Search Engine Optimization is evolving, embracing the popularity of social media. To meet the ever changing habits of internet users, search engines have begun placing a greater emphasis on link building through social media. Social networks produce an immense amount of data each day. On average Facebook users share 30 billion pieces of content and over 5 billion tweets every month; over a quarter contain links back to a site.

The complex algorithms used by Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines to rank and return relevant content, now factors in information from Facebook, Twitter and other social media networking sites to affect the organic rankings of a web page.

The following social media activities have become highly important to search engines for determining the page ranking of a website:

• Status Updates
• Sharing Posts
• Sharing Links
• Page Likes
• Tweeting & Retweeting

Recent updates to the Bing and Google algorithms now return “real-time” results, showing status updates or ‘Tweets’ above other content. This change has made it so that content on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ will be indexed quicker than site content, influencing overall ranking. The bottom line is that search engines have come to assume that if people (on social networks) share content it’s probably useful, resulting in higher rankings.

As search engine algorithms continue to evolve, businesses wishing to maintain or improve their page rankings will need to invest time in developing and maintaining a social media presence.

With increasing emphasis placed on social media, it is important for any business seeking to maintain a competitive ranking advantage to participate in social media. Social media platforms offer a convenient way for businesses, both large and small, to connect with consumers at levels unrivaled by any other channel since the creation of television.

Search Engine Optimization is a complicated and detailed process. The social media aspect is only one important part of an overall SEO campaign. Fasturtle offers Search Engine Optimization packages for any size business. Contact Fasturtle today to learn more about our small business digital marketing services.