Social Media Marketing and SEO

Two of the most important factors for any growing online business are Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and social media marketing. But is one more important than the other and should you put more time and energy into one and not the other? Which can make a bigger difference on your bottom line? Let’s explore some of these questions.

SEO Is More Important for Raw Traffic

SEO will get you more traffic up front than social media will. Though social media is gaining more and more traction every day, it still doesn’t come close to what a number one ranking can do for your website in terms of raw traffic. On the other hand, top search rankings are hard to achieve; they can often take months, even years. They take a lot of time investment and often a lot of monetary investment as well. SEO is a longer-term strategy than social media. You might get more traffic overall than social media, but it takes more effort and has a randomness factor as well. You don’t know if it will work.

Social Media is More Important for Reputation

On the other hand, social media is free. It is easy to manage and doesn’t take months before you see results; however, you won’t see the same kind of traffic that you would get from a number one ranking search listing. Social media has a lot of side benefits that go beyond the raw traffic statistics. Prominent social media figures build a strong reputation in a space, which often increases their conversion rates because of their reputation. Likewise, they are more likely to get invited to speaking engagements, where many profitable business deals can be made. The key to good social media marketing is to consistently provide something your users want. If that’s a weekly how-to video, then make sure you provide that video every week, without fail.

The Real Answer: The Two Are Merging

Most SEO experts agree that search engines are taking many social media factors into account when ranking pages. In other words, instead of just looking at backlinks and PageRank, the search engines now look at your Facebook likes and reposts as well in order to help determine rankings. When it comes down to it, the secret to successful SEO and social media are really the same. Consistently provide good content, which is what people tend to pass on and what the search engines are looking for. One may be more or less effective for specific businesses, but if you focus ninety percent of your efforts on creating a great user experience and ten percent on marketing techniques, you will have a great chance of succeeding with both.

One is more important than the other in the sense that one may work better than the other for your business in the short term, but may not be in the sense that in the long run, they are more or less the same.

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Author: jm

Joan Mullally has been doing business online for more than 20 years and is a pioneer in the fields of online publishing, marketing, and ecommerce. She is the author of more than 200 guides and courses designed to help beginner and intermediate marketers make the most of the opportunities the Internet offers for running a successful business. A student and later teacher trainee of Frank McCourt’s, she has always appreciated the power of the word, and has used her knowledge for successful SEO and PPC campaigns, and powerful marketing copy. One computer science class at NYU was enough to spark her fascination with all things digital. In her spare time, she works with adult literacy, animal fostering and rescue, and teaching computer skills to women.