Rethink SEO: Social Media and Google

Wondering about SEO, organic ranking, and how to be on the top of the search engines 'pick' list? There is no magic formula, or voodoo behind getting to the top. Google ranks sites higher organically that it deems relevant (or most relevant) to the search. Think of it like this, Google must provide accurate search results or fear losing people to other search engines. Why does that matter to Google? Their entire business model is based on advertising. As a result, they must have the most accurate and pertinent results to retain the confidence of its advertising customers. Imagine if you spent thousands of dollars for an ad in Better Homes and Gardens, only to find that your ad for home repair products ended up in Vogue Magazine? Relevance matters. The wrong audience will result in an ineffective campaign, and lost revenue. Therefore, Google uses countless data points to determine if your site is what it claims to be. Keywords only serve to define what it is your site's purpose is, keywords do not prove what your site's purpose is.

Google, as well as others, look to substantiate the proof. Proof can be obtained by scores of items including time honored backlinks from sites that already have ranked credibility (and are pertinent). Social media and You Tube offer a substantial credibility boost. Why is that? Because Google seeks to acquire the opinions and activities of real people and base some of the relevance of your site how the community as a whole perceives it. Ultimately this is tantamount to votes. The more folks interact with your site; watch your videos, read your blog posts a pattern of relevance begins to develop. User interactions combined with other SEO factors prove to positively affect rank.