There’s a plethora of buzz about how social media effects SEO. And while there is some cause and effect between these two marketing efforts, there is no science to it…yet.
Google maintains that it wants “as close to ideal rankings and best quality search results as possible.” As such, their number one value continues to be “relevance.” It seems recently, however, they’ve added the value of “credibility,” which was perhaps always there in their Page Rank Algorithm.
Credibility means that a back link with a Page Rank of 5 is worth far more than 20 back links with a Page Rank of 0. And these days, credibility is also means (somewhat) that you have social networks who you can influence. For a company or website, it does matter (somewhat) how many Likes their Facebook Page has, how many Twitter Followers they have and how much of the content they’re publishing is getting shared. But how much 
does matter?
No one can say for sure. But with Google ever iterating their algorithms it may not even matter how much, at least right now. What does matter is that the Rockefeller-esque search engine consistently allocates its resources to calculating relevance and credibility, and as such, it is certainly an intelligent investment to develop your social networks.
It’s also worth acknowledging that local businesses should especially invest in social networks as local check-ins, ratings and local listings can all be viewed as “signals” to search engines. And if you want to be the first site to be picked up and displayed, you’d better have more signals burning brighter than the competition around you.
If you need help identifying the most effective back links, social media networks or review site strategies, Upbeat Marketing is your one-stop shop. We specialize in strategic and targeted efforts to maximize your growth. Learn more by visiting our website at http://www.upbeatmarketingaustin.com/ or calling us at 512-222.7141.
Thanks for reading,
Seth Kuhn
Online Marketing Specialist
Upbeat Marketing 