Social Signals and Google (Plus)

Google has been a longtime fan of ‘social proof’.  For the last dozen or so years Google’s PageRank formulae has been the heartbeat of its algorithm, where  Google reviews what others are saying about a page by the number and quality of links that point to it.

This has and still works well. But Google is looking for further ways in detecting ‘social proof’ of what’s good on the web and what’s not. Rather than rely just on what webmasters are saying (PageRank model), Google is now looking to get additional proof through ‘social signals’ from the average web user. Whether it’s through Facebook, Twitter or Google’s very own Google Plus, the voice of the public is arguably louder now than ever before but the signal to noise ratio is perhaps a little harder for Google to detect.

Popularity and Votes

Just like building links to a website act like ‘votes’ of its popularity. Building Facebook likes, Tweets or Google’s +1s also provide ‘signals’ of a page and a website’s popularity or credibility. These social signals are beginning to gather more momentum. And similarly to the PageRank model (web page’s reputation), social signals depend on the credibility of the user on the social site. So quality over volume matters.

Matt Cutts SEO tips for 2011 [includes social media]

Importance of Social Signals now and in the future

Google Plus looks ambitious, it’s tightly integrated into Google’s precious search results and 1 Billion items are being shared daily. So the early signs suggest it’s a keeper. Google will continue to collect social signals and work out how best to use them.

We are likely going through a transition in Google’s algorithm to being more social. Resulting in social signals playing a more significant role but overall I am not sure much has changed (yet). Largely because Google is still learning to get a decent signal to noise ratio from it.

That’s not to say it won’t and perhaps now is the time for developing your social media strategy deeper and integrating it closer with SEO for future proofing.

Also it depends on your industry – some industries just don’t lend well to social media but still clearly have their place on the web.  So it shouldn’t be forced and works best when genuine relationships are built in your area of interest or expertise.

As Google continues to look for clear SEO signals it can trust, it will be interesting to see if social signals fulfil the attention they are currently getting.

What are your thoughts?