As Google continues to improve its algorithm, it includes more and more metrics and alters how they’re used to construct a unified ranking system for its search results pages. Bing, likewise, is always expanding and tweaking its ranking algorithm, though it’s not quite as sophisticated as Google’s. With more and more services being added to the web every day, there are bound to be some measurable statistics that will gain importance in search rankings, while others will decrease in importance to compensate. Backlinks are still a major source of ranking data, but their importance has decreased as new measures have arisen. Google’s bots are even able to determine the reading level of individual pages and how relevant any content and links on that page are, giving Google’s ranking system a complexity previously unheard of. Social networks like Google+, Facebook and Twitter are beginning to have increased importance in ranking calculations, largely due to the high amount of user engagement and sheer popularity. For businesses, social networks will soon not only be used for social media marketing, but also for improving their search engine rankings. Google+ will, of course, be well-integrated into Google’s algorithm updates and will also likely be used to provide more targeted marketing choices for users of Google’s ad network, AdSense. Facebook and Twitter, however, will also be used to gather information regarding popular and helpful sites, those deserving of higher rankings. Though Google will only be able to index public pages on both social networking sites, Bing has unique deals with both companies allowing it to index the entirety of their networks.
Google+
All data gathered as part of Google+, Google’s social network, will certainly have a profound impact on search rankings at some point in the future. Some changes can already be seen when users are logged into their Google accounts. If people in their circles or prominent people on the site have shared a link, it will show up in the appropriate search results page with a special notification alerting the searcher that the link has been shared, drawing more attention to it and likely resulting in it being chosen above others. People are more likely to follow links they see as trustworthy and word of mouth from a person in their social networks provides a very compelling recommendation. The way that Google’s network will affect the actual rankings of individual pages in results is not certain at this point, but as more people use the network and share information it’s likely that the search giant will begin incorporating information from Plus into its algorithm.
Facebook
Facebook is a unique platform that allows users to interact with one another and share information quickly and easily. Shared links show up in users News Feeds and they have the option of resharing the link, posting a comment and interacting with the “Like” button. All of these signals can indicate a newsworthy or highly informational link, which can be used to refine search results. With Facebook’s Open Graph updates, users will be able to do more than merely “Like” a post, they will be able to “Cook” a recipe or “Hike” a trail, giving search engines even finer contextual data to incorporate into rankings. Because Bing is currently the only search engine with a contract with Facebook, it will have access to much information that Google does not, though Google will continue pushing its own platform to make up for the differences.
