So much of what goes into running a good business involves being the very first link on a search engine. It’s true. With over 60% of clicks being to that first website listed, getting to the top means a theoretical boost in sales and profit. In addition, once on top, it is hard to be pushed aside because the constant traffic will help keep you up.
All of this has to do with how search engines like Google or Bing rank web content. There has been a model for how this has been done, as well as numerous theories about how to beat the system and promote your website.
One of the newest discoveries was the social aspect. In particular social media like twitter and Facebook play a huge role in how websites are ranked competitively. Let’s take a look at some of the proof, and then cover what you can do to increase your ranking.
Looking at Case Studies
Taking a Look at Shrushti.com and an experiment they did last year shows how a few changes can make a huge difference in ranking. What they found is that Re-tweets, the like and share of Facebook, and Google+ likes make a difference in how a website is ranked. Another example is Moz.com, who used a single tweet from an influential person to make the website go from zero hits per day to the first page of Google results. All of this was done through a single tweet. Finally, when looking at case studies, you cannot ignore the Social Signal Experiment. In this experiment, 6 very similar websites were made in six different cities with the same niche content. It showed that tweets, Facebook likes, and Google+ likes all worked to increase the ranking.
So, What Can You Do?
From the case studies and research done, there are a number of interesting findings. First, if you are going to share a URL, do it on Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday between 9am-12 and 3-6pm. This will increase the likelihood that you will get social votes. In addition, research has shown that by asking a question you increase how likely people are to respond. Another finding is that by including an image to your post, you increase engagement by 200%. Finally, if you ask for a vote from those following you, you can expect up to a 400% increase in responses.
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