700+ Genuine likes in 4 Days on a new Site - Does it risk Google Spam?

[DealWithAutism]

Hi my site www.dealwithautism.com is a brand new site - only 2 months old and since Autism is a fairly competitive niche, id do not get more than 30 impression and 4-5 clicks for my 40+ pages on Google.

However, recently I have become very active in the social platforms, so over the last week I am getting 200+ pageviews just from Facebook and Twitter, that not bad.,

I have recently created a post 21 apps for Autism https://www.dealwithautism.com/top-apps-for-autism/

Suddenly this post is generating a lot of interest and in the last 4 days I have received as many as 700+ likes (purely editorially) and it is growing in terms of 100s per day.

How I acquired them? Well, firstly I believe it is a very good post. Secondly, I selected one of the Apps in the list as 5 star and editor's choice! Then twitted and Fb mentioned to that company on Twitter and Facebook. They returned the favour by re-tweeting and since they have tens of thousands of followers, my page immediately got traction.

My question is this: Do I need to worry about Google turning a suspicious eye on me for being a new site getting too many social signals in too short time? Should I pull out the Like buttons for a while from my site to slow things down?? I am new to web development and not fully sure how Google would recognize social spam.

[Travis_Bailey]

Hi Ashish,

Our beloved Matt Cutts has, fairly recently, stated that social signals aren't part of the algorithm. Social signals aren't used for or against a site, regardless of their veracity. As unlikely as it sounds, Google just doesn't have the capability to accurately gauge social signals in a timely and accurate manner - or so we are told.

It sounds like you made a solid tactical decision in regard to how one should gain exposure. Congratulations, you made something good. How you iterate upon your recent success is up to you, but it sounds like you'll do just fine.

[PeaSoupDigital]

Cutts says that social signals aren't part of the algorithm, but, after his research, a certain Mr Patel would argue the case!

However, the article you have posted has obliviously stuck a chord with so many people, so I can't see any issues. Moreover, at the end of the day, Google is all about rewarding useful content - so keep up the good work!

[Travis_Bailey]

Let's get in an internet argument!!! (That was a serious(ly fun) internet smile right there, bro.)

Social media can result in exposure that can result in lovely links outside of social media.

It's less of a stretch to say that organic links, outside of social media, as a result of social media exposure increase rankings.

The people at KISS Metric weren't incorrect at all. Their measurements aren't doubted. I don't doubt them.

But there are some, pretty critical, things that remain unsaid there.

[PeaSoupDigital]

Yeah, true. I guess social activity may not be part of the algo, but certainly improves your organic presence, albeit indirectly!

[Travis_Bailey]

Google+ is a social medium. The largest recorded changes came from Google+ at that time. A few months later, Matt Cutts announced that it may penalize Google+ for passing PR and gathering too much PR. So the most impressive parts of the KISS Metrics study were correct.

I hate to be a 'Cuttlet' or speak in terms of Page Rank, but there we have it. A social media platform could influence Page Rank at one time. It still may do so to a limited degree.

There's no doubt that the affect of a social post can bring about the effect of organic rankings, via links outside of typical social media.

People just have to care, to some degree - for some reason.

Knowing this is why I can afford the fine Chunky Soup for lunch. XD

[Ron_McCabe]

I think that nothing but good things can come from the kind of activity you are seeing.  The key is relevance and value.  It sounds like you have some posts that are helpful and relevant to others...This is the ultimate goal with social media. In my opinion this type of activity only sends positive social signals.

The trick is to understand that every post you make is not going to get this type of response. My belief is that the fastest way to get into trouble is engaging in tricks or spammy behavior to replicate the lightning you have created with these posts. Even though it is harder it is important to stay the course by slogging out future contributions knowing that many will not get a huge response. As long as these more minor posts are relevant to your audience you will slowly build up a base and over time your will develop a solid base that is engaged with your social media outlets.  This is the long term goal as well as the long term value you want to develop.

Enjoying lightning in a bottle when it happens is good Planning on it is not ;( Building an audience that is a constant power source is the goal

Hope this helps,

Ron