The power of Google has
created a keyword-centric online marketing practice. It was actually this
paradigm that sort of catalyzed the prevalent “black hat” SEO of the past –
keyword stuffing, keyword spamming and keyword over optimizing just to name a
few.
Then
social media marketing services came into the online marketing mix and it
didn’t take long for internet marketers to ask the question whether social will
affect a site’s SERP performance in Google. While almost every social media
agency believes that social signal now play a more crucial role in search
engine rankings, many are still baffled how to make their social posts more
SEO-friendly.
Here’s
an unorthodox answer: do not execute social media marketing services for SEO’s
sake.
It’s All about Engagement, Not Ranking
Social
sites are places for meaningful interaction, not business. That does not mean
that you can’t promote your brand in social networks, but you have to do it in
such a way that is conversational, not hard sell. People post things on their
social media accounts based on their interest and passion. No social media
agency is entitled to just barge into these social spaces with nothing but
search engine rankings in mind.
It does
not take a rocket scientist to spot social media posts that are meant to please
Google and not to engage readers in the most meaningful and impactful way
possible. Just browse a forum for a good one hour and you’ll be surprised about
how rampant the practice of creating social media posts that are heavy on
keywords, but light on interaction and social sincerity.
Headlines that Peak People’s Interest
One of the missing elements in how social media marketing services are
conducted today is compelling and creative headlines that will peak the
interest of social netizens. This is precisely because of that still prevalent
keyword-obsessed mentality.
Well,
guess what? While Google and Yahoo are gearing up to index Facebook comments,
they still won’t be able to crawl millions of posts only viewable in Facebook
itself.
You Don’t Need Rankings in Social
A social
media agency should not be confused about social signals and social posts. For
example, a blog with social sharing widgets has a greater chance of ranking
high in search engines when it gets a log of Likes, Tweets or +1s. However, you
don’t really need to worry whether your social media posts will rank high on
Google or not.
First,
it’s basically because you already have your captured audience in your social
pages. One of the strengths of social media marketing services that search
engine marketing tactics don’t have is that it is community based – meaning,
the people in your network already have a certain level of engagement and
investment in your brand. You don’t need to rank high to be seen because you
are already visible to a market that matters.
It’s All about Content Sharing
Creating
the highest volume referral traffic from social sites should be your first
priority when doing social media marketing services. Compelling headlines and
interesting content will bring you social network marketing success, not
keyword-centric posts.