5 Ways Search and Social Work Together

For the longest time SEO was a technical approach to gaming Google’s system and it was thought to be operated in a dark basement by some tech nerd. Which was probably true, but as the internet has evolved so has the meaning of search engine optimization.

1. Socializing Your Site

The key thing here is to know the difference between social “follow” buttons and social “share” buttons. Seems elementary I know, but just because there are follow buttons on your blog doesn’t mean your site is social media ready. There are a variety of social share buttons out there, but one I found recently has me all excited. Add This is a social integration app that has a variety of free customizable share buttons. For no charge you can choose from a variety of button shapes and sizes with counters or no counters. To get custom color buttons you would need to upgrade to their pro version.

What I really love about Add This is that they have built in analytics so you can see what posts were shared and where. The only bummer is the analytics don’t seem 100% accurate, but there is some data worth taking a look at. They do offer social share buttons with counters for free and I highly recommend using them so you see what posts are getting more shares.

2. Google Plus

I can hear the moans and groans now. So many people can’t stand Google Plus because it’s not user friendly and is sort of annoying. Most people just don’t get it, and I’m one of them. But G+ is really important for search engine optimization (SEO). Branding is still really important and one way to support your brand is to capture as much of the search engine results page (SERPS) as possible. One easy way to do this is to create a G+ profile. Make sure you fill it out as completely as you can and post regularly to it. If you blog regularly you can connect your RSS feed to your Google Plus profile and it will automatically post to your page for you.

why-google-plus-is-important-for-seo

See my Google Plus results in the SERPS on the right? Google pulls in my information , picture, and my recent posts.


3. Content Distribution

This is so important. This is a fancy way of saying, post your blog content to social media channels. People consume content on social media channels and whether you like it or not, people look to social media for information and news. You might be thinking, social media channels are so saturated with content these days I don’t want to add to the mess. If that’s your tune you might want to pick a different profession. If you want your content to get some play, you’ve got to get in the game. Promote your social media posts on as many social networks as possible. To save time post and schedule articles to all social media channels at once using tools like Hoostsuite and Sprout Social. Don’t forget to use useful #hashtags so people can find your content easier. Squeeze out a couple extra bucks and promote your top content for some more reach and shares.

Pinterest build links to your site. The end. Seriously though, Pinterest is a great way for you to get links back to your site. Pinterest was also named the fastest growing social media channel of 2014.

Fastest growing social media channel of 2014
4. Commenting

Allowing people to add to the conversation helps socialize a website. Creating a community with your posts is a great way to get people involved and connected to your site, message, and brand. The only problem is spam and moderation, but there are ways around this. Make the user register first or implement a captcha.

Be sure to keep interacting with your audience and encourage their reaction and comments on your product or services.     –Business to Community

5. Social Login

Oh yes! What a great way to get more interaction on your site. This feature doesn’t apply to everyone, but it’s a great way for Ecommerce sites to collect more information about their audience and increase online conversions. Turn organic traffic into converting customers with a social login feature. According to Mashable, Facebook is the dominate social login choice for most users, but Google Plus is in second. A lot of people use chrome these days and are already logged in to their Gmail accounts making that option an easy one. If you’re going to do a social login feature definitely use Facebook and Google Plus.

Please share in the comments if you know more ways that search and social work together.

Posted in SEO, Social Media.

Nicole Grodesky