A recent study conducted by SEOmoz on ranking factors indicates that 90% of SEO experts believe that social signals at the page level will be the most important ranking factor in Google’s ranking algorithm.  This trumps even exact keyword match, which significantly dropped in perceived importance over the last two years.

So what does that mean?  Basically, SEO-privy individuals imagine that things like Twitter, Facebook, and Google Buzz will have a high impact on getting your website to the top of the rankings list.  Although StumbleUpon and Digg weren’t the most favored sites and were in fact listed lowest, they expect things like tweets, particularly the authority of tweets, will impact Google’s algorithm.

Facebook's Share

SEOmoz simultaneously conducted a correlational study to see if the survey results fell in line with these expectations.  They found that the #1 factor associated with higher Google ranking was the number of Facebook shares.  This even trumps external links and unique IP addresses that visit the URLs!  They also found that 60% of the over 30,000 URLs they examined had at least one Facebook share.

But can Facebook shares really increase your ranking according to Google’s algorithm?  Not so fast, my Facebook-eager friends.  Further examination showed that the correlation between Facebook shares and Google ranking was spurious, meaning there’s something else that is influencing both.  Don’t get me wrong, Facebook shares are great, but it’s likely that linking to Facebook probably also means that the URL is getting linked to, tweeted about, and shared on a variety of other social media communities.  So getting deeper engagement is important, but not necessarily a cause for high Google ranking.  Perhaps it is an indication that the link is content-rich and there are other things that are driving the rank in Google – an indication of quality and interest, but not something that Google is looking at directly.

Take-away

Listening in on the Webinar that SEOmoz shared last week was super insightful in helping us understand at least a little bit of Google’s algorithm, which is constantly changing and becoming more complex.  Some of these results point to activities that directly relate to high rankings in Google, such as more links linking back to your site from more diverse sources, higher traffic from unique IP addresses, and these.  Some of these characteristics, however, show attributes that are possessed by top ranking sites, but aren’t directly affecting their rank, such as Facebook shares.  The bottom line is both are characteristics that successful sites have and are worth considering if looking to strengthen your marketing efforts and potentially bring your rank up.

Thanks to SEOmoz for sharing this insightful data.  You can check out the study in its entirety on SEOmoz's blog.  Keep an eye on those social signals and your social networking efforts.  There’s no denying the impact that social signals have on Google rankings now, and the potential for their increased influence in the future.  

A recent study conducted by SEOmoz on ranking factors indicates that 90% of SEO experts believe that social signals at the page level will be the most important ranking factor in Google’s ranking algorithm.  This trumps even exact keyword match, which significantly dropped in perceived importance over the last two years.

So what does that mean?  Basically, SEO-privy individuals imagine that things like Twitter, Facebook, and Google Buzz will have a high impact on getting your website to the top of the rankings list.  Although StumbleUpon and Digg weren’t the most favored sites and were in fact listed lowest, they expect things like tweets, particularly the authority of tweets, will impact Google’s algorithm.

Facebook's Share

SEOmoz simultaneously conducted a correlational study to see if the survey results fell in line with these expectations.  They found that the #1 factor associated with higher Google ranking was the number of Facebook shares.  This even trumps external links and unique IP addresses that visit the URLs!  They also found that 60% of the over 30,000 URLs they examined had at least one Facebook share.

But can Facebook shares really increase your ranking according to Google’s algorithm?  Not so fast, my Facebook-eager friends.  Further examination showed that the correlation between Facebook shares and Google ranking was spurious, meaning there’s something else that is influencing both.  Don’t get me wrong, Facebook shares are great, but it’s likely that linking to Facebook probably also means that the URL is getting linked to, tweeted about, and shared on a variety of other social media communities.  So getting deeper engagement is important, but not necessarily a cause for high Google ranking.  Perhaps it is an indication that the link is content-rich and there are other things that are driving the rank in Google – an indication of quality and interest, but not something that Google is looking at directly.

Take-away

Listening in on the Webinar that SEOmoz shared last week was super insightful in helping us understand at least a little bit of Google’s algorithm, which is constantly changing and becoming more complex.  Some of these results point to activities that directly relate to high rankings in Google, such as more links linking back to your site from more diverse sources, higher traffic from unique IP addresses, and these.  Some of these characteristics, however, show attributes that are possessed by top ranking sites, but aren’t directly affecting their rank, such as Facebook shares.  The bottom line is both are characteristics that successful sites have and are worth considering if looking to strengthen your marketing efforts and potentially bring your rank up.

Thanks to SEOmoz for sharing this insightful data.  You can check out the study in its entirety on SEOmoz's blog.  Keep an eye on those social signals and your social networking efforts.  There’s no denying the impact that social signals have on Google rankings now, and the potential for their increased influence in the future.  

DrivingSales is trying something new.  Before joining this amazing team, I worked as a researcher, most recently as a research assistant at Stanford University.  Now, we’re combining that previous experience and dedicating ourselves to finding solutions to industry questions.  One of the things Jared wanted me to focus on when joining DrivingSales was starting unique market research to serve dealers.  Nobody knows dealer questions better than you, the dealers, so we’re asking you what new market questions dealers are facing.  Each quarter, we’ll take on a new research project to shed some insight on the industry with real data, real numbers, and real, actionable solutions.  You pose the problem; we’ll find the answers.

We recently had a large dealer group contact us with a market question that is most certainly affecting all of us.  Social media tends to be a hot topic, of course, but how does it impact dealerships in particular?  Together, we’re looking to understand the influence social media has in our industry compared to traditional forms of media.

The purpose of this study is to examine potential uses of social media in comparison to traditional media in order to develop an understanding of what impact a social media strategy can have on dealership profitability.  In particular, we will look at social media marketing from a budgetary standpoint, as well as online reviews from an exposure and loyalty perspective.  

This is where we need your help.  We're interested in collecting real numbers - real data - from dealerships all over the country to get the most accurate picture of what social media looks like in our industry today.  With these numbers, we're aiming to see what benefits a social media strategy can produce, and from that, build strategies or investigate current strategies that are effective in increasing profitability.

Participation in this study is easy and pain-free.  All we ask is for you to complete this quick online survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CSIRM. It will take less than 5 minutes!  Of course, all data will be securely stored and completely anonymous.  Any information presented in papers or presentations will be done so as aggregate data, with no reference to any one store's scores.  The more accurate responses we can get, the better information we can get back to you, the dealers, and the more useful it will be.  

Thanks for your brief participation!  Please share this with anyone and everyone!  Of course, if you have an issue you’d like to get to the bottom of, please feel free to contact me at Lindsey@drivingsales.com and we’ll work it in for a future quarter’s research project. 

DrivingSales is trying something new.  Before joining this amazing team, I worked as a researcher, most recently as a research assistant at Stanford University.  Now, we’re combining that previous experience and dedicating ourselves to finding solutions to industry questions.  One of the things Jared wanted me to focus on when joining DrivingSales was starting unique market research to serve dealers.  Nobody knows dealer questions better than you, the dealers, so we’re asking you what new market questions dealers are facing.  Each quarter, we’ll take on a new research project to shed some insight on the industry with real data, real numbers, and real, actionable solutions.  You pose the problem; we’ll find the answers.

We recently had a large dealer group contact us with a market question that is most certainly affecting all of us.  Social media tends to be a hot topic, of course, but how does it impact dealerships in particular?  Together, we’re looking to understand the influence social media has in our industry compared to traditional forms of media.

The purpose of this study is to examine potential uses of social media in comparison to traditional media in order to develop an understanding of what impact a social media strategy can have on dealership profitability.  In particular, we will look at social media marketing from a budgetary standpoint, as well as online reviews from an exposure and loyalty perspective.  

This is where we need your help.  We're interested in collecting real numbers - real data - from dealerships all over the country to get the most accurate picture of what social media looks like in our industry today.  With these numbers, we're aiming to see what benefits a social media strategy can produce, and from that, build strategies or investigate current strategies that are effective in increasing profitability.

Participation in this study is easy and pain-free.  All we ask is for you to complete this quick online survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CSIRM. It will take less than 5 minutes!  Of course, all data will be securely stored and completely anonymous.  Any information presented in papers or presentations will be done so as aggregate data, with no reference to any one store's scores.  The more accurate responses we can get, the better information we can get back to you, the dealers, and the more useful it will be.  

Thanks for your brief participation!  Please share this with anyone and everyone!  Of course, if you have an issue you’d like to get to the bottom of, please feel free to contact me at Lindsey@drivingsales.com and we’ll work it in for a future quarter’s research project. 

DrivingSales is excited to announce that the 2nd Quarter edition of the 2011 Dealership Innovation Guide is officially here!  The Dealership InnovationGuide is a free publication from DrivingSales.com full of good stuff for dealers looking to improve.  It's packed full of the latest vendor ratings and articles that will help dealers identify and adopt best practices that affect their bottom line.  We’ve fielded many requests for a more frequent publishing schedule, so we’ve transitioned from publishing the magazine bi-annually to quarterly.  Now you can get more great content, more often!  

Congratulations to Jon Sherrell for making this edition’s cover article with a fantastic story about how he won a brand new Fiat franchise with his stellar SEO strategy!  You can read this article RIGHT NOW at Dealership Innovation Guide - Jon Sherrell. 

Other great articles include:

“Dear Vehicle Manufacturers:  Three Ways You Are Killing Your Dealers” by Jared Hamilton

“Dealers Must CLOSE THE SALE” by Grant Cardone

“More Changes at Google in the Last Six Months than in the Last Six Years” by Richard Winch

Additional authors featured in the edition include:

Rob Fontano

Bryan Armstrong

Marc McGurren

…and MORE!

Gain access to these articles and the entire magazine for FREE at DrivingsalesInnovationGuide.com.  Want the actual magazine in print?  Subscribe to receive your free copy here.  Read the Dealership Inovation Guide hot off the press!

DrivingSales is excited to announce that the 2nd Quarter edition of the 2011 Dealership Innovation Guide is officially here!  The Dealership InnovationGuide is a free publication from DrivingSales.com full of good stuff for dealers looking to improve.  It's packed full of the latest vendor ratings and articles that will help dealers identify and adopt best practices that affect their bottom line.  We’ve fielded many requests for a more frequent publishing schedule, so we’ve transitioned from publishing the magazine bi-annually to quarterly.  Now you can get more great content, more often!  

Congratulations to Jon Sherrell for making this edition’s cover article with a fantastic story about how he won a brand new Fiat franchise with his stellar SEO strategy!  You can read this article RIGHT NOW at Dealership Innovation Guide - Jon Sherrell. 

Other great articles include:

“Dear Vehicle Manufacturers:  Three Ways You Are Killing Your Dealers” by Jared Hamilton

“Dealers Must CLOSE THE SALE” by Grant Cardone

“More Changes at Google in the Last Six Months than in the Last Six Years” by Richard Winch

Additional authors featured in the edition include:

Rob Fontano

Bryan Armstrong

Marc McGurren

…and MORE!

Gain access to these articles and the entire magazine for FREE at DrivingsalesInnovationGuide.com.  Want the actual magazine in print?  Subscribe to receive your free copy here.  Read the Dealership Inovation Guide hot off the press!