Getting to or staying on the elusive first page in searches is for most marketers the holy grail. We have all seen those companies that promote “we will get you on the first page of Google in 30 days guaranteed” I am starting to lose count of the number of people I speak to who say Google just blacklisted their website, and it has dropped of the search ranking altogether. Usually when you dig into what they were doing in the name of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) the reasons for them falling out of favour with the likes of Google become obvious.
Black Hat SEO is a practice clearly outlined in most search engines guidelines, here is Googles and is almost guaranteed to get you black listed. If you are going to use a third party to handle your SEO, make sure you are 100% sure they are not using any of these tactics.
Social Media is one of the best options to create organic search rankings, the best part is you can do it yourself for free. Here are 5 proven methods you should implement into your social strategy today.
1 Ensure all of your profiles are optimised the best they can be.
All of your profiles should accurately describe what it is you do! Including your core keywords into these descriptions is also a must. Treat them like your business card, include as much relevant information like phone numbers and street address as you can. Make sure you use the long version of your address (no abbreviations) include the street, state, country, post or postcode whenever possible.
No different to your business being findable in a physical sense, this will help you be found on-line too.
2 Create visually appealing content
Content is always king in all forms of marketing, but it is crucial you have both forms for your on-line content. The written content must be relevant, appealing and typo free. Always include great images, these can be in many forms now. Video is potentially the fastest growing and most viral of visual content, if you are not creating some video content yet it might be time to start investing in some video tools ASAP.
Photos, info graphics, Slideshare presentations are all great tools too. As long as they are relevant to your topic.
3 It has to be easy to share
Sharing is caring! The more your tribe shares your content the more relevant search engines rank your posts. It makes sense to make sharing as easy as possible. If the content is coming from your website then having good quality and easily visible share buttons is essential.
Utilising very appealing images for your social media posts is the best way to ensure that high share rate, even Twitter has shown the number of retweets a tweet receives will be higher if you include images.
4 Link EVERYTHING back to your website
Every post should have a link back to your website, try to mix it up as much as possible too. Search engines love to see more than just your home page getting traffic. Pinterest is one of the most effective tools for both getting your content shared and driving traffic to your site. A great option is to have boards relevant to different sections of your website and mix up your posts to a number of boards on a regular basis.
Use link shortener’s like Bit.ly for sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. There is nothing worse than an extra long URL in the middle of your post. Especially if you are using UTM codes to track where your website traffic is coming from. See a recent Blog Post on this topic.
Your website should also have links to your social profiles.
5 Fall in love with Google Plus
Love it or hate it, you need to love Google Plus, if for no other reason than it is owned by Google. Seriously Google dominates search and being active on their own social media platform is a must. Google Plus offers you the ability to really go to town on item 1 in this post. You can link all of your on-line presence in the settings, and be highly descriptive about what it is you do.
Having the +1 button on your site allows your visitors to essentially give it Google Plus’s version of a big thumbs up. The more +1’s your site receives the more relevant it is perceived by Google. You can add good amounts of text with plenty of keywords but still maintain a viusally appealing post.
How have you used social media to increase your SEO results, add your tips below.