Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Google update & social media

As you may recall, we've been doing an seo experiment, trying to get our client on page one for skip hire leicester using only on-page optimisation.

We've had some success, getting to #6 on the first page. However, a recent update (Panda) by Google may be a game changer. Google is now taking greater account of what is termed "user signals" when ranking a website.

"User signals" has been interpreted as "Social signals", meaning how many "likes" and links to your website you have from social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc. It might also include such things as bounce rates (if people don't "engage" with your website, why should Google send anymore people there, etc).

The implications are that seo has just got harder! You will certainly now need to focus on "social" link building, keeping your "social" profile updated, with more tweeting and "sharing" and extending your social network.

Therefore its time to consider your social media strategy as part of your more general seo strategy. In short, work harder!