Bing: 8 Social and SEO myths reviewed

[djbaxter]

8 Social and SEO myths reviewed
by Duane Forrester, Bing Webmaster Blog
April 5, 2012

Last week I participated in an #seochat. One comment that someone took exception with was the idea of how "authority" is defined. Essentially, this person took exception with the notion that to be seen as an authority, you need to maintain a healthy follower/following ratio. Specifically, they argued they knew plenty of people with equal numbers in both columns and each column in the tens of thousands, and that those individuals were, in fact, seen as authorities.

I'm sure, in isolated cases, this could be true. Take your average celebrity, as an example. They sometimes have close to equal numbers, yet they are still an "authority". Yup, they can get away with that simply because their reach gives them an edge. They are a household name.

What I found interesting about the discussion last week was someone suggesting to know that we, the engine, were in fact seeing this person as an authority. It's not like we send out certificates. Still, they have a valid, if limited, point. In the broader picture, though, it got me thinking about some other things folks may not understand fully. And so let's review some of the common myths around social and SEO.

Read more....

 

[djbaxter]

From the article cited above (red bolding added):

Social is my saviour This is today's darling. Thinking SEO is dead and social has supplanted it is a popular notion. If you just tweet and post on the wall, you'll be golden. Let's not take anything away from social, as the signals it generates are valuable to helping the engine understand sentiment and intent. And let's not overlook the timeliness and trending signals social can generate. So yeah, valuable stuff. But playing in the social wading pool won't, by itself, secure your future. It's important to interact with your clients, visitors, fans and friends. This helps build a sense of community around your product, service or brand, and also helps cement your role as an authority. What social cannot do is replace well written content or develop well scripted title tags and so on. Social is an important part of the mix, but alone, it won't guarantee success in the SERPs.

 

[djbaxter]

And another one (again, red bolding added):

Links shall light the path Yes, links are still important. No, you shouldn't buy links. Yes, you can guest blog your way to quality links. Yes, we ignore links if we think they are sketchy. So where's the mystery? It lies in the misconception that links are so important that their signals trump all others. So many SEOs still think links are the holy grail. True link building experts will tell you that getting an organic link is one of the hardest things to accomplish online these days. Gone are the days of simply asking for one from a site. Today, you need to be subversive about it all. You need to create such compelling content that people share it freely. Your social programs need to be so well focused, tested and refined that you know exactly which hooks get action from your followers. In the end, though, it all starts with quality, unique content. If you wow your visitors with your content, and prove yourself useful, they will share you with their friends. After all, everyone wants to impress their friends being the first to share the next coolest, most useful thing. If you're that thing, links shall follow.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Glad you added all the red bold to get my attention. Need to head over this weekend when I have time and read the whole thing.

Good stuff! Thanks for posting David!