7 Ways an Effective Social Media and SEO Strategy Can Grow Your Brand
If you’ve been on the internet long enough, there is a good chance that you’ve stumbled across the term search engine optimization at some point or another. You’ve probably used Google or another search engine millions of times. The goal of SEO is to ensure that your website shows up on the first page of Google’s results. In return, your company’s website will gain more visibility, additional traffic and your revenue will eventually soar to new heights.
For most of us, the concept here is nothing new. What is different however, are the methods being used to rank higher in Google, while also pushing the competition lower. Within this guide, you will learn how the right strategy that can empower your company to achieve growth through the use of both SEO and social media.
Helps Build Your Reputation
First and foremost, you should realize that consumers think highly of companies that Google likes. People tend to trust Google and Microsoft, more than other brands they may not have heard of. If you’re able to get your website on the first page of Google and Bing, consumers will see that these companies trust and respect your website and company. In return, they’ll feel much more confident about doing business with you. They’ll realize that they’re going to get a great deal by working with your business.
When it comes to SEO and content creation, you should definitely consider your options with starting a blog. This is something I recently talked about in my ORM blogging article, where I highlighted the following data points.
- Put a Face and Personality with Your Blog
- Get Out There and Engage with Your Audience
- Create Content that Gets People Talking and Sharing
Cost-Effective
Many forms of marketing and advertising are immensely expensive, and in most cases — dry up after your budget is spent. With the right SEO strategy, you’ll be able to push your website to new heights without spending excessively. In fact, it is possible to get ahead in the SEO world without spending anything whatsoever. Nevertheless, some companies may want to invest in pay-per-click ads or media buying. Regardless, you can rest assured knowing that your SEO venture will be relatively inexpensive compared to starting any other type of business or using other marketing techniques.
The following methods work perfectly for SEO when you are working on a small budget.
- Creating your own content and doing competitor SEO analysis
- Guest blogging on other sites within your niche market
- Putting in the time and effort to creative expert roundups
Catering To Your Goals
Each company will have a unique set of goals. Some companies want to compete on the international level and conquer the world. Others will be happy gaining a footing in the local market or within a small niche market. SEO is truly very diverse and it can be customized to suit your individualistic needs and goals at the given time. With local SEO, you’ll be able to reach customers in your geographical location. Or, you can expand your base and market to customers all around the world. With SEO, the possibilities are truly endless.
In addition to having your own personal goals, it’s important that you not just have a marketing plan in place, but also a way to measure your success and results over time. I personally use and recommend SEMRush. Not only will their platform allow you to check on the latest rankings for your own site, they also provided competitor analysis and site audits as well.
Social Media and SEO are a Great Mix
As important as natural SEO is, it would be a big mistake to discount the power and viral marketing that social media can bring into the equations as well. For example, more people are accessing the internet through their mobile devices and social media than ever before. This is where big-name fashion bloggers are seeing the most of their growth and revenue come in — mainly through visual social platforms like Instagram.
With that being said, be sure to not just have a presence on social media, but also to actively gain more followers across all platforms — whether that be Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest. At the same time, be sure to syndicate your best content as well. The more followers and eyes you get your content in front of, the more likely it is to get shared and picked up on other sites. In many cases, this can be automated, but will also help improve social awareness, shares, and SEO back to your main sites as well.
Reach Legitimately Interested Customers
When using other forms of advertising, you’re truly taking a gamble. You never know who is going to read your ad in the newspaper and you don’t know who will hear it on the radio. Radio and newspaper ads might be very effective or they could be a complete bust. In the world of advertising and SEO, you always need to stay updated with the latest trends and what’s working today. The same can actually be said of other media buying methods online as well. Sure, you might be getting traffic and ad impressions, but does that audience really have an interest in what you have to offer?
With SEO, you can actually reach legitimately interested customers. After all, these individuals will have to search for specific keywords to find your company. This ensures that they’re somewhat interested in the goods and services that you have to offer. Just think about the last time you went to Google and searched for something… you were definitely interested in and probably ready to take action or make a purchase as well.
Social Media Builds Quick and Reliable Relationships
One of the most important things to remember about social media and finding success on various platforms is that you not only need to increase your follower count, but you need to have a great reputation as well. This includes promoting and sharing content with others (and not just your own) and also giving people a reason to follow you or your brand in the first place.
At the same time, social media is a great way to build new relationships with other site owners and bloggers who might offer guest blogging, interview opportunities, or social sharing groups. Spend some time on Facebook and look for active blogger groups, and you will know what I mean. Use social media to promote your content, but also to build new relationships and opportunities as well.
You can learn more about this process and see some examples here.
SEO is Great for Long-Term Growth
Finally, you should realize that SEO is going nowhere. In fact, the internet has grown more and more popular during the past few years, and even more so with technology and mobile devices making their way into third world countries. If you’re able to achieve success in SEO, you will be able to also achieve long-term growth. As long as people continue using the internet, they’ll continue finding your site and your revenue will continuously climb higher and higher.
A great way to look at this is if you had $100 to spend. You can either blow through $100 in Google PPC ad spend and be out of traffic when the campaign is over, or use that $100 towards content creation, social promotion, link building outreach and more. Both methods work, but when trying to start a business or online site with a small budget, SEO is a great way to go.
How to Create the Best SEO Results for Your Efforts in 2018
When it comes to SEO and social media, there are many ways to improve your site rankings and reach. The most important thing is that you actually put in the time and effort to get started. Unfortunately, way too many people will focus on how many different things there are to do, and never really take action.
Start with any of the methods or elements above, then scale out over time. Most importantly, make sure you track your results so you can always see where your efforts are paying off.
