Tag Archives: linkbuilding

Blogs, online business, SEO

The Power of Social Media in SEO: Enhancing Your Online Presence

In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, the debate between SEO and social media continues to captivate marketers. Some argue that SEO is the cornerstone of online visibility, while others assert that social media holds the key to engaging with a broader audience. However, the truth lies in the symbiotic relationship between these two powerful forces. In this comprehensive blog post, we’ll explore the undeniable connection between social media and SEO, understanding how they complement each other to amplify your brand’s online presence. Additionally, we’ll delve into which types of social media platforms are most useful for different types of businesses, providing real-world examples to illustrate their impact.

The Connection between SEO and Social Media

When management looks at these two in terms of time and resource investment, they look like two different sets competing with each other. But Digital Marketing personnels understand that SEO and social media are not rivals; they are allies. Each enhances the other’s strengths, leading to a more comprehensive online marketing strategy. When properly integrated, social media can significantly contribute to your SEO efforts, and vice versa.

Content Amplification and Backlink Generation

One of the most apparent connections between SEO and social media is content amplification. By sharing your well-optimized website content across social media platforms, you extend its reach to a broader audience. When users engage with your content and share it with their network, you increase the likelihood of gaining high-quality backlinks. These backlinks, earned through social sharing, are valuable in improving your website’s domain authority, which is a key ranking factor in SEO. Not just backlinks but re-shared content viewed through social media has relative less bounce rates and higher engagement also.

Example: A fashion retailer publishes a blog post about the latest trends for the upcoming season. By sharing the blog post on their social media platforms, they attract fashion enthusiasts who find the content valuable and share it with their followers. A renowned fashion magazine takes notice and links to the retailer’s blog post in one of their articles, driving valuable referral traffic and enhancing the retailer’s SEO.

Social Signals and Search Engine Rankings

Search engines, including Google, consider social signals as a factor in determining website authority and relevance. Social signals refer to the engagement metrics (likes, shares, comments) your content receives on social media platforms. Higher engagement on social media indicates that your content is valuable and resonates with your audience, which search engines interpret as a positive signal.

Example: An online cooking blog shares a delicious recipe on their Facebook page. The post gets numerous likes, shares, and positive comments, signaling its popularity among the audience. Google takes note of these social signals and rewards the blog with higher rankings for relevant search queries related to cooking and recipes.

Social Media Profiles in Search Results

Social media profiles often appear in search engine results for brand-related queries. Having active and well-optimized social media profiles can positively impact your online reputation and improve brand visibility in search results. Search engines are mostly looking to list the most updated content related to search query in the search results and people are frequent in posting and sharing on their social media profiles. So, making texts and media posts on social media frequently and strategically sharing website links on those active social media profiles will help in digital marketing efforts.

Example: A tech startup maintains an active presence on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. When users search for the company’s name on Google, the startup’s social media profiles rank high in the search results, contributing to a positive first impression and reinforcing the brand’s credibility.

Choosing the Right Social Media Platforms for Your Business

While social media can benefit all types of businesses, not all platforms are equally suited for every industry. Understanding your target audience and business goals will guide you in selecting the most appropriate social media channels to maximize your impact. So, how do you choose which social media is right for your business? B2B businesses mostly benefit from LinkedIn and Facebook. B2C and eCommerce are active on  Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

With the rise of video social media, for both B2C and B2B, Tiktok marketing offers a quick gain. Again, you need to analyse where your customer group are mostly likely to be spending their time. A detailed analysis on age group, geography, lingo of your targeted customer will help you effectively select the social media. Though, a blunt yet effective way to decide where to put your maximum efforts is to check your competitors.

Facebook: Versatility for All Industries

With over 2.8 billion monthly active users, Facebook is a versatile platform suitable for businesses across various industries. It allows for diverse content formats, including text, images, videos, and live streaming. Businesses can engage with their audience through posts, events, and targeted advertisements.

Example: A non-profit organization focuses on wildlife conservation. By sharing captivating visuals and compelling stories of their conservation efforts on Facebook, they attract supporters, volunteers, and donations from animal lovers worldwide.

Instagram: Visual Appeal for Lifestyle and Fashion Brands

Instagram, with its emphasis on visuals, is an ideal platform for lifestyle and fashion brands. With 1 billion monthly active users, it allows businesses to showcase their products in an aesthetically pleasing manner, often using influencers to reach a broader audience. You could also run advertisements on Instagram using the facebook ads manager.

Example: A luxury watch brand shares high-quality images and videos of their exquisite timepieces on Instagram. By collaborating with fashion influencers and using relevant hashtags, they appeal to their target audience, attracting enthusiasts and potential customers as Instagram offers to connect stores.

LinkedIn: Professional Networking for B2B Businesses

LinkedIn is a platform designed for professional networking, making it ideal for B2B businesses. With over 774 million users, it provides opportunities to showcase expertise through thought leadership articles, industry insights, and networking with potential clients and partners.

Example: A digital marketing agency shares valuable marketing tips and case studies on their LinkedIn page. By engaging with their target audience and participating in relevant industry groups, they establish themselves as experts in their field, attracting potential clients and collaborations.

Pinterest: Inspiration for DIY and Home Improvement

Pinterest is a visual search engine and inspiration platform, making it highly beneficial for businesses related to DIY, home improvement, food, and fashion. With 478 million monthly active users, Pinterest is a treasure trove of visually appealing content.

Example: A home decor store shares captivating images of their latest products on Pinterest. By creating boards with home decoration ideas and DIY projects, they attract interior design enthusiasts who find inspiration in their content and subsequently visit the store’s website to make purchases.

Finally…

The power of social media in SEO is undeniable, as these two forces work hand in hand to enhance your brand’s online presence. By integrating SEO and social media strategies, you amplify your content, generate valuable backlinks, and improve your search engine rankings. Remember, the choice of social media platforms should align with your target audience and business objectives. Embrace the versatility of platforms like Facebook, visual appeal of Instagram, networking capabilities of LinkedIn, and inspiration provided by Pinterest, tailoring your approach for optimal results. Embrace the symbiotic relationship between social media and SEO, and watch your brand’s online visibility and success soar to new heights.

Blogs, SEO

Your role as a marketer – a link builder or a voice in community?

Your role as a marketer – a link builder or a voice in community? - Part 1

Almost always, when working with a product or service launch, one of the digital marketing functions “link building” is considered crucial for SEO. Question and answer forums like Quora and Yahoo Answers are quite popular. Gaining profile strength in these platforms can bring visitors to your desired site. Everyone knows. And the same can be said for Reddit.

But…

The person responsible for link building often creates a profile and adds the website link to that profile. This is for the sake of backlink generation. Popularly done in wordpress.org, Quora, Digg, and other similar sites.

Few widespread methods that most digital marketers implement to conduct their link-building campaigns:

  1. Question and answer sites
  2. Forum Participation
  3. Blog commenting
  4. Directory submission
  5. Microblogging
  6. Content curation
  7. Bloggers outreach
  8. Guest posting
  9. and other creative ways…

Here, these methods work so they spend clients’ resources and time, and effort. However, as I mentioned earlier, creating an account for the sake of dropping a link doesn’t work for most of these.

Directory Submission

I agree with your intent when you ask “What is there to do after directory submission?” But, don’t be fooled that submitting your business to directory sites will increase your search rankings – unless they have a ranking system and genuine users generate content as reviews on your listings.  I don’t deny the fact that popular directory listing sites will also help your business to be found.

Question & Answer Sites

When working with Q & A sites, it is not just about dropping links. Similarly, forum participation is not spewing gibberish on other topics. Neither can be you asking and answering there. That’s a cheap trick, if I may say so.

If you are looking for genuine growth, don’t start by faking it.

The story of red bull spreading empty cans in public spaces doesn’t apply. Though that was a genius trick, you here have to spare yourself from being penalized.

Blog Commenting

Blog commenting is actually communicating with other commenters and the author of the blog. If you can provide something valuable to that blog, without getting on the nerve or overpowering, it is a great method.

Forget the concept of dropping links and think of it as sharing content that’s valuable.

If you share your content as a comment, make sure that you also appreciate and follow that blog. For the sake of new opportunities or expressing your courtesy, any way you may like to think.

Microblogging

When it comes to microblogging, the old concept of the link ring is dangerous. If a newbie starts on an SEO project, unknowingly making this mistake is very obvious.

“The client is good so I’ll work extra for him. I’ll create a few more microblogs and post the same content. They’ll all bring links back to his site. It’ll be good linkbuilding” – Wrong! This action can and have been penalized.

Posting content on yourdomain.wordpress.com or blogger or tumbler is a good practice but you need to identify which audience and what type of content is beneficial for you to post on those platforms.

Your role as a marketer – a link builder or a voice in community? - Part 2

Content Curation

Is this a bad SEO practice? Because you are sharing links and content on other sites? Duplicate content posting is bad, or is it not? The dilemma is caused due to the intention. If the intention is generating backlinks only, then it is definitely wrong.

But, if you intend to be active on those sites like growth hacker and others to read and follow the contents that others have shared… communicate with the community and respond to comments on your posts, and you are spreading useful information – how can that be bad!

 

Bloggers outreach

Someone sends you a message out of the blue;

” Hey SOMEONE, I really liked your post on THIS TOPIC. I’ve also written SOMETHING SOMETHING that your visitors may find useful. Would you edit your post and add the link to my article/post/page? I’d be really honored/humbled(etc) and we could probably share some links in our future posts as well. Please let me know how you feel about this. OK?

Regards, 
SOMEONE from SOMEWHERE “


This is the typical bloggers’ outreach for link building that I’ve come across. At the first glance, you may feel, why not, sure. But, indulging in regular link sharing is not a good idea though a few links can be considered. That is what you should aim for. With regular link sharing, there is a high chance that you’ll be caught by master “G” and his agents and you definitely don’t want that.

Guest Posting

Rumour is that the search giant doesn’t like the method of link building through guest posting. Why? Because there have been some grey hacking practices and monetary transactions using this method. Ownership of articles, mass posting, and biased reviews, are some minor concerns but the main concern is the authenticity of the information. rel=”sponsored” or “UGC” or “no follow” is strongly suggested. But for genuine guest posts, webmasters and content strategists don’t have to worry a lot.

For this reason, present your unique content to the editors to get approval for guest posting, don’t get greedy for links – get one or max two (author’s bio and body of content) and think of adding one more high-value link to the body of your post that links to site with higher authority.

Finally,

Sorry, if this has already become boring but the core concept of link building has also evolved. You are communicating in the digital space. Link building is what you recommend to someone like you would, in reality, word-of-mouth. And what makes your recommendation work is your authenticity. how compassionate and honorable are you and how helpful are you with the community?

Link building is now a part of brand building, not just a copy and pastes task!

Signing out…
Peace!