The idea that social media influences organic search success is still very much up in the air considering the debate between correlation and causation.
While some camps stand firmly behind Googles head of Web Spam Matt Cuttss strong assertion that the worlds leading search engine will never use social signals to dictate visibility and rankings, there are others who prefer to pay attention to the reputable studies and tests that are demonstrating a direct association between volume of social shares and premier search listings.
Regardless of what side of the aisle you standon, there is reason to believe that Social Media and Organic Search do compliment each other when integrated successfully.
From a theoretical standpoint, it is logical that search engines would consider social engagement as a specific variable that validates quality and meaningfulness of a particular online experience.
The World Wide Web is by nature a social environment that allows people from all over the world to interact with each other through the distribution of thoughts, concepts, services, and transactions. With this in mind, insisting that Google and other search engines shun social activity when it fosters and promotes dialogue, action, and reaction on behalf of online users seems counterproductive to the original intent of the Internet.
From a practical approach, there are numerous studies that demonstrate a clear cause and effect between the volume of social shares/comments a particular landing page receives and its ability to rank high on search listings, even if its only for a limited time.
I recently had the opportunity to serve as a keynote speaker at the 2014 SouthWIRED digital marketing conference in Atlanta, where I presented the concept of Social SEO and fostered a discussion on how strategists can complement their ongoing organic campaigns with social media.
Here are some of the more relevant points discussed in my presentation:
It is very important to understand why Social SEO stands to have a significant impact on Organic Search.
It is far too easy to take Google for granted as a phenomenal provider of information, services, and products and the decision maker in all arguments including, what was that actor in and where should we eat tonight?
Read more from the original source:
How to Master The Art of Social SEO by @JCorriganSEO