SEO Quick Tips Tuesday

I’m back to annoy you about my deep, undying love for SEO. Today you’ll be reading about everyone’s favorite pastime, social media! You can tell me about how lame you think Facebook is or how you’re too hip for the hippest of Instagram pages, but we all know we’re lying to ourselves. Without social media, we’d have nothing to awkwardly stare at when we’re being antisocial in public. So here it is, why I think social media is an important lover to SEO:

Google+ & SEO:

What’s funny about Google+ is that it’s so sadly neglected when in reality, we should be praising Google+. According to SEO 2016, Google+ is one of the highest ranking platforms! This is a missed opportunity for those who aren’t spending the slightest bit of time posting to Google+.

By adding a Google+ icon on your website and linking to your Google+ profile on your email footer, you’ll already be scooting yourself closer to the top of the ranks. It’s that simple. Integrate. Your. Content.

Facebook & SEO:

If nothing at all, Facebook is the highest ranking social platform you could be integrating in your web presence. Google has seen Facebook come and conquer and praised those who use it in their algorithm. Maybe you’d like to boost your social presence, but you just don’t know where to start. My best suggestion is to start sharing your site content via your company Facebook profile. This will broaden the map for who clicks through your content. Company blogs are always great to share across the social web.

Twitter & SEO:

Twelve tweets a day will crank the ranks. Twitter isn’t the strongest social platform, but it is certainly popular and recognized by Google’s algorithm. Twitter tweets can be scheduled throughout the day to avoid seeming spammy to readers while still gaining recognition and credibility. A useful (free) tool suggested by Adam Clarke, author of SEO 2016 and Google Certified Professional, is Tweetdeck. Here you can manage several accounts and schedule tweets to go out at specific times so you’re not worried about missing a social hotspot like mornings, lunch periods and rush hour.

Social Media Analytics

After spending all this time, tweeting, scheduling, sharing, liking and all that good stuff, you’ll want to know if any of this content you’re spreading is even working and reaching your desired audiences. Sites like Sprout Social and Hootsuite will monitor your social results and present analytic reports for your major profiles. If you’re serious about your traffic, this is a seriously useful tactic to invest in.

If you have zero budget for social, I have a secret for you, Google Analytics is…wait for it….FREE! Hollaaaaa. Go to http://www.google.com/analytics/. Create an account, click on the Acquisition tab in the main menu, then click social- Bazing, datarama goldmine, ya’ll.

SEO can be a big ball of scaryhairy data, but fear not, keep checking up with me every Tuesday so we can get better at this “stuff” together. Good luck!

Maren Hogan

Maren Hogan is CEO of Red Branch and general Bad@$$

Maren Hogan is a seasoned marketer and community builder in the HR and Recruiting industry. Maren started Red Branch Media and, before she hired all the smiling faces you see below, she ran it on her own. In marketing for over 15 years, she has deep experience in strategic campaigns and a long-term, results-based operational approach.