Search & Social focuses on how search engines are weighting social media influences, share signals and user rating data to provide users with a more ‘personalized’ set of results. In addition to exploring the growing intersection of search and social networks, columnists provide insight on how to integrate search marketing and social activities for optimal results and more targeted traffic from these channels working together.

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Social Search Engine Volunia Faces The Critics

Feb 14, 2012 at 9:16am ET by Sean Carlos

In a first look at the social search engine Volunia, I considered the main features which differentiate Volunia from existing search engines – and noted the steep road ahead faced by any new search engine. Volunia founder, Massimo Marchiori, has said that one of the main reasons to launch Volunia now was to gather feedback from beta testers. I spoke with Marchiori to find out what Volunia has learned after a week of exposure to users and to understand where Volunia is headed. I also asked him about Volunia's support for webmasters. Volunia Users Say Search Result Quality & UI Need Im [...]

Guide To Finding Linkbuilding Targets With Social Media

Feb 7, 2012 at 10:55am ET by Jordan Kasteler

There’s been a lot of debate in the SEO community lately regarding social media versus traditional linkbuilding methods. While some SEOs argue that social media links are the wave of the SEO future, traditionalists staunchly maintain traditional, authoritative links from quality sources are still the best way to go. Whatever your stance, I think it’s easy to agree that gaining links from trusted authorities is desirable for any site -- but that doesn’t mean the rise of social shouldn’t affect our outreach methods. We’ll start with the obvious: social sites allow you to network [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Search & Social

Google+ Growing Your Social Network: Quantity vs. Quality

Jan 31, 2012 at 12:02pm ET by Aaron Friedman

There is an ongoing discussion trying to better understand what Google+ brings to the table. Recently, the stats were released that Google+ now has 90M users and about 60% log in every day. Will Google+ ever be that "Facebook killer" that everyone keeps speculating? That has yet to be demonstrated. My hunch is that it won’t. Not because it can’t, but because I am not convinced that was ever the goal of Google+. Recent algorithm changes, namely Google + your world, support what I am speculating. We are seeing a cross between Search and Social like never before. Not A Facebook Kil [...]

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How To Improve Site Credibility Through Search & Social Media

Jan 10, 2012 at 9:46am ET by Jordan Kasteler

Anyone—anyone—can make a website. Anyone can create a Twitter account, start a blog, or launch a Facebook fan page. And anyone—from 13-year-old girls to 45-year-old men—can pretend to be an attractive 20-year-old woman on the Internet. In the world of Internet spam, scams, and shams, we’ve learned to be wary of what we find online. Search engines are no different. Too often we forget that search engines aren’t just a tool to help us find news articles or guacamole recipes. Search engines are running a business—a business whose success relies on providing you legitimate, rel [...]

Optimize Facebook Open Graph Tags: They Are the 50%

Jan 3, 2012 at 10:12am ET by Aaron Friedman

In my previous post on ensuring your open graph tags were properly set up, I stressed the importance of having these tags in place so as marketers we can stay in control of the message we send to our audiences. I suggested that a simple solution would be to have your open graph tags reference your title tags and descriptions, and you will be broadcasting a message which you have (hopefully) hand crafted, which aligns with your business message. Optimizing The Open Graph To further support just how important controlling your message utilizing the open graph tags is, a recent study which wa [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Search & Social

The Most ‘Liked’ Search & Social Posts Of 2011

Dec 27, 2011 at 2:12pm ET by Elisabeth Osmeloski

The social media experts who write for this column week in and week out don't just talk - they walk the walk in social media and search marketing. In 2011, we saw interest spike in our Let's Get Social* column as social media became a significant ranking factor in organic search results, following Danny Sullivan's December 2010 report, What Social Signals Do Google & Bing Really Count?. As social media grew in popularity during the year, along with Google's +1 and Google+ launch, it's evident how important social sharing became to developing audience reach and driving more traffic to c [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Search & Social

Why You Need Google+ Business Pages For Online Reputation Management

Dec 20, 2011 at 2:16pm ET by John E Lincoln

Online reputation management is an important sector of the Internet marketing industry. At SEO Inc. we have been doing online reputation management since the service was invented, so we have really seen it all. Perhaps one of the most important values to have in order to be successful in this field is good study habits. Given the nature of SEO, social media and online reputation management changes everyday, so it’s vital to stay on top of current day-to-day trends. One of the most recent factors, at least in the aspect of the Google search space, is Google+ Business Pages. Why Google+ B [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Search & Social

21 Types Of Social Content To Boost Your SEO

Dec 6, 2011 at 4:38pm ET by Jordan Kasteler

I’ve written often about the benefits of going viral in both content and marketing strategies. Increasingly, however, social media content (a.k.a. viral content) does more than increase brand recognition and site traffic: it can also boost your SEO signals. As search engines pay more and more attention to social signals, going viral is rapidly becoming one of the best ways to build links, attract attention, and establish authority and legitimacy in your field. How Social & SEO Are Linked Let’s start with the obvious: social media builds links. In fact, viral content serves the sam [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Search & Social

Freshness Update + Social Media = Happy Users

Nov 30, 2011 at 10:58am ET by Aaron Friedman

Interestingly, Google made two big announcements right around the same time and one clearly overshadowed the other as far as attention from the press goes. On November 7th 2011, Google announced Google+ Pages for Business, which got everyone excited. But then Google also made a very significant algorithm update right before that called the "Freshness" update. I am with everyone else. The launch of Google+ Pages was and will continue to be really exciting because of the potential that they have for brands and the impact they could have to help marketers gain more visibility in the SERP. In f [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Search & Social

Making PPC & Social Media Work Together Seamlessly

Nov 22, 2011 at 11:27am ET by Jordan Kasteler

You've read time and time again about how social media can fuel SEO and even vice versa, but where does PPC fit into this equation? The answer is in retargeting also known as AdWords remarketing. If you're not familiar with the concept of remarketing, I'd recommend you read this step by step AdWords remarketing guide. I've written many times on using social media to promote linkbait-style content for traffic and virality and how to reap the benefits of that social media traffic. Sometimes you can do a social promotion, of a piece of content, and get a lot of traffic from social media but n [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Search & Social

What Businesses & Brands Can Use Google Plus Pages For Now

Nov 15, 2011 at 11:59am ET by Monica Wright

Initially, when I was pulling a Google+ presentation together for PubCon last week, branded business pages were not "allowed" at the time. However, the features businesses can use to increase traffic and grow a following on Google Plus are pretty much the same as before branded pages were launched. For the record, this is not a how to create your business page on Google+ tutorial, Danny Sullivan already covered that last week. This is about using the Google+ features as business tools, and capturing an audience to supplement what you already do on other social networks. Think About Monit [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Search & Social

Learn To Control Your Message With Social Sharing & Open Graph

Nov 8, 2011 at 9:58am ET by Aaron Friedman

Whether it’s optimizing a website, running a commercial or managing a Twitter Feed, controlling your brand's message is crucial to ensure your audience hears what you intend. TheInternet has evolved and controlling your brand's message is more important than ever in the advent of a social Web. Site Audit: Search For Social Before I begin optimizing a website, I always do a thorough technical dive to understand the root of the problem. For example, I would never start optimizing a client’s title tags before I determined if they even had a place for them within their code, right? Grante [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Search & Social

The Filter Bubble Within Social Media

Oct 25, 2011 at 11:19am ET by Ciarán Norris

During the 2010 U.K. general elections, I, like thousands of others, was glued to my various screens as I kept up to date with one of the closest contest in living memory. This included the first ever televised leadership debate in a British election, during which Twitter acted as a default running opinion poll. At the end of the election, I came out with the feeling that Twitter had generally been on my side, that is, supportive of either Liberal or Labour candidates and issues. And yet, when research was carried out, it turned out that Twitter had been like the election itself, just in fa [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Search & Social

Facebook Gestures: How Users Could Be Sharing Their Opinion

Oct 18, 2011 at 4:05pm ET by Jordan Kasteler

Facebook "Likes" have become a universal way to share or promote a piece of content on a blog or website (or Facebook itself). There are even T-shirts with the Like button printed on them. [caption id="attachment_96182" align="alignright" width="301" caption="Like t-shirts from http://www.likebuttonshirt.com/"][/caption] The Like button is now a recognizable symbol, and while it is used millions of times each day, the fact remains that the Like button cannot be used in every occasion. Users need more variation in order to both adequately express how they feel about content posted on Face [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Search & Social

The Benefits Of Facebook Timeline Changes For Businesses

Oct 4, 2011 at 2:19pm ET by Kelsey Jones

Major press outlets and blogs (as well as social media sites like Facebook and Twitter) are all buzzing about the new updates that Facebook make recently to their site, and the Facebook Timeline design that is coming soon to all profiles. While some have said this may be bad for brands, the truth of the matter is that Facebook will continue to evolve and change. Deciding to rely on the positives of how the new Facebook changes could potentially lift business profiles, can help small business owners and employees learn to make the best of the situation and continue to grow their audience via [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Search & Social

Why Facebook’s Timeline Might Be Bad News For Brands

Sep 27, 2011 at 9:05am ET by Ciarán Norris

Last week's F8 conference was full of news about where Facebook is heading, and how it intends to get there. It highlighted, for anyone who wasn't already sure, that Mark Zuckerberg's ambition for his company is huge: he want to be the glue that binds the Web together, in the same way that Google was the index that made it usable. I'm writing this the day after the anouncements, and have just turned on Timeline, but whilst it's hard to make accurate predictions about what the end result of these changes will be, it does strike me that they may not be good news for brands trying to use th [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Search & Social

7 Tips For Boosting SEO Of Your Facebook Page

Sep 20, 2011 at 12:30pm ET by Jim Belosic

Brands and businesses are moving away from traditional websites, and placing more and more emphasis on their Facebook pages. This is great from a customer service and interaction standpoint, but certainly muddies the waters from an SEO perspective. It used to be that with the right mix of keyword-laden text, reciprocal links, and clever use of heading text, a crafty SEO expert could push a website up in the rankings. But now the focus is on your Facebook page, and you still need to get your brand or business in the top of the rankings. Here’s seven tips to help you do just that. 1. Pus [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Search & Social

How To Ensure That Your Content Will Go Viral

Sep 13, 2011 at 2:35pm ET by Jordan Kasteler

It is every blogger or Internet marketer's dream that their content will go viral, meaning that it will be shared thousands of times, thus resulting in a massive stampede of traffic to the site, which may even cause servers to crash under the weight of its popularity. However, several things are put into effect in order to make virality happen. The content first must be well written, original, and be something that readers will want to share with others. While there is no set formula or guarantee that content (no matter how well it is written) will go viral, the following are some sugges [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Search & Social

Is Your Business Too Reliant On Social Media?

Sep 6, 2011 at 11:00am ET by Kelsey Jones

There is a fine line between integrating social media as part of an overall marketing strategy and relying completely on it to market a business. Just because social media is the so-called "next big thing", it doesn’t mean that it can be a business-savior. The following are some reasons why relying on social media along won’t guarantee marketing success. News Sharing Sharing company and product news and information solely via information will limit the people who may see it. In additional to sharing news, new products, and other developments, other marketing outlets that should b [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Search & Social

The (Social) Medium Is Not The Message

Aug 30, 2011 at 11:18am ET by Ciarán Norris

Last month, I talked about how marketers need to distinguish between interactions and true engagement*. As part of that, I referenced the fact that Facebook and Twitter had been written about in relation to events such as the death of Amy Winehouse, the massacre in Norway and the Egyptian revolution. But since writing that, social media has again been rolled out as a whipping boy, this time being blamed by some for the riots that broke out in London. This led to politicians, including the British Prime Minister, and some of his most loyal followers, suggesting that at times such as these so [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Search & Social

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