Social Media

What is Social Media?

Conversation isn't new. Neither is word of mouth marketing. But the use of web based technologies and forums created specifically for the purpose of interactive dialog, well that's what we call Social Media.

The concept of user generated content is the basis of Social Media. Applications like facebook, LinkedIn and the infamous Twitter, have become commonly accepted as a 'fad-ish' way to communicate. But the reality is, whereas newspapers and television remain static in their ability to share information because they cannot comment in real time, social media forums do just that- allow people to have a conversation; with customers, with businesses and with each other.

This input, when properly channeled by an organization, can be a priceless marketing tool.

Why Is Social Media So Important to SEO?

Social media adds value to any web presence by its constantly updating nature. Because the essential role of search engines is to provide searchers with the most useful and up to date web pages based on what they are looking for, it makes sense that the most recently updated content would be favored. Search engines and clients alike want fresh, updated information, and they want it now.

You may wonder why plumbers have blogs. It's not because they find the need to post and tweet every last detail about drain pipes and faucet fixtures. Nope. More than likely, a good SEO company told them that if they have a blog that is properly linked to their webpage it provides two important benefits: every post counts as an additional page indexed by search engines and each day itís posted is counted as the day the entire site was re-vamped. All that from posting: Top 5 tips to unclogging drains.

Timely facebook and twitter updates have a similar effect on your sites ranking. Only instead of creating an update, it creates an opportunity for link building. The more people that see your posting, see comments about your business or 'Like' or 're-tweet' your page, the more inbound links and traffic is bound to be driven to your site.

By creating a functional Social Media Circle, you let the cyberworld know that you exist. And by loading it up with relevant posts in appropriate categories with optimized tags, you let search engines know that your website should be at the top of their list because your company is an excellent resource for useful information in your field.

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