Let’s face it, if you are a search engine marketer, it is crucial to keep up with how the search engines are changing and adjusting their algorithms almost daily in order to provide the best SEO and social media results. From reading the latest blog posts and articles in Mashable , TechCrunch and HubSpot , to name a few, to listening in on webinars and podcasts, I know I’m constantly learning and making sure to be in the loop.
When it comes to keeping up with the latest and greatest SEO and social media best practices, two of my favorite go-to guys are my boss at Find and Convert, Bernie Borges , and SEOmoz’s Wizard of Moz, Rand Fishkin . Lately, when it comes to the recent search engine algorithm updates, these two always seem to be talking about SEO, social media and shareable content in the same sentence. And in 2011, we have definitely seen a pattern where search marketing and social media marketing are converging .
If you had to pick just two areas of SEO to focus on for the remainder of this year, here’s where I recommend you spend your time: content and social media sharing.
Content, Content and More Content
I find myself saying this a lot lately, especially to clients. But, it’s true. Content is the cornerstone for improved keyword rankings and building inbound links over time. Lots of optimized content written on various strategic keyword themes drives more visits and power, improving SEO results in the long run. Blogging is a great way to frequently add content to your website. If you’re not already blogging for improved SEO results , what are you waiting for? It’s time for you to start blogging and writing content now!
Keep in mind SEO results in the search engines do vary according to the personalization of the person doing the search. This personalization brings us more relevant, useful search results and makes relevant, SEO-friendly content more important than ever. This means no more top rankings or number one rankings for certain keywords, as SEO results vary from user to user. Writing optimized content regularly in addition to tracking your traffic and ROI is what’s important, not necessarily tracking individual keyword rankings.
Bottom line: The more SEO-friendly, relevant content you write the more chances your target audience is going to find you.
Social Media Sharing
Once you start blogging frequently and creating all this attention grabbing SEO-friendly content, the next critical step is to share it via your social media profiles. I’m not going to lie to you…just like writing content takes time and effort, social media sharing takes effort as well. But the time and effort reaps tremendous benefits in the long run. Social media sharing provides SEO benefits in addition to improved lead generation results over time.
It is important that you, your employees and staff share your blog posts. The more people sharing your content in social media, the better. Good content spreads. Make it easy for your visitors to share your content. Be sure social media buttons are on all your web pages so that your visitors can socialize and engage with you and share your content.
Bottom line: The search engines are really starting to incorporate social media into search results. Social media should work together with SEO. So start integrating social media sharing into your content strategy for improved SEO results.
Learn more about ways you can create shareable SEO content. Download a chapter excerpt on blogging from Bernie Borges’ Marketing 2.0 book now!