This article first appeared on Business Zone
Internet marketer Nikki Pilkington takes a look at how SEO and social media function as marketing tools, and asks if it’s war or a match made in heaven.
Since the boom in the popularity of social media, there has been much talk around the effect this has had on search engine optimisation (SEO), the practice of shaping website content so as to make it more visible in search engine results for key terms, with the ultimate aim of increasing relevant visitors.
Some claim that online social networking – with its ability to drive traffic to a user’s site – is ‘killing’ traditional SEO, but in fact, in a well-rounded internet marketing campaign, social media complements the methods that came before, with both sets of techniques playing their own vital roles.
Different tools for different audiences
The key difference between SEO and social media is in the type of audience they reach. While SEO targets those internet users who are actively searching for information relevant to a company’s services, social media takes those services to the people, offering an invitation to visit and attracting an audience who, while targeted, might not have been actively looking those services at the time.
A similar analogy might be the difference between having a Yellow Pages listing, so that potential clients and customers find your name when they are looking to buy, and attending networking events, which may also drive enquiries, but primarily raises awareness, ensuring people have your name in mind when they have a need you can address.
How does search engine optimisation work?
Put very simply, search engine optimisation is a term encompassing all the things you can do to make your website appear as near to the top as possible when people search for terms relevant to your business. Some (but not all) of the techniques used to increase search engine prominence include reviewing site content to ensure the most commonly searched for terms associated with your business are included, adding new content regularly, creating ‘cross links’ between pages, and winning links from other sites.
How does social media drive traffic?
Social media is all about engagement. Users share information by posting links to web pages, but they also talk about that information using that same platforms. For SMEs looking to harness social media, it’s not about churning out dozens of links a day to your own website, it’s about sharing useful and interesting information that is relevant to your core offering and, most importantly, engaging with them by sharing opinions and ideas.
So, social media is far from only about driving traffic to your site, but among these conversations, you will of course have opportunities to share links to your own content. In most cases, however, you will need something more to link to that just your service pages, you will need a blog.
Blogging – the best of both worlds
Blogging fulfils a dual role, building search engine friendly, keyword-rich content and providing useful information to direct your social media audience to. In this way, it is often the bridge between your engagement-focussed and traffic-focussed marketing efforts. Of course, making people aware of your blogs via social media can also lead to links being created from other websites, not only building credibility but also further improving search engine visibility.
The more you delve into internet marketing, the more apparent the cross-over becomes but also the opportunities for one activity to reinforce the other, creating a value that is greater than the sum of its parts. Far from being at war, SEO and social media marketing are a match made in heaven
Nikki Pilkington is the owner/founder of NikkiPilkington.com, an internet marketing company based in the UK and France.
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