Should Your Company Do SEO or Social Media? ~ Fruitstand Technology

Should Your Company Do SEO or Social Media?

by | January 24, 2018, 8:48

SEO or Social Media

Both are integral to a successful website. Like peanut butter and jelly, both work together to make a great combination.

How does SEO work?

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is the way internet browsers like Google, Firefox, and Bing, find what you are looking for. You can think of SEO as your behind the scenes crew making certain your website is a success. SEO determines what pops up first in your internet searches. And what appears at the top of the list are the things the search engines believe is most relevant to users. So when you have a website, where it ranks in a search is important. When it comes to browsing online most people rarely scroll down the entire search page and rarer still, do people click to the second page. So it’s important to get your website to appear high up on the search list.

How do I do that?

You want to make sure your website has the key ingredients that search engines like Google are looking for. But you also want to make sure you’re using the words that your audience is looking for. These keywords are hugely important. For example, if you’re an artist online you’ll want to say what kind of art you do. Are you a painter? Photographer? Mixed media? Is your art for sale? Do you do commissions? Where are you located and can you ship? Find those powerful keywords and that will help maximize your chances of being found. After keywords, page titles are another important ingredient. You might not always see these titles but like keywords, they help search engines find you. Page titles summarize what is on the page. Then there are links between websites. You can think of these as recommendations -- if you are linking to another website or someone links to yours it’s a signal that the new website is worth checking out. A website with a lot of links looks good to search engines. However, you don’t want bogus links pointing to your website. Search engine algorithms can usually spot the difference between a legitimate website link and a fake one, and they will give more credence to a website with more reputable links. Just like in keywords and title pages, the words that are linked also help highlight what your page is about and are a signal to search engines. Finally, active websites matter. The fresher your website with new content the better, but it has to be consistent too. All of these ingredients go into making your website stand out for SEO.

What about Social Media?

Social media exposure is also important. While SEO is interacting with search engines, social media content is getting right in front of your audience’s eyes via sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. Social media is a great way to bring exposure to your website. My having official social media pages your site will be well rounded and your audience can keep up to date on what’s going on on your website. They can engage with your content -- be it by liking, sharing, or commenting. With social media, your content is getting engaged right there with your audience. Social media also helps bring people directly to your website. With regular content, you can fill your social media feeds with the latest and greatest from your site. This will attract your audience and make want to follow you. You can think of social media working like a storefront. Your pages and posts act like store windows, inviting people to come in and check out your content.

SEO and Social Media working together

While you can make a sandwich that’s just peanut butter or just jelly, they work best together. The same goes for SEO and social media. Through SEO you can attract an audience who is looking for specific information online. Are you looking for the best sandwich in town? SEO will provide the map. If you’re just browsing for sandwich shops in general social media will help you bring in that casual browser. Should you company use SEO or paid advertising?