You already know that SEO (search engine optimization) refers to a process that aims to affect the visibility of a website among the search results offered by a search engine, through the relevance of the search terms and other strategies, not as an effect of pay per click advertising. The search results that are not related to advertisements are known as organic search results.

Lately, social signals have started to play important part in Google’s algorithm . Social signals that come from social networks have different importance to different search engines. Understanding how these signals are used is important in  search engine optimization.

For example, both Google and Bing consider that Twitter users who appear to have authority should lend this authority of theirs to the websites that they recommend on Twitter. While Bing is interested in how often a link is being retweeted, Google finds this aspect important only in particular cases.

Social signals will have a direct as well as an indirect impact on the rankings of organic search results, respectively with organic SEO services. Direct impact is ensured by:

• The number of people who have liked the brand on Facebook
• The number of shares in the Facebook environment
• The number of followers of the brand on Twitter
• The number of tweets in which the brand name/website link is included
• The number of individuals who have included the brand in their circles on Google+

Indirect impact on SEO and web SEO services consists of:

• An increased number of inbound links as a result of the online visibility having been improved. Once the brand awareness is improved, more people will link to the brand. No matter what some may say, links have not been downgraded from being the most valuable factor in ranking.
• An increase in the number of positive reviews, given that there will be more and happier customers. It is now becoming more and more common that the customer service department of a company be extended to social media. When tweeting to a brand, users can expect a prompt answer to their tweet from the company.  If they face problems with a product, they can often find support on the Facebook page of the company. The more reviews there are and the better they are, the bigger the impact on local search rankings. This is what local SEO services should keep in mind when building their strategies.
• More time spent on site and more repeated visits to it. When customers are kept informed with what is new regarding a brand due to social media posts, they are more likely to repeat their visits to the website of the brand and to enhance their visiting time, which leads to an increase in the average metered “time-on-site”.

As you can see, social media and social signals promise a lot for the future of SEO and online marketing. First of all, the world is becoming more and more connected to social networks, especially the teenagers. These teenagers are actually the customers of tomorrow, well prepared for receiving product information via the social media environment. Furthermore, people will place more trust on what is recommended online by one of their personal friends than by some other online source. Once a website ensures its online social presence, it becomes easier to be recommended, accessed and shared, which will consequently lead to better search results rankings. Also, this social presence increases the chances of sales and raises brand awareness, which also leads to more reviews and, again, inbound links.

It may not be the case yet, but in ten years from now, social signals may become the leading factor in defining the rank of a website. SEO services should, of course, adapt to this, and maybe, with such a change, we will even be able to benefit from more affordable search engine optimization services!