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SEO and Social Media – What’s their Relationship?

August 31, 2011 By admin

Lately, I’ve been pondering an important issue many online marketers and search engine optimization pros find themselves having to think about more and more.

That issue of course is the relationship between SEO and social media – should search engine optimization specialists worry about social media and vice versa?

As you can imagine, much debate among the professionals surrounds this question. One side of that debate says the two channels are mutually exclusive. Many businesses in fact aren’t even worrying so much about their website and pouring all their resources into Facebook pages, Twitter profiles and Google Places pages.

According to Stoney deGeyter on Search Engine Guide, you can get a local ranking on Google just by having a ‘Places’ page – no website needed.

While it may seem easy and less expensive to simply put a blog on Blogger.com, build a Facebook and Twitter profile or utilize a myriad of other social media options, you would be remiss if you didn’t invest time and resources into building your main website.

Stoney says – and we agree – that you should definitely NOT neglect your website and focus ALL of your efforts on social media. One of the prime reasons for this – you own your website and the benefits that inevitably come from building it. As long as your site is hosted, your page(s) will appear in search results for the terms you’re targeting.

Social media on the other hand isn’t so permanent – for starters, not all of your followers may see what you post since social media channels, especially Twitter, are in real-time. Meaning if you post something at 3:00 but your follower(s) doesn’t login until 8:00, they may not see what you’ve done.

Search rankings for content on your site are more permanent though (i.e. they have a longer shelf life than social media) – SEO puts your site in front of people when they’re looking, no matter what time of day that is.

In an interview with Social Media Examiner, Copyblogger CEO Brian Clark comments on why SEO and social media work together…all the top SEOs have been using social media to build contacts and share content.

According Brian, the two are intertwined since good search rankings depend on two things – links and traffic. You have to attract traffic and links before you rank well in search engines. Social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter give you that initial boost to build strong search rankings.

See Brain’s interview below for more. His comments on SEO and social media are around the 5:00 minute mark in the video.

In the end, both social media and SEO each have their own benefit. Social media channels provide the opportunity to share content in real time. SEO on the other hand builds a more long-term foundation that’s available whenever someone is searching using your keywords.

It’s important you focus on both – build good keyword targeted content that’s highly shareable through social media. Focusing on one at the expense of the other will certainly leave many opportunities on the table.

sme_bw2010_brian_clark_v1 from Michael A. Stelzner on Vimeo.

Related Posts

4 Ways to Use Twitter to Improve Search Rankings

5 Ways you can optimize your ‘Tweets’ for Search

Which Social Media Channel is Right for My Business?

5 Ways to Create a Sustainable, Engaging Following on Facebook

Filed Under: SEO Technology, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , ,

Why Optimized Press Releases Still Matter in a Post Panda World

August 10, 2011 By admin

Following Google’s Panda update earlier this year, many syndication and content ‘farm’ websites experienced a sharp drop in rankings. Many press release distribution outlets like PRLog.com were hit pretty hard in this update.

We’ve always extolled (…and still do) the value of generating a steady flow of press releases announcing news at your company – a new product, new hire or a professional award or recognition – are just a few newsworthy topics you can announce through a press release.

Considering the fact that 92% of journalists use search engine feeds like Google News or Yahoo! News to find newsworthy topics (…daily for 81% of journalists according to research firm Marketing Sherpa), not developing a steady schedule of press releases can put you at extreme disadvantage.

And recent research from TEKGroup International analyzing journalists on media relations practices found over 70% journalists read one or more blogs daily…just under 30% regularly use social media in their jobs and approximately 37% subscribe to RSS feeds…50% regularly visit Google News.

We can even glean more information from the 2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report from the Social Media Examiner. Over 80% of respondents in this survey say they plan to either increase press release frequency or keep it the same.  Of those respondents who say they will increase their frequency of press releases (43%), approximately 52% were small business owners while only 24% were larger companies.

Another interesting fact from the report – when asked to rank all types of marketing they were using or planning to implement, respondents ranked press releases at #4 at 57%, just below event marketing.

Despite the fact Google’s Panda update somewhat diminished the value of links from distribution sites, we can see still see the inherent value of developing newsworthy press releases.

Remember one important point – write press releases with both the search engines and social media networks in mind.

Doing so will ensure you reach both your target audience and hungry journalists looking for a great news topic.

Proper press release optimization and targeting not only helps you rank high in Google News and other outlets, they help you engage both your audience and journalists. Eventhough the link value has diminished somewhat, be sure you still include press releases in your online marketing strategy.

Related Posts

5 Common Mistakes that Stop Press Releases Cold

7 Things Google’s Farmer Update Penalized Sites For – And What you Can Do About It

Fast Track your PR with Paid Press Release Distribution Outlets

Free Press Release Distribution – A Great Way to Get your PR Noticed

Filed Under: Online Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

New ‘+1’ Button from Google Now Available for Websites

August 5, 2011 By admin

Billed as a direct response to Facebook’s ‘Like’ button, Google’s +1 (…pronounced ‘Plus one’) button provides another opportunity for site visitors to share content they like. Including a +1 button on your site’s pages not only opens another avenue for visitors to share your site socially, it carries certain SEO benefits as well.

According to Google, the +1 button is short-hand for “this is pretty cool” or “you should check this out.” It allows a user to give something their public stamp of approval – in turn, sharing content, video or any kind of webpage with friends and contacts on Google.

You’re likely seeing +1 buttons starting to appear on many websites.

They’ve been appearing in search results for a while now but only recently have website owners been able to post the small button on their webpages…all that’s required is a short bit of code you paste onto your page. You can also customize how the +1 button appears on your webpage(s).

For users, +1 activity for them and their friends can be set to appear on each page that includes the button. There you can see who has “+1’d” that page. It’s said content recommended by friends is much more valuable than content from a random person…in this atmosphere driven by how sharable your content is, we tend to agree.

This is by far Google’s most ambitious attempt yet to compete with Facebook in the social media realm.

In the last year, the ‘Like’ button has pretty much become the default means by which people share articles, videos and other content online. Google hopes to change this.  Judging from early numbers on +1 and Google’s + network, they may give Facebook a run for its money.

It would behoove you to make sure your content is sharable on all of the popular places people interact online.

Besides social sharing, +1 can also yield some benefit in terms of search engine optimization as well. In an FAQ, the search engine says adding the button will prompt Google to re-crawl your page(s) and store the title and content data for future impressions.

+1 impressions may also serve as a signal on how relevant your page’s content is says Google. Over time, they hope to incorporate this kind of data into their algorithm.

This new development from Google is exciting indeed. We’ve already begun adding +1 buttons to some of our webpages. If you click on one, a login screen will appear where you can sign in to your account.

Considering the ease at which you can add the +1 button, we think it can’t hurt. But considering the SEO benefits and the tremendous popularity from its onset, we think Google +1 is certain to rival Facebook’s ‘Like’ features.

In light of this, we think it’s very important you make sure visitors can easily ‘+1’ your site.

Filed Under: SEO Technology, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

4 Ways to Use Twitter to Improve Your Search Rankings

May 27, 2011 By admin

I know this isn’t what we promised we would have for you, our loyal readers. We’ve been really busy with our projects lately and seem to have lost track of time.

Despite this, we thought some of these tips regarding Twitter would be a good substitute for now.

As you know from prior posts on the matter, Twitter is a powerful social media marketing tool taking the online world by storm.

Everyone from politicians to musicians and athletes to businesses are using this innovative tool to connect with prospective customers. It’s also a great way to engage with those who are already customers, turning them from simply people doing business with you into ‘evangelists’ for your brand.

We hope to eventually provide a synopsis of HubSpot’s webinar on optimizing relationships with social media soon.

But in the mean time, we invite you to examine 4 ways you can use Twitter to improve search rankings. There’s been a lot of discussion on whether Twitter helps boost search engine rankings. It can, provided it’s done properly according to Misti Sandefur and Danny Sullivan, who recently interviewed Google and Bing and confirmed this point.

Continue reading to learn more about how you can use this versatile ‘micro-blogging’ utility to boost your company’s position in Google and other search engines.

1. ‘Follow’ people in your industry who are considered authority figures

Most people you follow on Twitter will not follow you back. But if you’re following people relevant to what you do, the higher likelihood they will follow you back. For those who do, they will likely notice links to new content on your site or blog.

The result?

They very well may ‘re-tweet’ your post and share it with their friends. These links, over time, will provide a big boost to your search engine rankings.

2. ‘Re-tweet’ posts from other authority figures in your industry

It’s a two-way street. If you spot something on Twitter you find interesting, re-tweet it for your followers. Doing so will likely result in a ‘re-tweet’ on the other end for any good content you post on Twitter.

3. Add Twitter and other social media widgets at the end of articles and blog posts

You’ve probably noticed how all of our blog posts include a ‘share’ button where readers can share our articles through Facebook, Twitter and other social media channels. Including this capability not only makes sharing your content easier, it will make it more likely readers will want to share your content with their friends since hey, it’s so easy!

4. Use #hashtags when posting when posting tips and links

Twitter #hashtags are an easy way for people to spot what something is about. Therefore, find popular #hashtags relevant to your industry and use those in the beginning of your Twitter posts. Examples include: #jobs, #retail, #webmarketing and so on. See a more comprehensive list here.

The other important thing to consider when using Twitter is how you become an authority on the micro-blogging platform. Being considered an ‘authority’ figure in your industry will ensure you maintain a high number of followers. Becoming an authority figure takes time but posting relevant content and communicating with others on the network will help build your credibility.

Simply ‘tweeting’ blog content on Twitter isn’t enough. You need to also look at others’ content and comment on it as well.

As we’ve said before, the quality of your followers is more important than quantity.

With that said, keep in mind that things don’t happen overnight. But be patient and persistent…your efforts will eventually pay off.

Related Posts

Large Numbers of Followers Doesn’t Always Mean More Benefits

Social Media Architect Provides Valuable Twitter Advice

Can Twitter Get a Site Indexed in the Search Engines All By Itself?

5 Ways You Can Optimize your ‘Tweets’ for Search

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Making your Content Work for You in Better, More Valuable Ways

May 6, 2011 By admin

Fostering reader engagement through both social media and  your site works to transform content from  simple search engine fodder into increased time on site, conversions and revenues

From reading our web marketing blog and other resources on building search rankings, unique content is one of the major pillars to successfully harnessing online marketing channels.

And if you’ve seen anything related to the recent Google ‘Farmer’ update, you know that unique content is an absolute must.

With that in mind, it’s easy to think content can just go up on your site and be forgotten about…I’ve certainly thought this way in the past but experience now tells me this simply isn’t true.

Content like articles can be repurposed into blogs or even white papers or e-books and vice versa. Circumstances and information is certain change, requiring you update your content from time to time.

You want to be sure you’re providing your readers with the most up-to-date information – you do this to not only keep the hungry search engine spiders happy but to build credibility among your readers as well.

But getting that far is only half the battle

Just because you’ve got this great content promoting your brand and educating your prospects doesn’t quite mean you’re going to see significantly more clicks on the ‘buy’ or ‘contact’ button.

Unfortunately no…to really increase conversions and the average time someone spends on your site or associated social media channels, you not only need to create relative content that’s informative, you’ve got to make it accessible to where your readers are online.

Social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Digg, StumbleUpon and others have revolutionized the way people interact online. Gone are the days where they exclusively had to come to you.

That’s why content for social media is so important.

When you write a new blog or article, post it on your company’s Facebook and Twitter profiles. Developing exclusive content for social media is also a plus. For example, you could offer a quick overview of an important topic on Facebook then link to more extensive resources on your site.

Or you could hold a contest but require participants to ‘Like’ or otherwise interact with your Facebook profile.

One radical approach could be to develop a separate site devoted exclusively to interacting with your company through social media channels. Kate Spade women’s clothing and accessories is an example of someone who’s used this approach successfully.

Courtesy of Nick Usborne and WebContentCafe.com

While they do have their regular website, this site puts the visitor in a position to interact with the New York fashion company on their favorite social media networks.

Of course, this option works for this kind of company and may not for yours.

In addition to social media channels, adding links to other relevant content at the end of a blog post or article is also a valuable way to keep people on your site.

You may think that simply writing great copy will keep visitors on your site…when they’re through reading, they’ll gladly scroll back up the page and use your site’s navigation to keep looking around.

Yet another trap less experienced site owners and online marketers find themselves in

When you read a news story on a major site, you always see related stories linked from the bottom of the article. Many of these really big sites have automated systems that create this.

In addition to links at the end of your piece(s), you can link to other relevant content within your posts like we do in many of our blog articles on SEO-e.

But to really keep someone engaged and on your site, you need to show them what to do next.

That’s why having a list a 3-5 related articles at the end of your posts is a great idea to try. The longer you keep someone engaged on your site, the more likely they will move from being a ‘prospect’ to being a ‘customer.’

Going forward, we’re going to try this with SEO-e and see if it helps our readers learn more while they’re here. And if you’re on Facebook, ‘Like’ us and know precisely when we get new content online.

Related SEO-e posts:

7 Things Google’s Farmer Update Penalized Sites For – and What You Can Do About It

Latent Semantic Indexing and Keywords – A New Way to Look at Copy

Which Social Media Channel is Right for My Business?

 

Filed Under: Copywriting/SEO Content Development, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
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