August 30th, 2012
by Muhammad Yasin
The practice of using social media for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is becoming increasingly important. In order to have your message resonate on social media (Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.) and, in turn, impact your business as it pertains to search engine ranking and online visibility (and eventually in terms of profit), there are a number of steps you must take. In part one of this blog series, we’ll cover creating quality content. In the following installments, we’ll cover the cultivation of your own social community as well as how to engage social media influencers.
Creating sharable content
So you want your brand to be in the top search results on Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. Great! But, first things first: It doesn’t matter how great your brand, company, product or organization is if you don’t have the quality content that adequately represents the work you do. It’s wonderful that you want to rank highly in online searches, but if the content you publish is subpar, consumers won’t be inclined to share your links or be active within your social media communities—your SEO efforts may be over before you even begin. How do you avoid this premature upset? Follow these steps to create quality content that will result in optimum implementation of social media for SEO.
Research, research, research:
You should know your product, company, industry and competitors like the back of your hand. Selling cat toys? Then you need to be an expert on all things related to cat toys including cats themselves, their owners, their habits and needs, and the industry as a whole. Once you’re able to position yourself as a knowledgeable source of information, people will turn to you for all of their cat toy inquiries and concerns. Knowledge is power, so take the time to do the proper research, and the rewards will be tenfold.
Not a great writer? Hire someone who is!
So, you have all of the information you need; heck, you’re practically a walking encyclopedia on your industry! There’s just one problem—all of this gathering of information is for naught if you can’t effectively relay it to your audience. Writing is a crucial skill in the communications profession, but we can’t all be the Michael Phelps of writing copy and feature stories. In lieu of publishing poorly written content, don’t be afraid to rely on the professionals. Having a writer on staff or turning to freelancers for your writing needs will ensure that the knowledge you want to spread is written in an equally intelligent, creative and compelling voice. In many cases, your SEO agency may provide content creations services.
Give the people what they want.
Being knowledgeable and being prepared to publish quality content are great tools to have in your skillset, but what matters most is that you’re publishing the information that your audience wants to read. This requires that you stay on top of trends and remain involved in the activities in which your target markets are involved. Constant vigilance is your greatest ally during the content creation process. Set up all of the Google Alerts and RSS feeds you need to keep you up-to-date in order to determine what really makes the people you want to market to tick.
Content creation is the first step toward successfully implementing social media tools that will lead to a more prominent ranking on search engines. Keep an eye out for later blog posts that will go into steps two and three of leveraging social media in your marketing efforts.