Effective Social Media Optimization
What do you know about social media aside from the fact that it has billions of members put together?
Hmm, let us look into some of the most interesting insights regarding the Web’s leading network sites.
As of 2012, Facebook already has over 800 million active members with beyond 3.5 billion content pieces (e.g. news, links, images, blog posts, etc.) shared every week.
Twitter has around 100 million active users and half of this population logs in at least once every month.
Around 34% of marketers have obtained leads, while 20% of them have closed deals through their Twitter account.
An estimated 92% of Twitter members retweet interesting content, while 84% retweet humorous posts.
Google+ came out in June 2011 and garnered approximately 10 million users in less than a year. At the end of the year, it had 62 million members. As of January 2012, it has 90 million users.
The +1 button is used over five billion times each day, while its iPhone app turned out to be the most popular application among other Apple apps.
Now, the list seems quite short. But you can actually learn hundreds of other amazing facts about social media though not here because we want to focus on combining it with search engine optimization, which takes us to the next part.
The Merge of Social Media and SEO
Judging from the figures above, you can see the great global reach of social media. But what does it mean for you?
If you wish to connect with a large audience because you want to share your passion in life or you wish to promote your offers, you can do it through platforms like Google+, Twitter, and Facebook. Surely, you can convey your message to millions of people given that these sites are among the biggest and most effective social tools today.
With that said, let us proceed to...
Social SEO Strategies
When it comes to the combination of social media activities and search engine optimization techniques, the following are definitely worth your time and effort.
1. Remember to place your blog articles and other sharable content with Google+ buttons. This way, you can allow convenient and easy social sharing among your target readers.
2. Make a Google+ page for personal or business use. Then, share all your Web pages on it.
Recommended Post: Google+ for Business
3. Come up with unique, original, and engaging topics on your Google+ page. And, do not forget to incorporate relevant keywords.
4. Take time to boost your Google+ network and create several circles. By doing this, you can encourage plenty of people to share your content.
5. Request the members in your network to click on your +1 buttons.
6. You must also create a Twitter and Facebook profile or fan page. This way, you can enhance your social media presence by posting your blog or official website content on these pages. As a note, it is not the shares but the links (from the other users) that help optimize your platform and content. Therefore, try to generate links as much as possible.
7. Write complete details about yourself or your company on the “About” field. While doing so, make sure that you start the bio with your name or trade name. Additionally, include keywords such as your interest on technology, social media, or blogging. Then, link to your blog site and other profile pages. If you are networking for business purposes, your bio must have information about your offers and a link to your official website.
8. Promote your blog posts or site content through any social media activity such as Tweets, Wall post updates, and Google+ posts.
9. Finally, remember that your ranking in search engine results is not the only measure of your success. This means that you do not have to keep on stuffing your updates with keywords or links. You must also focus on offering your target audience with informative and relevant content to gain their trust on you or your brand.
Strategic Considerations for Social Media Activities
As you are carrying out the techniques above, you have to consider the following aspects too.
Social shares – These usually include Likes, Google +1’s, and Retweets, which help in pulling your page rank up.
Content + shares – The more users share your content to their friends, the wider your online reach is. Apart from boosting your Web presence, you get to enhance your credibility and authority.
User preferences and online be haviour – Whether your social profiles are for personal or marketing use, it is best to consider your audience’s inclinations. With that said, focus on what interests them rather than your own concerns. As a tip, it helps to create content about trending topics.
Do you find the pointers difficult? If you are new to social media, these strategies may be a bit tough. But as you spend more time on your profile pages, you will actually find it fun to interact with other users from all over the world.
