Social media marketing has many benefits. It doesn’t require a lot of money or effort to get involved in social networks. Another benefit is that you can add posts from devices, such as your phone or tablet. This means that you can keep up with your network and customers all the time.
Along with all of these benefits and advantages, the biggest major benefit is increasing traffic. With social media marketing, you can build traffic faster than with SEO alone. In fact, there are quite a few ways that social media contributes to Web traffic.
Backlinks — When most people think of SEO and traffic, the first thing that pops into their heads is keywords.
Keywords definitely play a major role in being seen by your audience and gaining traffic, so they shouldn’t be neglected. However, there is another important element related to gaining — backlinks. Gaining backlinks can be done via a blog, a forum, or a social media site.
Considering the fact that social media giants get millions of views every day, backlinks on these giants are far more effective than on a blog or forum that doesn’t get millions of daily views. Sites that get so much traffic are constantly in Google’s spotlight. Getting just one backlink on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest could be the equivalent of 10 on other sites that aren’t in Google’s spotlight.
Popularity — Social media sites are considered the intersections of the Internet, mainly because they are the busiest sites in the online world. This fact is what makes them so valuable when companies are looking to increase Web traffic. One of the major ways that Google indexes sites for page rankings is through popularity. Google is all about providing users high-quality content and they feel that the people are the best ones to judge that. Keywords and backlinks play a major role in your ability to be found by users and potential customers. It’s also another major factor to how Google indexes you, but popularity is how you can pass Google’s rank test with flying colors.
Social Media and Small Businesses — If you own a small business, it’s even more important to utilize social media marketing as an important marketing tool. Recent studies have shown that small businesses derive much more of their
traffic from social networks, online listings, and other forums, when compared to larger businesses. Another fact to consider is that most small businesses advertise through word-of-mouth marketing and referrals. It’s estimated that approximately 80 percent of people utilize social media as a means of getting referrals when they’re looking for a particular product or service. These facts clearly demonstrate the importance of maintaining your presence on social media sites.
Backlinks as a Tool — Most businesses make getting backlinks from Facebook and Twitter part of their marketing strategy to drive more traffic to their website. This strategy works due to the fact that you are getting more exposure and giving your target audience more opportunities to come across your content and view your site. Backlinks also help capture users that aren’t immediately interested in your business, but later find themselves interested in what you have to offer. By giving users the option to come across your content multiple times, you increase your odds of capturing both your target audience and new customers. Another useful feature of backlinks is the fact that Google monitors them to determine how to rank sites. It’s a major bonus for your organization to get as many backlinks as possible.
Get Seen More Often — This strategy is useful for companies who are struggling with visibility, despite using SEO strategies. SEO is still an important piece of the puzzle when it comes to gaining traffic and you definitely want your site to be SEO optimized so that search engine users can find it. However, the downside to using SEO is the amount of time it takes for search engines to pick up on your work. At best, you can see results in six months, but it’s very rare for a site to reach a first page rank within a year of implementing SEO. There are billions of sites out there that need to be indexed and time and popularity are the two main factors that make SEO work effectively.
Another thing to keep in mind is the fact that your competition is also likely implementing SEO, so in order for you to reach that top page ranking, you have to be doing something extra that they aren’t doing.
For companies who haven’t secured a top ranking in search engines, having a presence in popular social media sites is an added source of visibility. When your company engages in a conversation on a social media site, you are getting people out there to click on links back to your website.
This may be your main business homepage or a specific product page. Unless you have a very large company that’s been out for a while and is already popular, it may be difficult for you to get traffic through SEO alone. The fastest way to get your small and medium-sized businesses noticed is by going to social networks and advertising your brand in as many creative and attractive ways as possible.
Social Media for Short-Term Benefits — Large numbers of hits from social networks like Facebook and Twitter should tell you that you’re doing something right. Keep doing what you’re doing and it will eventually pay off. You will see results in paying customers, increased traffic, and customer loyalty. However, if you stop posting for a few weeks or more, you will have to start back up again from the bottom. This is why social media works best in the short-term.
With so many people posting and being active on social media sites, if you don’t do the same, then your page could get forgotten and any benefits you’ve gained could be lost.
SEO is still an important tool for marketing and gaining visibility, but it should be considered as a tool for achieving long-term results. Utilizing social media is a great way to get quick results, but it’s only useful if you consistently maintain and update your content. The best thing any business can do for itself is to get the word out about their business on social media networks. Maintaining a consistent flow of traffic is what keeps your business afloat.
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