Search and Social Media Connected

Guest blogger Anya Piper local SEO and Social Media consultant is bringing her passion for search engine optimization (SEO) and social media together to really help businesses grow. Anya is a social media friend of mine who I met recently at a TweetUp. I asked her to write a blog to share with my readers. Her article below is good advice. Anya spends much more time helping clients maximize search engine optimization than I do so I can recommend seeking her out if you’ve already got the hang of social media and just need to learn how it works with your SEO. So much is changing in social media and in search engines that we need to stay abreast of the most current information. Anya gives a brief summary of what it means to make search and social media work together.

It is time to jump on board or risk being left behind. No longer can you solely focus on Search, or focus solely on Social Media in your marketing efforts, because they are now tied together more so than ever. While looking at the marketing plans of implementing both may be a bit unsettling as far as the work load aspect, the reality is that you can not be truly effective in any search efforts unless Social Media is a part of that plan.

When you take the time to look at shifts in consumer information discovery, consumption and sharing, there is no arguing with the cross between search and the social web. Your customers now have the belief that your Website will have the ability to socially interact with the content that is produced by sharing with their Facebook friends, tweeting or commenting and engaging with other users on what is made public via your Website. Not only is this inevitable, this very act by your current, past and future customers can and will assist in your SEO techniques.

Search and Social Media play an important role in the lives of your customers and coincide with how they decide to communicate, relate and engage with other like-minded
individuals. Customers use search and Social Media to help with various purchases, where to eat, what movie to see and even whom to do business with. Knowing this now
is the time to connect and engage with your current and potential customers rather than later, to stay ahead of your competition.

Simply stated Search Engine Optimization, otherwise known as SEO, at its core, is based on relevance and authority. Once you establish your authority, your customers will then
broadcast this socially.

Incorporating Social Media & Search Engine Optimization

There are all sorts of ways that you can be quite effective when working to incorporate Social Media into your SEO strategies. Provided that your content is relevant to your
customers, search engine ranking will additionally be enhanced with your efforts. By constantly and consistently posting content that is popular with your customers, while
providing social media buttons to allow them to easily share links to your Website will work hand in hand. If you doubt this, think about what Google Analytics has done by
including a Social Media report to allow us to view the interaction going on, to monitor as well as measure your Social Media reach. What’s great about this feature is that
it allows you the ability to actually see which portions of your content are getting the most attention. Social Media marketing efforts that create conversations and buzz can
influence queries on keywords used in search the same way advertising and the result of public relations through media coverage can drive search traffic. There are countless of
people who are eager and willing to share your content and it is your job to make it easy to do so.

Tips To Include Social Media AND SEO Strategies:

1. Create profiles for your company on the major Social Networks (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, etc.) Make sure that you are spending time on the Social Networks that your customers are involved with.
2. Include a blog on your Website. Ensure that the content is consistently updated and relevant. Include sharing options for each post. Additionally, you want to stay active with your own posts, tweets and status updates that will invite your customers to stay connected with your business.
3. Build relationships through your Social Media. By becoming actively involved in the community you will be able to increase brand awareness which can turn into discussions on social networking sites which WILL more likely result in being rated highly by search engines.
4. Share other articles that are of value. By sharing other people’s content on your blog, through your tweets or status updates, you are forming a relationship and will help build connections online which will bring you more customers, visitors and readers.

Follow A Plan

Whether you like it or not, increasing social share has become one of the new responsibilities to keep current with your brand and your customers. If you want to be
more competitive in your industry using your SEO strategies, you must make increasing social shares a rule you live by. Bottom line is to get moving and make sure that you
are giving your customers what they want, when they want it and how they want it. Otherwise you will find yourself left at the sidelines trying to play catch up with the rest
of the crowd.