SES Denver Panel Hints That Google+ Might Be the Future of SEO
Google’s new Hummingbird update is making social signals more important for search rankings, meaning Google+ could be more important than ever for marketers looking to boost SEO.
In an SES Denver panel for “Insights Into Future Search Trends,” Merry Morud, social advertising director for aimClear, said that social signals have replaced links in importance for SEO.
“In the old days of SEO, link-building was the ultimate, but with social, SEO becomes democratized, more of an aggregate of symbols and authority,” Morud said.
With the increased focus on social signals for SEO, Google+ may prove more relevant than ever for marketers looking to see a rise in their rankings. “Google+ is not a joke,” said Morud. “It’s not going away. If you are not active in Google+, start now. Google gets its purest social signals in Google+, and they can often impact SEO more than Facebook.”
Google has changed the search game by demanding high-quality content and a strategic, quality content approach in order to achieve a good search ranking. While SEO used to be about manipulating Google’s search rankings, it now requires a dynamic, multi-faceted online marketing approach, one which has become an essential requirement of expertise for every online marketer.
Earlier this month, Denver’s own Webolutions marketing agency recently won the Internet Marketing Association’s Search Engine Optimization Leader award. Webolutions’ thorough approach and integration of all areas of marketing and thorough approach is what won them the award, particularly for their very successful campaign for the United States Potato Board and its website, PotatoGoodness.com
“Webolutions’ selection for the Search Engine Optimization Leader Award at IMPACT14 reflects the results it achieves through aggressive and innovative SEO strategies and tactics,”said Sinan Kanatsiz, IMA Chairman. “The expert judging panel was impressed by the thoroughness, detail and consistency of Webolutions’ approach. The IMA congratulates the team and anticipates continued success for the marketing agency’s clients.”
While Webolutions’ across-the-board approach is working well for them now, as Google’s algorithm keeps changing, online marketers must continue to change their marketing plans.
Facebook has been a leader in social marketing, but as the platform becomes ad-based and gains more and more users, some users are migrating to other platforms like Google+, which is ad-free. “Facebook is getting too busy,” Morud said. “People are outgrowing [the platform]. Google+ being ad-free is going to be a plus for them.”
Search is one of the top Internet activities worldwide, and with this new focus on social signals, marketers would be unwise to count out Google+ any longer. “Google is going to make social signals from Google+ so important that they can’t be denied,” Morud predicted.
