Introducing Social SEO

Guest Blog Written By: Donnie Strompf of Boasting Biz

As of 2012, SEO has become more and more reliant on a website’s social presence. Social mentions are: Google’s +1s, Twitter’s Tweets & Re-Tweets, Facebook’s Likes & shares. Search engine optimization is evolving each and every day. These changes are forcing companies to create unique and shareable content. These changes are great because they are helping eliminate spam and spun content. By eliminating spam sites, searches will become more user-friendly and relevant. Social SEO is all about the users and there are no shortcuts. For years, websites have been manipulating search engines with useless information that game the social systems algorithms. Many website owners have now lost their rankings, and most of them deserve it.

Social media is growing at a rapid rate. Getting your name mentioned in the social world will help you gain visibility in search engines. However, getting mentioned can be a challenge, what does your demographic want? How do you reach this demographic? Is this something any company can do?

What does your demographic want?

Your demographic is out there right now searching for something relevant to your niche, if you do a simple Google search for your main keywords you are trying to rank for and check the news link, discussion link, or blog link on the left, you will be able to find some trending topics. You can also set the timeframe of the results you want to see. Starting with the last 24-hour results will get you real-time content. Also, be sure to check these articles and see how much interaction they receive. Low interaction is usually a sign of failure in an article. Sometimes the best way to find interesting topics for your niche is by asking your clients what is the most important factor that will determine the deal.

Some niches are less interesting and seem very boring, in these cases, there are still ways to create content that will interest people. Charity events, award ceremonies, recent testimonials, and contests are just some examples of categories that can spark some controversy and get those social wheels rolling.

How do you reach your demographic?

Now that you have a good topic, it is time to share that content. If your content is not shared it will not benefit your website at all. Following and interacting with industry leaders on social networks is a great start. Once you stick out to some of these industry leaders they will remember you, and they become your key to success. They can then share your content with their followers that are relative to your niche. These followers will more likely interact with your articles because now they are coming from an authoritative voice. Sometimes you can ask the industry leader if you can mention them in the post and link to them. If you do so, and they agree, they will be more than likely to share your content. Another strategy is asking the industry leaders if they have a blog you can guest post on, and if there is anything in particular that they would be interested in. Once you write the guest blog, you can link it back to your site and gain from the social mentions.

“Give the people what they want, and the search engine will give you to the people!”

Guest Blog Written By: Donnie Strompf, an SEO specialist for Boasting Biz