SEO FAQ For Small Business 8 of 10 - Social Media and Social Networking SEO
You may be wondering if Social Networking (connecting with like-minded people) or Social Media (sharing your message with the masses) is a good way to get your business message out there.
It is, but it should be used as a part of the whole.
This is an area of "off-site" optimization where you can generate traffic to your main site by engaging in direct contact with your current and future customers.
A small business can get immediate feedback on anything a customer may need and address the issue before it becomes a negative.
A question or concern handled in a professional, timely manner will go a long way toward a future repeat sale and generate positive word of mouth for your business.
Improper implementation of the social media aspect of your campaign will have the opposite effect.
Is this something you should be doing? Just because the other guy is doing sites A, B and C does not mean you should limit yourself to just those few avenues of contact.
See Part 5 of this series regarding the competition.
While the big sites like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and LinkedIn are certainly prime considerations, don't think for a moment that this will allow you to dominate the search engines.
Sure you'll get some followers on Twitter, but if there is no reciprocity in your dealing, then you'll just end up with a few hundred followers who are spamming the affiliate program du Jour.
You'll need to have your site mentioned in many more places than just those sites to get full exposure.
While a vast majority of people use a particular site, I know of some who have always used Ask as their search engine and would never consider using Google.
In the same respect, many potential customers who are on multiple social sites will not be on Twitter.
This is only one reason why having a presence on multiple social networking sites is a must for a business to truly thrive in the next decade.
When you say to yourself "the people on this social site are not interested in my product" you harm not only yourself by denying your small business a sales opportunity, but also your potential customers by denying them the opportunity to posses that which you offer and thereby improve their lives.
You can't be everywhere, but don't limit yourself to just two or three.
Your social marketing platform must be social.
You'll need to interact with those friends and followers quite often to make them aware of your interest in their well being, interests and business.
Not constantly, but a few times a day throughout the day is enough.
There's nothing worse than setting up a social media profile which just languishes without interaction.
Remembering the "social" in social media is not a yellow brick road to media domination but a way to make your business a little more fun, accessible and profitable.
You should also have links to your social media pages on your "About" page.
Your Answer:
It is, but it should be used as a part of the whole.
This is an area of "off-site" optimization where you can generate traffic to your main site by engaging in direct contact with your current and future customers.
A small business can get immediate feedback on anything a customer may need and address the issue before it becomes a negative.
A question or concern handled in a professional, timely manner will go a long way toward a future repeat sale and generate positive word of mouth for your business.
Improper implementation of the social media aspect of your campaign will have the opposite effect.
Is this something you should be doing? Just because the other guy is doing sites A, B and C does not mean you should limit yourself to just those few avenues of contact.
See Part 5 of this series regarding the competition.
While the big sites like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and LinkedIn are certainly prime considerations, don't think for a moment that this will allow you to dominate the search engines.
Sure you'll get some followers on Twitter, but if there is no reciprocity in your dealing, then you'll just end up with a few hundred followers who are spamming the affiliate program du Jour.
You'll need to have your site mentioned in many more places than just those sites to get full exposure.
While a vast majority of people use a particular site, I know of some who have always used Ask as their search engine and would never consider using Google.
In the same respect, many potential customers who are on multiple social sites will not be on Twitter.
This is only one reason why having a presence on multiple social networking sites is a must for a business to truly thrive in the next decade.
When you say to yourself "the people on this social site are not interested in my product" you harm not only yourself by denying your small business a sales opportunity, but also your potential customers by denying them the opportunity to posses that which you offer and thereby improve their lives.
You can't be everywhere, but don't limit yourself to just two or three.
Your social marketing platform must be social.
You'll need to interact with those friends and followers quite often to make them aware of your interest in their well being, interests and business.
Not constantly, but a few times a day throughout the day is enough.
There's nothing worse than setting up a social media profile which just languishes without interaction.
Remembering the "social" in social media is not a yellow brick road to media domination but a way to make your business a little more fun, accessible and profitable.
You should also have links to your social media pages on your "About" page.
Your Answer:
The end goal of any social media campaign is to engage the customer, increase branding and get them on your main website where the information about your product and service is located.In Part Nine: Which SEO Company is Best for My Business?
From there it's up to your website to gently guide the client from prospect to purchaser.