Do you think spending time on social media is wasted?

If so, it’s time to think again. The way customers interact with small business has changed dramatically over the years. They now want to interact and engage with small  businesses digitally. That means they are looking to connect on social media, probably using their mobile devices. It’s important that you deliver on this type of experience.

Social media and your SEO

More than that, having an active social presence works together with your SEO to improve your search rankings. When people search for what you do or what you sell, your social media presence helps. Hootsuite talked about the importance of content marketing and social media for your SEO.

Search Engine Land talks about social media & ranking in search results. They explain that social signals are ranking factors as search engines determine how to leverage our social interaction and behavior. Social Reputation relates to the authority of the social sites with mentions of you and links to your web pages. Social Shares relates to having social mentions and links in a variety of authoritative social sites; they provide a list of some of the most powerful ones.

Forbes Magazine lists and explains six social media practices that boost SEO:

1. Growing your number of followers
2. Encouraging more inbound links
3. Optimizing your posts for search visibility
4. Contributing to your authority and helps search rankings
5. Leveraging social posts for local searches and show local commitment
6. Increasing your brand awareness

Multiple ways to connect with you

Beyond that, in a Microsoft survey customers polled said they still want to connect with businesses in-person but they also want to connect with them through website, social media and email.

I always recommend that my SEO clients maintain an active social presence as part of their SEO strategy. Patti Singer of Follow Me Social Media Consulting says:

Every business needs to have a presence on social media. Whether you are just someone selling your crafts on Etsy or a well established business with employees, social media should play an integral part in your marketing efforts.

Reviews are important, too

People report valuing online reviews as importantly as recommendations from friends and family. I’ll be writing more about that soon, but know that you need to pay attention to your online reviews and actively recruit new reviewers.

Find this helpful? Please share with the buttons on the left or the Click-to-Tweet above. Thanks!

Your opinion counts — let us know what you think about this in the comments below.

If you need assistance with any of this, Rank Magic can help.