Today, search engines are beginning to use social signals to rank websites more than in years past. While SEO and social media were once two separate things, they’re coming together, letting Google and Bing know what’s happening both on and off your website. If social media isn’t a component of your SEO strategy, there are many compelling reasons why it should be.
Here are a few tactics that must be included in your strategy if you want to experience spectacular results.
Claim your brand name. Don’t have a Twitter or Facebook account? You should! These social media giants, along with LinkedIn, Pinterest and Google+, offer a presence that the search engines notice. Not only do these channels enhance authority and credibility, they’re growing in importance in both audience reach and search engine algorithms.
Make it easy for your visitors to connect and share. In today’s social networking world, visitors may find it strange if you don’t have “connect” buttons that allow them to “tweet” or “like” your posts or content. Displaying social media icons makes it easy for your target audience to connect with your brand. Staying engaged and communicating are essential for building trust and credibility.
Build rich, original content on your blog – and do it often. Content is still “king” online, and it’s essential that you have a blog that offers high-quality, valuable information to your readers. The fact is, the more content you put on your site, the more “hooks” you have in the water when it comes to organic search traffic. There are incredible SEO benefits in blogging – and the social aspect comes in when readers connect and share.
Social channels make distributing content simple. Articles, blog posts, even a single remark about the activities of your day are important. Producing and distributing valuable content via social channels not only indicates to Google that you care about your audience, it helps build brand loyalty and trust.
Ask your readers to share. While you may think “duh,” people don’t always know what to do unless you TELL them. After you’ve written a great post on your blog, encourage your readers to share with something simple such as, “if you enjoyed this post or found it useful, I’d appreciate it if you’d share!” You would be surprised how many people will follow your instructions.
Don’t think that you can leave social media by the wayside and concentrate solely on SEO to achieve great results! Like it or not, social media is now a solid component of any effective SEO campaign.
