Speak to almost any webmaster or blogger, and you’ll likely hear the same complaint over and over. No matter how hard they try, or how good their content is, they still can’t seem to generate significant traffic to their site.
While the adage, “Content is king,” is truer today than ever, good material alone won’t be enough to drive visitors to your pages. Of course, quality content will help. But, alone, it’s unlikely to be enough to find and engage new users. So, the question remains, how can domain owners increase footfall to their website?
Step forward Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and, increasingly, social media as a way to embolden your website’s online profile and encourage new visits.
What is Search Engine Optimization
In case you aren’t familiar with the term, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) refers to a range of techniques and methods used to make a website appear higher in search engine results.
Search powers the internet and is the only we humans can decipher and make sense of the vast array of data available online. When most people search for information online, the first port of call will be a search on Google. Appearing on the first page of these results is one of the main ways you can drive traffic to your site.
However, with so many sites already online (the amount of web pages now outnumbers people in the world), it’s becoming increasingly difficult to break into the top rankings.
As a site owner, you have several options open to you – the most successful of which is to enlist the services of a successful SEO company like Click Intelligence. SEO specialists have many years of experience promoting companies online and can help you reap the benefits of online marketing far quicker than you’ll ever be able to yourself.
Nonetheless, there is still one part of online marketing you can start right now – namely, promoting your site on social media.
The importance of a strong social presence
In a relatively short space of time, the major social sites have become the primary way we source and share information. Services like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube have almost become search engines in their own right (YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine). Consequently, you should prioritize having a strong social presence as an integral part of your marketing mix. Especially in regards to successful SEO performance.
Moreover, with their share and like functions, social media allows users to share information with a massive audience at the click of a button. Social media also gave birth to a new online phenomenon, “Going viral,” where the sharing of a post reaches such critical levels that it acts almost like a virus, spreading from one user to the next.
While the search engines all work slightly differently from one another, the mathematics behind viral posts remains mostly the same. To illustrate it, let’s take the example of Facebook.
The average Facebook user has 250 friends. If just one user shares your post, it has the potential to be seen by each of their 250 friends. Then if only one of them then re-shares the same post, it will reach another 250 of their friends. And so, begins the endless spiral of viral marketing. A strong social media presence and relevant, informative posts can skyrocket your website in ways otherwise unimaginable, tapping into otherwise unreachable audiences.
Social media and Page Rank
When founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page first started work Google back in 1995, the pair aimed to revolutionize and improve how search results were generated, using an algorithm based on their proprietary Page Rank system.
In essence, Page Rank determined a site’s importance by evaluating the number of external sites linking to it. While the underlying algorithm has become increasingly complex over the years, the same fundamental prioritization still powers much of Google search, even today.
Of course, getting an external site to link to you was (and remains) quite tricky. However, it’s possible to set up a social media page in seconds. Adding social accounts for your website establishes a direct inward link, giving the search engines yet another hook with which to find your site.
Better yet, if you generate followers to your site’s social pages, you’ll also be able to broadcast and share your latest posts to a potentially massive audience.
In summary
If you run your own site, it can be challenging to keep your eye on generating quality content and looking after your promotions. However, it’s important to remember, the content you make is of little use if no-one’s seeing it or using it, so try never to lose focus on your online promotion. Successful SEO and social media promotion work hand in hand to generate traffic to your site. They should both be used as part of your overall development strategy.