Matt Cutts: +1 Votes Do Not Affect Your Website's Rankings

Moz.com recently ran an article regarding the result of a scientific correlation study they have carried out which shows that web pages receiving numerous +1s rank higher on Google’s search rankings.

The post which was written by Cyrus Shepard got its data from the site’s 2013 ranking factors.

Shepard brought in a number of points to back up their sturdy, noting that posts shared on Google+ are easily crawled and indexed by the algorithm and also pointed out the influence of authorship shares in the rankings. This article, of course, has generated a lot of buzz.

However, the head spam fighter of the search engine giant refuted this claim, saying that Google’s +1 data has no effect on the way their algorithm ranks websites. And Cutts responded to this news via a Hacker News thread saying that correlation does not necessarily equate to causation.

+1s aren’t as hot as you think, content is

This is not the first time that Matt Cutts reduced emphasis on the value of +1 with regards to a website’s search engine rankings. It could be remembered that back in 2011, Cutts also debunked a similar study by Moz.com, which claimed that there is a correlation between Facebook shares and higher placement on search rankings.

Cutts made a point back then that Google didn’t utilize any Facebook Share Data and they cannot see such data at all because Facebook was blocking it.

After two years, Google sticks with their conviction that these social signals are not being used in their rankings. In fact, what Cutts would like for people to understand is that if one makes a compelling content, it is only second nature for people to link, like, share it on Facebook and give it a +1.

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However, all these positive reinforcements will not influence rankings. And rather than chasing +1s for content, what marketers, website owners and website masters should do is to generate great content so that people will find them relevant and at the same time will not trigger Penguin.

A new insight on the study

Despite Cutts’ disagreement regarding the result of Moz.com’s correlation study, Search Engine Journal’s Matt Southern thinks that the study does provide some valuable insights that marketers, website masters and website owners can use to improve their search rankings.

Since Google Plus passes PageRank and also permit anchor texts–both of which are crucial factors in Google’s algorithm–the point here is if an article or content is shared by a known authority from Google Plus, then a high quality backlink is also generated, which in turn can assist in boosting page ranks.

Southern also agreed with Cutts’ point about not chasing +1s with Google Plus, but to use the social networking site to connect with known authorities or influencers and also build authority along the way. Simply put, everything boils down to focusing on content quality and making strong connections.

What do you think about all this? Do you believe that social signals do have an effect on a website’s search engine rankings?

   Sherry Sims

About the Author:

Sherry Sims is an avid writer, an SEO enthusiast and a technology geek. She is also a regular contributor for www.guestblogspost.co.uk. When not at work, Sherry loves searching for the latest technology trend or reading novels