All of us want to be popular. To be the girl with the pretty smile and great laugh. To be the guy with charm and charisma girls fawn over. To be the one with the most points at the end of the game. (Okay, maybe the last one is just me…) Even if it isn’t said out loud, everyone wants people to like them.

The point is, everyone wants to be popular.

And it is obvious by Google’s and Bing’s SEO updates that popularity means something…BIG. Otherwise, search engine results would still be solely driven by a boring, mixed equation of key words and strategic alt-tag placements, instead of social acceptance adding bonus points to search engine rankings. (Yay! Bonus points!!)

Today, as Bing releases their response to Google’s February Panda update you may wonder what this means for your organic search engine rankings.

There are two things that you should instinctively think of with these new SEO updates:

• Social Media
• Content Relevance

With what appears to be the preferred method of information gathering of the masses, we are obviously knee deep in the social media craze, and it isn’t going anywhere any time soon. The question is: how do I keep up?

1. Social Media

I said it. Social Media. There are people who still cringe at the sound of this phrase, mostly because they do not understand what it is or its implications. The truth is, we are at a detrimental time in the SEO life-cycle to be embracing social media as a communication channel, and not just a way to waste valuable time Facebook-stalking or Farmville harvesting.

…we are at a detrimental time in the SEO life-cycle to be embracing social media as a communication channel…

Obviously, social media is going to start playing a major role in your search engine results by blasting you higher in the rankings based on the amount of Likes your content has. Now, the more social acceptance you, your site, or your content has the more popular you are in the rankings.

This leads me to my next point…

2. Relevant Content

If your content is not fresh, constantly updated, and most of all, relevant, then no one is going to Like you. A strong content foundation is best established with several layers:

• Static Content – Content that always remains the same and is always relevant. Example: contact information, rules and policies, business/service information (no longer product information, since social media is now affecting the way we shop), and any information that will not change any time soon.
• Dynamic Content – Content that is automatically updated in order to always be timely. Example: product information, contests, coupons and any information that can expire.
• Social Media (including blogs) – Content that is driven by a person and not by a process or data. This content is the most relevant because it deals with general, daily issues or topics and is always changing in relevancy, thus the importance of it being consistently updated and managed.

Now, post-SEO enhancements, there is an emphasis on the last item: social media.

If your content is not fresh, constantly updated, and most of all, relevant, then no one is going to Like you.

The SEO Bottom Line

Fresh, relevant content makes people Like you. Likes make you popular. Popularity wins in the SEO world. Period.