It’s Not the Number of Social Pages, it’s How You Use Them

If you’ve spent any time venturing into the world of digital advertising, whether you’re a business owner or simply starting out in the marketing industry, you know that there’s a delicate balance between social media, search engine marketing, website content, and other outside marketing avenues. Strike the right balance, and you’ve got an affordable, effective way to grow your business following. Get it wrong, however, and you may wind up with nothing more than a chorus of chirping crickets.

In particular, the role of social media presence in SERP rankings has been difficult to really get a handle on. This week, Google+ is the only social media page that matters. Next week, we hear that Google takes into account the audience numbers on all of your pages. After that, it seems as though the more pages you have, the better off you are. However, many may misunderstand the true role of social media presence in ranking websites.

All too often, business owners seem to fall into the latter category–believing that “the more, the merrier” is the best social media marketing motto. In fact, I recently had a discussion with a colleague who was frustrated with a fellow business owner; the extent of his social marketing plan was to open a Facebook page and then do nothing with it. When the growth wasn’t happening, he realized was simply sending his messages out to his current members and not expanding his audience, disappointed that Facebook didn’t magically grow him a following.

Discussing the impact of social media on an overall digital marketing campaign, Google’s Matt Cutts revealed that Google does not account for social metrics in their result rankings. However, social media creates its own kind of SEO through social links, search results, and content distribution. Simply establishing the page might not have much of an effect, but you can create an effective strategy for posting the social content that gets found.

Active social media profiles are integral parts of any digital marketing campaign. Send your followers links to original content you host on your blog. Utilize social media channels as search engines in themselves, and use hashtags and trending topics to your advantage. The great thing about social media marketing is that it’s highly measurable and adjustable for your success. It’s not about the number of pages you have–it’s about how you use them.

To learn more or to start your own effective social media marketing campaign, contact Elephant Ear at (321) 537-2649 today.