There’s a whole load of debate at the moment about whether social mentions are going to become the new link building; and if SEO is eventually just going to turn into social media marketing.
My stance on this is that they are definitely two disciplines that should be intertwined to give a website the best chances of success.
No matter what side of the fence you sit on, the job in hand is to drive more relevant traffic to a website which should ultimately result in a sale or conversion of some kind.
With a background in SEO, social media is something that I’m very interested in and it’s certainly changing the game somewhat.
Good SEO has always been about getting people to engage in the content you produce, so therefore social media should by nature by the perfect companion to any good SEO campaign.
I’ve listed below some of the key areas in which I think SEO and social should be integrated in order to benefit each other, and help to bring more traffic to your websites or client’s websites.
Link Building
Over the past few weeks link building has changed in a big way. Some of the low quality techniques such as blog commenting and link networks have been clamped down on with Google now issuing warnings in webmaster tools.
Many site owners who once relied on this kind of link building are now seeing significant drops in rankings and traffic. This may come as no surprise for many, but link building just got a lot more about marketing.
Trying to push your content out to as wide an audience as possible is much easier when done in conjunction with a successful social media strategy.
Having an army of people who will share your content will result in a quicker spread, more activity surrounding your website and of course, more links.
I doubt that links will ever be completely replaced as a ranking factor; but the way in which you need to get them is changing big time.
Immediate Feedback
Creating content that is likely to be shared is no easy feat. It’s always been tough to ascertain what a particular audience is going to connect with, and also somewhat of a risk when creating that content.
If it works then that’s fantastic, but sometimes you’ll inevitably end up with a flop that for whatever reason just did not work out as well as you’d hoped.
Not only are social sites a great place to spread your content, they are also fantastic tools for getting immediate feedback on your ideas, and trying to research what may or may not work.
It’s quite powerful that you can now go to a similar brands Facebook page and quickly find out what’s connecting well and generating the most amount of discussion.
Before you start working on any content project go and fetch some real life opinions to help you build your strategy.
The Traffic Cycle
I recently had a conversation with somebody about where exactly social media fits into an online strategy. His opinion was that the brand’s website should come first, with social media coming in second place.
I personally don’t think that they should be separated out like that. In an ideal world they should work together to generate traffic, discussion and return visits.
It’s no surprise that some of the most successful online brands also have a very loyal community of fans to boot.
If your site sells products, then use social media to keep them engaged. Keep pushing content through your blog and encourage people to discuss via your social media channels.
Both your website and social media presence should generate traffic, with both places working hard to keep people engaged.
In essence this should form a continuous cycle of traffic, with new visitors coming in and then keeping them onboard with regular content and discussion.
About the Author
Jenny Quinn has worked in digital marketing for a number of years and currently heads up campaigns for The Jewellery Boutique, specialists in British contemporary jewellery. Browse a range of handmade pieces including pendants, bracelets and silver studs.
About Author
Hi Jenny,
I agree with you, that social media and SEO must complement each other. But what’s working, and what’s not working – we will see in the near future
BR, Chris
Chris recently posted..How Commenting May Help You Build Your Credibility And Traffic For Your Blog
SEO and SMO together gives solid foundation for notching top position on search engine. So you must use both of them in effective manner.
Hey, Jenny! You wrote a very interesting article. Thanks for sharing your experience with us. It really helps.
Jennifer recently posted..Tips For Making Laughter An Everyday Part Of The Relationship
Jenny, just wanted to stop by and let you know that I’ve read your article on SEO and social media. You’ve made some good points and helpful tips. Thank you!
Damond
Damond Nollan recently posted..Room 3026 Live: Episode 534
Hi! Thanks for this article!
Another point to add is that if your site doesn’t have loads of traffic, Google likely doesn’t index it very often. It indexes big social networking sites regularly and will index links posted on those so share new articles on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ etc. and it much be indexed by Google much quicker than normal.
BTW – Erik, the new design is great! I like. Clean, modern and easy to use. Hopefully will help your SEO too.
Hi Niall,
I am glad you like the new design.
It is important your feedback from your expertise.
Please let me know if you find anything I can improve, in your opinion.
Thanks a lot!
Hi Erik
I checked some of the code. You’re previous site was much more optmized for speed. I checked on GTMetrix as well; you need to do a few changes to get it running faster as it’s not as fast as it was. GTMetrix has WordPress optmization tips based on what results you get; email me if you need help.
Also, I don’t know if you saw the screenshot in Opera that I sent you? The images just below the main heading are pushed way too far to the left so they’re cut off.
That’s about it for now. Blogs really need to be clean so the focus is on the content (isn’t that the point of most non-design blogs anyway) so I really like it. The colours you chose are great too! Personally, I like to have a menu to choose categories from as it’s easier to find things that I want but I know some people don’t mind.
Niall,
thanks for taking the time to analyze the site.
Actually one of the reason I changed from Woothemes to Genesis is the speed. I honestly think that now the site is faster.
I did a test with GTMetrix, and I really need to check out what I can improve.
I added the category navigation menu, so the user can find easier what they want to read.
I did not received your screenshot of the Opera view.
Can you please resend it?
Please let me know any other suggestions that come to your mind.Thanks!
I agree with you,
blogging is really about CONTENT.
I have followed the suggestions and tips about WordPress from GTMetrix.
I have set a lot of stuff in WPcache that I did not know and I have installed also Smush.it plugin for images.
My site is 2 seconds faster now.
From rank D to rank B : much green!
Thanks Niall!
You are welcome Erik!
As far as I remember you had a rank B for YSlow and Rank B for Page Speed (it’s C now) on the homepage with WooThemes. Don’t believe the hype. It may be quicker in general than WooThemes but generally WooThemes are optimized for speed whereas Genesis is quicker by default; start adding customisations and the speed is lost unless you know how to code and can fix it. WooThemes are coders and there’s are generally fixed and optimized for speed.
I think the problem is mostly with the CSS. When I get a chance I’ll send you an email to let you know how to fix it so your site will be really quick.
Your homepage is still showing that the images are not compressed according to GTMetrix. Smush.it will save 38.8kb on your homepage, which is a lot. According to the Smush.it plugin page on WordPress.org you can optimize old images (images that have already been uploaded before the Smush.it plugin was installed) as follows:
“You can also run your existing images through Smush.it via the WordPress Media Library. Click on the Smush.it now! link for any image you’d like to smush.
As of version 1.4.0 there is a new, experimental Bulk Smush.it feature. You can find the link under the Media Library tab.”
I posted you the image about Opera on Twitter yesterday: http://t.co/4FIOTc6h
If you’d like to see what it looks like in all browsers easily and for free then go here: http://t.co/HS8sHzSc
I’d also recommend CloudFlare at https://www.cloudflare.com/ and http://wp.tutsplus.com/tutorials/hosting/activating-ludicrous-speed-combine-cloudflare-with-a-cdn-on-your-blog/, which is a free Content Delivery Network and offers additional security for your site. It’s really quick. I’ve tested it. You do need to be able to add CNames and change your nameservers over to theirs but the benefits are substantial if you can. Your site will be more secure and even quicker. Some people say that it’s not so great but you could pay a few dollars a month and go with Amazon S3 or another CDN.
I guess that’s it! Hope this helps.
Thanks a lot for your reply, Niall!
I owe you one.
If you have chance to let me know how I can fix more the code of Genesis and make the site faster, I would really appreciate it.
Still working on how to compress images:
WPSmush gives me error, so I checked on forum and I found out that is a common issue. The developers are working on that.
So I have downloaded the plugin CW Image Optimizer, but requires “littleutils” and it seems to be a pain to properly install it. I am checking it.
I have fixed the issue of the double images on posts. I got help from Genesis forum, for those who want to know how I did it, I removed the following code from my functions.php file in WP Editor settings :
http://www.studiopress.com/support/showthread.php?t=104324
I will also check Cloudfare, Niall.
Thanks for all your help!
No problem. It won’t take too long to update the site with CSS sprites as GTMetrix suggests but I need a bit of time as I’m about to move countries!
Never heard of CW Image Optmizer. Will check it out. I think littleutils probably needs to be installed via SSH so you need to be on a VPS or dedicated server. You may have to ask your web host to install it for you.
Thanks for your help, Niall, really!
Wow, you are moving…where to?
No problem, you are welcome. I get quite a lot of help out of this blog so…
I am moving to Lusaka, Zambia; it’s about 500km or 310miles by road from where I am now in Harare, Zimbabwe. I’m setting up some websites over there that haven’t really been done before or done properly such as a local classifieds so it helps to get tips on how to advertise and SEO from this blog!
I am glad to hear that your activity is going well. It is great that you are helping out people to get the best from their businesses.
I’ll do my best to keep publishing interesting and useful articles in this blog.
Thanks for the post. I 100% agree with you- links cannot be completely replaced, however they can have their value increasingly diminished, with social media becoming more and more important in terms of SEO. I would doubt that anyone who solely focuses on SEO without consideration of SM would see some sort of setback (if they haven’t already).
Anthony recently posted..The Grenada Chocolate Company: Local, Sustainable Bars Made Where the Cocoa Grows
Drats! So, commenting on this blog won’t get me as much SEO juice as before!
I have always thought that it is crazy to focus on SEO and ignore SMO, or vice versa. They need to be done together. The blogger needs to present himself as an authority in multiple venues.
David Sneen recently posted..Earn Money Easily/Follow This Ancient Advice
Hey Jenny, very pleased to read your article presenting especially social media. No doubt you have shared some of the best tips that will be very helpful to us to improve our SEO as well as SEM skills.
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Nice post. I agree that SEO on it’s own doesn’t cut it anymore. Social Media in conjunction with SEO is an absolute must for all business owners wanting an increase in targeted traffic to their website.
Hazel recently posted..How to Create SEO Friendly Blogs
SMO while very demanding, can contribute very much in your website’s/blog performance. Doing SMO you are practically doing SEO and in addition you get your friends/followers engaged.