Integrating social media with SEO can help justify links and provide ranking signals if done properly. The key is to [1] create high-quality, share-worthy content that generates social shares which may lead to links, [2] develop relationships on social media where people will naturally link to your content, and [3] use social media activities like tweets, infographics and contests to both engage followers and generate backlinks, while avoiding unnatural or aggressive linking practices that could hurt rankings. The goal is to leverage social media to increase organic traffic, followers and brand awareness in a way that supports SEO.

1. Integrating SOCIAL with SEO
Tim Grice
Head of Search

3. Unnatural Links Will Hurt You!
Forum
Profiles
Comment
Paid Links
Spam
Unnatural Aggressive
Blog Link Anchor
Networks Profile Text

4. Google Changes the Game
Anchor Text?

5. Over Optimisation Algorithm?

6. Unnatural Links
• Unnatural links to be removed
• Less aggressive anchor text strategy
• Greater need for link worthiness
• All links should be justified

7. Social Can Be Difficult to Justify…..
• Links Still a major factor
• Anchor text diversity
• Can be difficult to justify
Changes to Google Mean We Have To Justify Social
Activity….

8. Social Justification
Outreach
Content Social Relationships
Ranking
Signals

9. Outreach

10. People Link to People

11. Outreach 3x More Effective

12. Branded3 Tweet Test

13. Tweets & Rankings

14. Caveats
Correlation not causation
More Tweets = More Links
Impossible to isolate all factors

16. Content
• Understanding the customer journey
Awareness
After Care Consideration
Purchase Recommendation

17. Social Signals
• http://www.blueglass.com/blog/secrets-of-viral-content/
• Good content always gets
far fewer links than it gets
social shares
• Make sure that you build
social shares at the same
time as you get links to
make your link building
appear natural

18. Typical Social/Link Process
Social/Content Source Authority Agree on Unique
Idea Publisher Content
Content Create Viral
Push Story to
Published with Content
Sourced Blogs
Link
Monitor Alerts for
Submit to social
Link
sites
Opportunities

19. Key Points
• If your site isn’t share worthy find a site that is and
partner
• Seek feedback on ideas before launch
• Try to use commercial keywords in your title
• Prime 10 – 15 bloggers before go live and provide
them with a unique piece of content to publish
• Develop relationships with people on Twitter,
Facebook, Digg & Reddit etc….

20. Link ability vs. Share ability
Share Ability Link Ability

21. What Works?

22. Tweets as Links?
• Giveaways and
competitions
• 1872 tweets
• 10th most shared page

23. Infographics
• 66 links
• 119 Tweets
• 115 Facebook likes

24. 3,500 new Twitter followers

25. Social + Commercial

26. Search Plus Your World
• Sharing is important for long term visibility
and organic traffic

27. Competwition.com

28. Twitition.com

29. Tools

30. More than rankings…
• Organic traffic through shared referrals and brand
• Increase in followers / reach
• Relationship development compliments outreach
• Increase in referral traffic and brand awareness
• People link to people not just pages
SEO is about driving traffic that converts and
developing relationships that can leverage campaigns.

32. Questions?
• www.seowizz.net
• www.branded3.com
• twitter.com/tim_grice
• tim.grice@branded3.com