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Since the day English scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented the world wide web in 1989, the way our world communicates was changed forever. Searching for and finding information has never been easier, with an estimated 2 trillion searches on Google across the globe per year. In the amount of time it took you to click on our blog and read this first paragraph, there have been over 3.5 billion Google searches worldwide. In this ultra-connected, albeit quite crowded, interweb, the big questions among marketers is this: How do we make sure our brand stands out in the competition for attention?
One of the most important tools for making your company stand out in the web crowd is by improving your āsearch engine optimizationā (SEO) strategy. This is essentially the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to a website or a web page as a way to rank higher on search results. A better SEO ranking means increased credibility, boosted traffic, and overall improved online visibility. A win, win, win.
Nearly 4 billion people use social media today ā or about half of the worldās population. Social media accounts for a significant share of our time online, with the average global user spending 144 minutes on social media sites each day, so it needs to be a significant part of your strategy. Itās important to note that while social media participation does not directly contribute to your SEO, it can indirectly enable you to improve SEO and rank higher on search results by improving online visibility and brand recognition.
Here are the rules of using social media as a tool to improve SEO:
As search algorithms have evolved and become more sophisticated to understand content relevance, itās no longer enough to pack keywords into your content. Prioritize producing compelling, educational content that your audience will find useful. This type of content typically performs well online.
Encouraging employees to advocate for your company by sharing posts about your brand on social media is a great way to improve visibility, drive more web traffic and extend the reach of your content into new networks. One simple way to do this is by adding social badges to email signatures. Since not every employee is used to using social media for work, make sure you provide the tools that will help them be effective for you, providing regular messaging, news and compelling content theyāre more likely to share.
When users share your content, it gives you greater visibility. That increased visibility means your content is more likely to be found, clicked on and read by more people. Social sharing can increase the number of inbound links to your site, and can improve your credibility by showing the popularity of your content. For this reason, make sure it is a breeze to share your social posts by utilizing call-to-actions, share buttons, engaging questions and more.
To optimize your social media profiles, be sure to provide a consistent business description across all channels. Establish a handful of essential and SEO-friendly keywords that define your company and include them into the copy of your āAbout Usā sections. Only the first 140 characters will appear in search engine results, so be sure to express the most vital information first. Be sure to share compelling, original visuals, including video, on your social media channels in order to capture the attention of the quick-scrolling users out there. Visual content accounts for a growing share of all social media and marketing content online today, and video consumption online has grown 17-fold since 2012.
What was social media invented for anyway? To connect with people. Using social media to build strategic relationships is a great way to improve SEO. Collaborate with partners on a joint piece of content to publish to your blog and share on social media. Itās a great way to build backlinks to your website and extend your reach into new audiences.
On a regular basis, take some time to evaluate the performance of your social media strategy so far. What kind of content does your audience seem to like most? Which posts are the most engaging? What posts are not working? Analyzing the results will enable you to continue sharpening your social media strategy which will, in turn, help to nurture stronger SEO.
SideCar PR offers several levels of support for social media in order to best meet your needs and budget. Together, we can determine the best strategy to fit your brand, grow your social footprint and help you reach your target audiences. Reach out to us at hello@sidecarpr.com to learn more.
