10 Reasons Why Social Is Your Future SEO Strategy

August 19, 2009 Author Adam Singer In Popular, SEO, The Social Web

The social web and search results support each other and are inexorably linked.  It goes beyond a mere passive connection, the two create an active, virtuous cycle growing more powerful daily.  I mocked up a quick version of what I view the cycle as:

The link between search and social media only becomes tighter as the engines and the social web innovate and integrate together in ways which make both more valuable.  From the standpoint of staying relevant and at the edge, the engines and the social web need each other.  They are working together for the benefit of users, but site owners can benefit too by creating a strategy embracing the connection.

The web itself has always been social, and search and social have already reached the convergence point.  The future will see an even closer, symbiotic relationship between the two.

Here are 10 reasons supporting the above graphic, that social is your future SEO strategy:

1.  The engines are continuously getting smarter

Make no doubt about it, the search engines are only getting smarter at interpreting links and user data.  It is evolution right before our eyes as their algorithms advance side-by-side with how we use the web.  The engines already know how to treat different kinds of links and will only get smarter at it.  The value of truly earned organic, editorial links will only continue to increase in value.

2.  Those with a strong social strategy get a growing amount of editorially-earned links daily

If your brand isn’t publishing content to the web and involved in building a thriving community of subscribers, you will forever be positioned behind competitors agile enough to do so.  This is because while you can keep trying to build links arithmetically to static content, your competition will be earning those ultra-valuable organic links daily  as their community will be conditioned to anticipate quality and be ready to share.  Their link growth will be both organic and exponential, not arithmetic.  Don’t handicap your brand on the web by throwing up red tape and making it difficult to publish compelling content.  Agility is a factor.

3.  Fresh content = more hooks in the water for search

Simply point, the more content you have on your site, the more you are going to cover the spread of the long tail related to your niche and snag more traffic from the engines.  Also fresh content keeps your site updated, which gives users a reason to come back.  People don’t want to visit static sites, we’re already too used to sites being social.

4.  The engines like frequently updated sites

Feed those indexes with fresh content and get rewarded with frequent visits by the search spiders.  Keep at it long enough and content from your site should get indexed in just a few hours after publishing.

5.  Social web success brings increasing returns

Popular sites, blogs or brands only get more popular, success is self-reinforcing here.  A positive reputation builds upon itself over time and will cause you to receive links and attention at increasing returns if you stick with it and push through the dip.

6.  Social is sustainable

Bearing you nurture your community and function as an honest, valuable contributor, a social strategy is highly sustainable.  You’ll never run out of fresh content and ideas to build your community, web traffic and links if you are truly that interested in the subject matter.  Besides, communities inspire so much, if you build it properly ideas should emerge naturally.

7.  Not only earn links, but digital PR

Links are nice, but it’s not all about links – getting that digital ink and endorsement from influential members of the community is going to help build your digital reputation.

8.  Communities are self-reinforcing

Create a popular community/destination and it will naturally propagate itself over time.  Communities with interested members want to see that community grow and succeed.  People within niches are connected to the rest of that niche, especially on the web – so if you do something worthwhile enough you should, in time, permeate the niche.

9.  The people who find your site through social are the people most likely to link

Yes, only 11% of the web knows to use RSS.  Guess what, that 11% really matters – those are the people savvy enough to share your content in meaningful ways to reach the rest of the web.  People finding you through social efforts are the same people blogging and using social web tools fluently.

10.  Compelling content wins

Notice how the cycle starts with compelling content – without this you have nothing, no other parts of the cycle matter.  The social web as at a larger level will link to the best content naturally, you can’t win against competitors who have this on their side.  And both search and social will only keep getting better at filtering, there is no reason to be boring – unless you want to be ignored.

Quick conclusion:

Search feeds social and social feeds search, there is no mistaking this.  Enable success from both directions to feed the other and your returns will steadily increase over time.

Related posts from The Future Buzz

10 Reasons Why Organizations (And Individuals) With Audiences Win

5 Reasons You Should Learn About Social Media

Ignore The Social Web At Your Own Peril