The value of a presence on social media (SM) for any business, up-and-coming or established, is widely recognised. However the relationship between SM and search engine optimisation is often a source of confusion. Experts offering affordable SEO packages often include a social media campaign as part of their overall service – there are a number of ways in which the two can work together to the benefit of your online marketing strategy. Keep in mind that in order to run a cost-effective online marketing campaign, finding an affordable SEO package is imperative. This is especially true for the small or medium-sized business. This article will attempt to set the record straight and make clear exactly why SM activity is just as important for any online marketing campaign.
Traffic Generation
It is worth remembering that the ultimate goal of SEO is to generate traffic for your website that is then converted to leads or sales. Regardless of whether or not SM actually pushes your landing page up the SERPs, it certainly provides an opportunity to post links to your site on multiple online platforms. This is bound to generate extra traffic. If you are able to create interesting content on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or other prominent platforms and build a following, you have an excellent opportunity to make your site visible to followers who would not otherwise have any exposure to it. This can result in more traffic, leads and sales in the same way that traditional optimisation can.
But Aren’t Social Media Links No-follow?
It’s true that these links are often no-follow. If this were not the case it’s likely that platforms would be abused by unscrupulous SEO practitioners attempting to gain cheap links. However there is still value in a no-follow link. The bottom line is that a link to your site on social media is visible potentially to a huge number of people, limited only by the following you are able to acquire. SM links do attract site visitors, lower bounce rate and increase brand awareness – these factors can only be positive for your SERP ranking, even if the effect is indirect.
Creating a Brand Personality
Social media provides a great opportunity to create a persona for your brand that will resonate with your target market. This is a way to build both brand awareness and interact with followers in order to position your business positively in the minds of potential customers.
A prime example of this is the activity of the gambling business PaddyPower on Facebook and Instagram. Regular humorous content related to current sporting events has allowed PaddyPower to build up a following of enthusiastic sports fans. There is frequently good natured social media interaction between sports fans and ‘Paddy’. A genuinely likeable and funny brand persona has been created. Of course a link to the PaddyPower website is included prominently in the bio on both Facebook and Instagram, directing both ardent gamblers and curious fans straight to the site home page.
Long-life Content
The nature of SM means that once a post is out there, it is out there forever. What’s more, there is great potential to keep content alive for an indefinite period, with the ability of individual users to like and share content that appeals to them. It goes without saying that content marketing is an important feature of any SEO campaign.
Monitoring Public Opinion
Social media allows you to monitor what people are really saying about your business, and what features of your product people like or dislike. By searching what is currently trending in relation to your brand, you can get a unique insight into the prevalent opinions and interest levels within your target market. This can provide invaluable information that you can use to inform your SEO efforts.
Social media marketing activity is of great significance to the SEO status of your business. The ways in which it benefits SEO are distinct from other more traditional optimisation tactics, but no less important. A professional and affordable SEO campaign that integrates social media into its overall approach is a campaign that stands a good chance of proving extremely potent and effective.
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Kit Jones is a professional consultant at LeadGeneratorsDigital, a successful online marketing agency focusing on a variety of digital strategies including content and SEO marketing. If you’re looking foraffordable SEO for your businesses that will help boost your Google rankings, conversion rates and overall quality of your site, this could be the company for you.