Social Media
Social media is making a major impact on the way people share information on the internet. Understandably, businesses want to know how to make the best use of social media to help with SEO and their own rankings. The great news is, there is an expansive area for a business to expand into by using such social media platforms as Facebook and Twitter.
The Google Panda Update
First, let's talk about the Google Panda Update and how it affects PageRank with social media. Google's push to provide more interesting hits to its users boils down to personalizing the search experience. It is important to understand that this integration is only going to affect the display of search results and not the actual PageRank. If a searched for subject was Liked by the searcher's friend, it will have a note of that and possibly display higher in the results than PageRank would normally indicate.
For this to even matter, the searcher needs to be signed into a Google account that is linked to their social media accounts. The Panda update does not have a major impact on a website's actual presence and is really more of an afterthought than a major consideration. The major consideration is using social media platforms to build one-way links, PageRank, traffic, and more business.
Social Media for Exposure
A business or organization can make use of social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter to build their PageRank and exposure. The building is not direct but rather one is able to facilitate greater exposure through the use of these websites.
One of the big problems with internet commerce and websites is the lack of human factor. A browser that jumps onto a corporate webpage is generally going to be met with that corporation's informative text every time. There is no personal interaction or even the illusion of it. Social media websites can let a business provide a personal touch to customer interaction.
A Twitter or Facebook feed used more as a friendly repository of information and suggestions will help customers identify on a more personalized basis. One can acknowledge and build rapport with their audience to show them that a human is paying attention. A customer would rather do business with Holly of ABC Company rather than just ABC Company.
Now that rapport continues to work for a business by solidifying the relationship with the customer. That customer, in turn, feels better about recommending the business to their friends, acquaintances, and associates.
Social Media for Link Building
It is no big secret that a blog is a great way to generate traffic and attention for a business's website. That is because the blog can be updated fairly often with new information or exciting announcements from the company. Building an authoritative website with a lot of information is a corner-stone of establishing a web presence, be it through content or the blog.
Social media websites can allow a business owner to call attention to specific areas of their website where they would like to see more attention directed. That attention and focus can provide the step up needed to really open the doors to more linking to that sub-page.
An Example
ABC Company is a finance consulting firm. New legislation is passed which oversees accounting practices for the coming fiscal year. ABC Company strives to be a provider of information as part of their SEO strategy, so they write up an information page and post it on their website.
For many companies, this is where the example would end. The webpage would sit, possibly generate some traffic off of whatever methods the company had in place. That's not how it works with ABC Company with their Social Media accounts.
ABC Company has invested some of their marketing into building interested Followers on Twitter and Facebook. Holly jumps on and posts an Update and a Tweet: "Is your business complying with coming regulations? http://www.examplelinkhere.com/".
If ABC Company has a relevant following of 1000 on Twitter and 1000 on Facebook; Holly has just instantly reached those accounts with the new content page. Users that visit the page for more information that find it useful may link to it, repost it, or reTweet it to their list. More people will see it, more people will link to it, and it will start generating exposure quickly as opposed to when search engines index it.
In Closing
Social media is a great tool to help with SEO and exposure. Many people do not find success with social media platforms because they approach it in the wrong way, not because there is something wrong with social media. The right steps towards building a relevant following can provide yet another tool to reach people, get content read and linked to, and continue to build that PageRank. Call us on Chesterfield (01246) 557711 |
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