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/or "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. Pubcon Las Vegas 2015
Search and Social Content Strategy

2. 2015 Search and Social – About Me
About Me
• Senior SEO Strategist, Globe Runner
• Brand Ambassador, Majestic.com
• Personal Blog: www.BillHartzer.com
• Practicing Organic/Natural SEO since 1996

3. 2015 Search and Social - Overview
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 Search and Social – History of Social Signals and SEO
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.

5. 2015 Search and Social – History of Social Signals and SEO
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 Search and Social – Google Vocal on Social Signals
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 Search and Social – What can we do now?
What Can You Do Now?
• Set up social profiles
• Contribute, update regularly
• Share content
• Add friends/followers
• Be active! Every single day…

8. 2015 Search and Social – Setting Up Social Accounts
Setting Up Facebook Pages
• Set up Business Page (Facebook.com/bhartzer)
• Engines crawl biz pages, not personal accounts
• Promote Facebook posts, even for $5

9. 2015 Search and Social – Setting Up Social Accounts, Posting
Pubcon Las Vegas 2015 Post
• Wrote a post last week about Pubcon Las Vegas
• Posted on blog, promoted on social
• Facebook sponsored post
• Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, etc.
Results?
It got indexed quickly
Shares, engagement
Visibility for Me

10. 2015 Search and Social – Setting Up Social Accounts
Setting Up Social Accounts
• Don’t follow more than following you
• Post on your blog? Share full URL, not a shortened.
• Tweeting URL helps get it crawled quickly.

11. 2015 Search and Social – Setting Up Social Accounts
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 Search and Social – Setting Up Social Accounts
Setting Up Google+
• Google+ Local biz (page), verify listing
• Google+ Personal Account, used for Authorship
• (Don’t remove your authorship code just yet!)
• Posting Regularly: Important to keep fresh, get URLs
indexed quickly, jumpstart engagement

13. 2015 Search and Social – Setting Up Social Accounts
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 Search and Social – Setting Up Social Accounts
Optimize Profile on Google Plus
• Write Great Content, share Great Content
• Manage Your Contacts, Put in Circles
• Join Niche Specific Communities
• Pay Attention to Post Activity
• Create a Visually-Rich Experience
• Use Google+ Hangouts
• Display Your Google Plus Badge on Your Site

15. 2015 Search and Social – Promoting Social On Your Site
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)

16. 2015 Search and Social – Promoting Posts on Social
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
86 Speakers I Want to Meet at Pubcon Las Vegas
86 People I Want to See at Pubcon Las Vegas
86 To See at Pubcon Las Vegas

17. 2015 Search and Social – Promoting Posts on Social
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

18. 2015 Search and Social – Promoting Posts on Social
Promoting Posts on Social Media Sites
• Promoting posts must happen quickly: within 2 hours
• Building momentum with social shares is key

19. 2015 Search and Social – Future: What now?
So, What Now?
Matt Cutts, long ago, 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.

20. 2015 Search and Social – Future: What Now?
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

21. 2015 Search and Social – Future: What now?
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

22. 2015 Search and Social – Case Study
Case Study: Matt Cutts Joins Globe Runner
• GlobeRunner.com 2015 April Fool’s Prank

23. 2015 Search and Social – Case Study
We Even Made the News that Weekend

24. 2015 Search and Social – Case Study
Not Everyone Was Impressed, Though

25. 2015 Search and Social – Case Study
Black Hat SEOs Talked on their Forums
• Most were divided. Some though it was a
good PR stunt.

26. 2015 Search and Social – Case Study
Our Japanese Friends Were Horrified

27. 2015 Search and Social – Case Study
Jill Had the Best Comments, though

28. 2015 Search and Social – Case Study
But What Overall Traffic, Rankings?

29. 2015 Search and Social – Case Study
Traffic to the Post?

30. 2015 Search and Social – Case Study
Impressions, Clicks According to GWT

31. 2015 Search and Social – Case Study
Overall Rankings Went Up, Lots of Links

32. 2015 Search and Social Strategy – Thank You
THANK YOU
Contact Me
Bill Hartzer
Senior SEO Strategist
Globe Runner
Email: Bill@GlobeRunnerSEO.com
Mobile: (214) 236-4378
Office: (972) 538-0260
Web: https://globerunner.com
Blog: https://www.billhartzer.com
Twitter: @bhartzer