Search engine optimization is a digital marketing strategy that is used by marketers to rank websites in search engines such as Google.
There’s been a never-ending debate in the SEO community as to whether not “SEO is dead”.
SEO is a marketing process that is evolving. The black hat seo strategies that worked in 2010 aren’t going to cut in in 2020. You need to change your mindset and adapt to what works.
Sure, you could probably purchase some backlinks and improve the strength of your domain, but if your website is lacking content that tells Google what your page is about, you aren’t going to see the full impact of your link building efforts.
You could try hiring a cheap SEO service, but often times, you get what you pay for. Internet marketing isn’t something you want to cut costs on. The days of letting your intern run your social media accounts are long gone. Social media is a powerful marketing tool that’s here to stay.
Search engine optimization is about providing the knowledge and experience that users are expecting when visiting your website.
Social Media and SEO
While social media isn’t an exact ranking factor for Google, social signals are often considered user engagement. What this means is, if you have a website that’s receiving traffic from a network such as Facebook or Pinterest, you have some data to provide Google. Google can determine how users from social media are engaging with your site, and if they are picking up positive signals, you can use this to your ranking advantage.
Instagram is moving towards a new search-based algorithm, putting a larger emphasis on using your keyword in your name and bio. While Instagram isn’t necessarily a search engine like Google, people still use these social media networks in a similar fashion.
John Sottile, a Staten Island SEO Consultant, believes that these social networks create new opportunities to improve the discoverability of your business or brand. He believes that businesses should make sure that they appear on every social media network, even if they don’t have a content strategy revolving around social media.
Take TikTok for example. The stigma around this social media network is that you need to be singing or dancing to generate results, and that’s simply not true. Thousands of people are finding a new audience because TikTok is still in a stage where users have organic reach that isn’t being throttled for ads. You can use TikTok as a tool to create drive brand awareness to your account and push those people towards your website and alternate social media profiles.
You can also use social media to build out your e-mail list. This is another fantastic way to capitalize on your social media growth, and improve your SEO efforts. When you capture your clients or fans e-mail addresses, you gain the opportunity to push future content directly towards their inbox. This helps strengthen your relationship between the brand and the customer, as well as help you drive traffic to your offer, resulting in more conversions for your business.
Video Marketing and SEO
Another factor that brands need to consider is that video marketing is extremely powerful. Instagram has recently launched their own TikTok clone called Reels, because they believe that video content is the future. TikTok is already demonstrating how easy it is for people to get in front of the camera and create an audience for themselves. The difference is that TikTok provides their users with organic growth, while Instagram has throttled reach to encourage people to pay for advertising. It does appear, however, that Instagram Reels are currently seeing favorable engagement on the app. This is likely due to the fact that IG is pushing Reels to the top of the explore page hashtags.
Google is the owner of YouTube, the most popular video search engine. YouTube videos also happen to rank exceptionally well in Google search. With that being said, wouldn’t you think that create video content around relevant topics, would be beneficial to your own SEO? Of course!
You can use YouTube videos and embed them into your services pages and articles. It’s a lot easier to get people to watch a video then it is to have them read 1,000 words of written content. Another benefit is that you can use these videos to warm up your leads. This way, after investing their time into your videos, your prospect clients are already confident enough in your services to reach out to you. You simply have to close the sale. Having people watch full videos that are embed into your website can also send positive signals to big G.
With social media companies shifting their focus towards video marketing, perhaps it would be wise for you to consider starting your own YouTube channel before the rest of your competitors beat you to the punch.
SEO Going Forward
As our digital world continues to evolve, SEO will always have some role. SEO is about improving your discoverability on the internet, which ultimately includes your website AND social media. You want to make sure that your brand is where the people are.
Google will continue to reward white hat SEO efforts, such as publishing content consistently, and having a healthy website with no technical issues.
If you’d like to stay on top of your search engine rankings, you need to make sure you’re driving as much traffic to your website as possible. Keep ahead of trends and you won’t get lost in the dust.
