OP, I'd like to share with you a case study I'm writing about this same thing. I dont want to post a link to it here for 2 reasons, 1 its not officially published to the gen pop yet and 2 I dont think I have enough posts to post a link yet anyway... (im just shy of 30 and i think you need 50) But here's what I will say in this case. I have direct evidence to prove 3 specific scenarios in Social Signals for SEO, they are this.
1.) A properly associated Facebook page, with many legit likes (fans), can immediately skyrocket the rankings of your website in Bing and Yahoo, but not necessarily Google (yet).
2.) A Web page (NOT a FB fanpage) with many "likes" and shares on social platforms like FB and Twitter, LinkedIn etc can reach top rankings in Google SERPs (these likes act as other link sources and its best when they come from authoritative personas)
3.) A Youtube channel properly associated with a webpage can raise the ranking of that website, IF, the channel has a large number of subscribers, views, likes and comments, that are "real" in the eyes of google.
Now other things are happening too. Naturally gaining social signals is good for all kinds of reasons especially if they are organic. Additionally getting combinations of social signals from any platform is likely to be beneficial in some way shape or form even if it isnt immediately apparent. These three things listed I can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt, Though there is no question in my mind that social signals will become an increasingly large part of all ranking algorithms from now into the future.
If you'll have it, I'd like to share this excerpt from the blog post I'm currently writing around a case study on social media ....
The original concept behind using links to sort search results was that when a trusted source makes a digital recommendation by way of linking to another webpage; there was a value in sorting results by amount and caliber of these "link referrals." When this started to become exploited by more and more SEOs, it forever changed the landscape of how links are viewed by search engines and this is still an ongoing process.
Going into the future we [On Q Media] believe that search engines will shift the value of links to webpages to include "link referrals" from social network profiles on a much larger scale. The essential theory behind Social Signals for SEO, is that by getting authoritative recommendations from more people on social media will move your result(s) higher in the search engines. In a nutshell, I would never post some spammy illegitimate link to a "payday loans online" company on my Facebook wall and willingly expose my friends and family to malicious spam offer or site. I suspect many of the readers out there feel the same way about the content that they are willing to post on Facebook. Most people actually cherry pick what they feel is the very best content to associate their personal pages with. Some people are incredibly resistant to "liking", "following", or "sharing" anything that they feel doesn't deserve their personal seal of approval.
Search engines have recognized the fact that they can produce less manipulated results by using the signals of authority passed around on social media as referrals for high quality content. After all, in order to be a successful search engine you have to be the best at delivering high quality content. Let's not forget that the three largest US search engines all have a vested interest in a particular social media platform.
If you want to get into more of the facts and data from these case studies send me a PM we can chat.
