seo and social media

Social media is gaining popularity as an important digital marketing strategy. Well, does that mean SEO is no longer popular with the marketers? Not really. However, there are reasons that give room for this kind of an apprehension. But from business perspective, it is relevant to know with respect to SEO and social media, what should be your strategy?

First things come first. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It aims at increasing organic traffic to your website by improving its search engine rankings. In fact, some of the SEO lessons are best learnt from competitors. On the other hand, social media is where you can connect with your customers and engage in quality interactions.

What SEO Can Do?

  • SEO helps to increase traffic to your website

  • It also works towards improving search engine rankings of your website

  • SEO focuses on getting links back to your website

  • Helps you establish the online presence of your business

  • The results of a good SEO strategy are visible only in the long run

What Social Media Can Do?

  • Helps you build your brand online through interactive communities viz., Facebook, Twitter etc.

  • Increase your brand’s awareness and popularity among your social audience

  • Helps you connect with your target audience and engage in interactions on a personal level

  • Aids in understanding your target audience better and deploy personalized marketing tactics

  • The results of a good social media strategy are visible in short intervals

Are SEO and Social Media Linked Together?

Optimizing your social network which means social media optimization (SMO) facilitates SEO and helps in improving search engine rankings. This is because, the latest search algorithm from Google – Hummingbird, considers quality of the content as one of the key factors to better your Google rankings. So, if the content shared on social platforms is original, relevant and authoritative, then it is perceived as quality content by the search engine. This attributes to improved rankings of your website. Thus, social media optimization is essentially an important part of SEO strategy.

Then, what is the Best Strategy?

Undoubtedly it is the combination of both – SEO and social media. While SEO brings in long term benefits with improved rankings, optimization of social media helps in achieving short term success by bringing in huge customers in short intervals.

Content is the Key

Also, the key aspect to be noted here is content. Quality content shared on social media acts as a feeder to website traffic. So, when you share interesting content on social media and contribute to conversations, it helps in driving traffic to your website. Hence, content marketing is also an important component of digital marketing strategy along with SEO.

The Road Ahead

As technology changes, so would search engine algorithms and social networks too. But what remains constant is the need to increase traffic to your website and keep its popularity growing. Going ahead, marketing would be all about personalized messaging to your customers. This would be a deciding factor in building your presence over the internet. Hence, as a business owner, you need to understand the importance and impact these strategies would make to your business and implement an optimal combination that is beneficial to you.

So, the next time you get caught up in a dilemma regarding SEO and social media over what should be your strategy, be smart enough to make the best use of both.