Why Size Matters in Social Media and Search Rankings

I love it when people question the way I build my social networks.  “Why would you want to be friends with so many people?”  “How can you keep track of so many?”  My answer, always, is simple.  Why not?  It’s good for both business and personal networking. 

You don’t have to actually interact with, or track, everyone, all the time, in your networks on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc.  You can easily categorize people into groups or lists to keep track of them and segment them within your social platforms.  I target who I track by location, skill set, or niche interest.

I have always believed that bigger is better when it comes to networks, especially if you are efficient at targeting, tracking, and communicating.  The main reason for this, for me, is SEO (search engine optimization).  How do I rank in search results on Google for my name or my niche?  Everyone in business should be concerned with this.

 If you are logged into your Google account while searching the internet, Google serves up search results on a per-person basis depending on the searcher’s social connections and contacts.  So if you are connected with me on Twitter or Facebook and search for “Linkedin training Dallas” I might appear higher in search results than if you were not.

So the more people I am connected to, the more likely I am to come up high in search rankings.

You can choose to hide these private results by clicking the globe icon in the top left side of your search screen.  Search for your name, or the keywords for which you want to be found (Linkedin Training Dallas), wait for the results to appear, and click the globe.  Then you can see where you rank in search results for those users who are not connected to you.

One thing is important to keep in mind when building your network: engagement.  If you aren’t sharing good content, and replying to/promoting/helping others, your network will start to show the results of an empty shell and will disintegrate.  Don’t be a job spammer or sales spammer.  You need to post helpful, 3rd-party content and a personal touch to be seen as human and a good contributor.

Build it.  Feed it.  Rank higher in search results.

Social media now directly influences search rankings
by Christopher S Penn
SEOMoz highlighted that Google’s search results are now being adjusted on a per-person basis depending on the searcher’s social connections…
full article here