Many people ask me if social media can help with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) results. The answer is both yes and no, some social media sites index with Google but others do not. Indexing with Google will get your website noticed by Google and improve your position on the search engine results. If you’re looking to use social media to help with your search engine results, it truly depends on what your ultimate goal is around SEO. Are you looking to increase traffic to your site? Are you looking to be on page one for selected keywords? Maybe your looking for both.
How can Social Media Help?
Being involved in social media is still vitally important these days as technology is taking over. Have you ever walked into an office and seen an old printer that has the green and white paper with the holes on both sides? Personally, I have not seen any of those in over 15 years, but I can guarantee that they are still out there. As a matter of fact, this weekend my neighbor and I were talking about it and she could name two people that own and still use these printers today.
Social media is a great way to connect with people all around the world. Social media such as Twitter, can help you connect with people who are currently not visiting your website for services. You can start by inviting your family and invite their family and friends or send out blind invites. In social media, the rule of thumb with friend invites is that you don’t blast out invites at the very beginning. Start by inviting people you know and have them suggest your page to people they know. Eventually, you can add people you would like to know. If you blast out a bunch of invites to people you don’t know it can be overwhelming, as you will be seeing their feeds (status updates) all the time and have no clue who they are. Learn how to make Twitter a success in our article “How to Build a Following for Your Business Through Twitter“.
Which Social Media Sites Should You Use?
There are several social media sites you can use. Each of them offers a different flavor and feel to connecting with others. Just remember, don’t spam! Constantly give some valid information and also find a way to make your posts personal to those you are connected with. No one hates anything more than a Facebook friend jabbering on about what they can sell you and how they can sell it. Instead, talk about what is going on in the world and come up with some topics to get conversations going. It has been said it can take up to seven contacts with a person for them to decide to buy from you, so why not make a few of those contacts through other avenues? Below, our SEO Team have listed the top three social sites which we use daily at Big Red SEO. We do use other social sites as well, but these are my major players when it comes to getting the word out and staying connected in our technological world.
- Facebook– This is a great tool that allows you to update your status anytime. You can upload media (i.e. video through YouTube) or pictures. Social Media signals have changed a lot over the years, however, Facebook is still by far the most popular social site and is currently our Team’s favorite. The only challenge is that Facebook does not, and I repeat does not, get indexed by Google. Bummer, right? However, do not let this stop you from posting as much as you want. As I said earlier, you are targeting a different avenue of people and getting your name out there is never a bad thing.
- Twitter– This social site can be overwhelming at times, but it is also a great area to get connected with people. Typical posts are from one to four a day, so if you have time to maintain this site, it is well worth it. Also, within this social site you can create lists of other people. You are not “following” them (this is the friend request in Facebook) so you will not get their status updates, but you have the leisure of bookmarking their site and visiting them as you wish. This is a little secret our team at Big Red SEO uses when brainstorming for article writing. One of the great things about Twitter is that it does get indexed by Google.
- Google+– This is a relatively new site which offers you much more than both Facebook and Twitter. With Google+, you have the option to create different circles of friends. Did you ever want to post about how your boss makes you angry, just to vent to your friends for support? Well, now you can. If you add your boss to the “co-workers circle” and don’t give them permission to view your friends updates, they are not able to see you venting about them. Granted, this does not really have to do with work besides bashing an employer, but it gives you the power of knowing how you can slice and dice your network circle. Think of a promotion you wish to give only to selected people. Simply create a circle accordingly and put these people in it. Great idea, right? Another great thing about Google+ is that you will be using your Google login information, so there’s no more frustration with trying to remember the user name and password for your Gmail and Google access. Also, since this is a Google product, your information will be indexed within Google more quickly than any other social media site.
Other Social Media Resources
There are other social media sites like YouTube that index with Google, but if I listed them all this article would be overwhelming. The point I am trying to convey is that it is important to keep up with new things, social media included. Social media has been buzzing for the past seven years, but it’s still considered relatively new.
Learn the tools, understand the message your trying to convey and have fun with it. Try not to get overwhelmed! Many companies will sign up for several social media accounts and give up as it is too confusing. There are plenty of videos and tutorials out there to help you move in the right direction with social media. Remember there is not right or wrong social media tool, use what works in your company and be sure to learn “What Social Signals Mean for SEO in 2013 and Beyond“.
Do you have questions on how to set up a social media profile? Feel free to fill our contact form or call the Big Red SEO team at (402) 522-6468. We are more than happy to help you determine the correct social media tools to help increase your Omaha SEO results. We would be happy to lead you down the right path!