATION
BETWEEN SOCIAL ACTIVITY AND HIGHER
RANKINGS
9

10. #C3NY
SO HAS MOZ…
10
“Now in 2013, there's strong reason to suspect…that the relationship between
posting to Google+ and higher rankings goes beyond correlation into the territory of
actual causation.”

11. #C3NY
AND SEARCHMETRICS
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“Social signals continue to correlate
very well with better rankings”
Social signals
Traditional ranking factors
SEO Ranking Factors – Rank Correlation 2013 for Google USA

12. #C3NY
SO, WITH THIS IN MIND…
12
“MUAHAHHAHAHA!!”
- Matt Cutts
SUCKERS!

13. #C3NY
LET’S TALK ABOUT SOCIAL AND SEARCH

14. #C3NY
EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL AND SEARCH
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Likes,
Shares,
Follows
Social
Media
Search
Traffic
Queries
Indirect
Social
Media
Search
Results
SEO
Direct
Social
Media
Page
Ranking
Social Signals
Pre-2010
2010
Today

15. #C3NY
TRADITIONAL RANKING FACTORS “OL’ SKOOL”
15
Technical
Content
Links
The 3 C’s
Code
Content
Connections

16. #C3NY
NEW RANKING FACTORS
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Content Diversity, Depth &
Type
Keyword Research
& User Intent
Link
Building
Social

17. #C3NY
SOCIAL RANKING FACTORS
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• How many social followers/fans you have
• How many re-tweets, likes, shares, +1s, YouTube embeds
• Who is sharing your content, their authority, their reputation
• Popularity and quality of content
• Timeliness and “trust” of content
• Patterns

18. #C3NY
BUT SOCIAL ISN’T A SILVER BULLET
18

19. #C3NY
“LOW-HANGING FRUIT” –
RESULTS FROM SOCIAL SIGNALS

20. #C3NY20
PageRanking
Level of Effort
“LOW-HANGING FRUIT”

21. #C3NY
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
21
of searchers never scroll past the first page
of search results*
*Search Engine Journal

22. #C3NY
PAGE ONE HAS REAL BIZ VALUE$$
22

23. #C3NY
SO HOW DO WE LOOK FOR LOW HANGING
FRUIT?
23

24. #C3NY
YOU CAN GO DEEPER TO LOOK AT EFFORT LEVEL
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*Optional – tag keywords as LHF and watch growth

25. #C3NY
IDENTIFY “LOW-HANGING FRUIT”
Send these to
social!!

26. #C3NY26
ENCOURAGE USE OF SOCIAL KEYWORDS
#Homedecor tips on floor coverings from the experts – our
#8x8 #arearugs are a warm addition to any space!
http://bit.ly/3hQYj
#Rugs
Make a space feel instantly cozy with an 8x8 rug
– learn how in our latest blog post
http://bit.ly/3hQYj
#rugs #homedecor #smallspaces #arearugs
#8x8rugs
Check out how our signature 8x8 rugs
pull together a room in our latest blog
post http://bit.ly/3hQYj

27. #C3NY27
POSTS AND LIKES AREN’T END OF STORY

28. #C3NY
FEEL FREE TO REWARDSOCIAL SHARING

29. #C3NY
• Informational Queries
• Answers
• How to’s
• Top 5’s
PORTABLE CONTENT

30. #C3NY
PORTABLE CONTENT
“Ride the News” –
Trending Topics
But be careful…

31. #C3NY
Links to social properties on website
Share buttons with content
MAKING SHARING SILLY SIMPLE

32. #C3NY
MINI CASE STUDIES

33. #C3NY
RUCKUS SPORTS

34. #C3NY
RUCKUS SPORTS - PITTSBURGH RACE
• Pittsburgh Race (new 2013)
• No rankings In May
• New Content on Brand website
• Encouraged social sharing around
Pittsburgh Ruckus Race
• Posted social content using
Pittsburgh + Keyword
• Rankings for “Pittsburgh” terms
increased leading up to and after
race day

35. #C3NY
PINE CONE HILL

36. #C3NY
PINECONE HILL – MATELASSÉ QUILTS
• Pine Cone Hill featured “matelassé” “quilts” in
content throughout early summer across multiple
social platforms
• Kwd -specific posts were promoted through mid-
August and resulted in social shares
• September 1st –keywords see an increase in
rankings
• Incremental Sales Increase during this period

37. #C3NY
IN CLOSING…SOCIAL SIGNALS:
• We’ve all seen strong correlation
• Social keyword strategy should be a part of your overall SEO
content strategy
• Not a silver bullet
• Look at the data, not the hype
37

38. #C3NY
QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION
38
EVP of Digital Marketing
@fskip // @451marketing
451marketing.com
Facebook.com/451Marketing
francis@451marketing.com
451 Marketing

39. #C3NY
USING SOCIAL SIGNALS TO
BOOST YOUR SEARCH RANKINGS
Francis Skipper, EVP Digital Marketing, 451 Marketing