Small businesses are often confused about which approach to take for optimum business success and web traffic. SEO or Social Media Marketing? Which is right for your small business? The answer may surprise you!

Social Media Marketing or SEO?  Which is Right for Your Small Business?

Making connections or using the correct keywords and building links: which should you use to build credibility and drive traffic to your site? It depends on who you ask.

One marketing strategy relies on technical information, statistics, and understanding an algorithm while the other is built on human interaction, creativity, and learning to stand out from the crowd.

In order to establish your online presence and build your company brand, I would recommend adding both practices to your small business marketing agenda. Let’s face it, a horribly put together website or blog with duplicate content and broken links isn’t going to get much search engine juice.

SEO Works for You 24/7

SEO is necessary for the days that you can’t interact on social networking sites or post to your blog. You do want your site to attract attention and work for you 24/7/365. If you’ve correctly optimized your website, that’s exactly what it will do.

Learning the basics of small business SEO is just like hiring another sales person, or 12. Every keyword, article, and link optimized will push you up in search engine rankings and allow your business to be found by potential clients, even while you sleep. Waking up to an email inbox with several quote requests or orders is an awesome way to start your day. SEO works, and the basic foundation of the way Google ranks websites just keeps getting better. Spammers are getting weeded out and small businesses with local SEO are getting more attention.

Google wants to create a positive user experience. Therefore, more you learn about SEO, the better. Search engines give weight to trusted sites that provide their visitors with valuable and original content, video blogs, and tutorials on a site that is easy to navigate. Basically, if you follow Google’s rules for SEO, you’ll end up with a focused, well put together website or blog easily found by potential clients.

Social Media Marketing Can Provide Immediate Attention

The beauty of social media marketing when combined with SEO is the fact that you can instantly create a buzz and lead potential clients to a well put together website. Social media marketing can help your website or latest online offer go viral.

There are those that argue against talking shop or promoting your business on social networking sites. However, if you list yourself with networking sites as a business and have individuals add you as a friend, it is generally acceptable to talk about your business so long as you are not spamming.

For those who don’t know, spamming is the act of continually peddling your wares to individuals who did not ask for the information. Many people completely ruin any ounce of credibility have by adding friends on social networking sites just to bombard them with unsolicited information. A basic rule of thumb for social media is to use indirect marketing techniques. Here are a few that work well:

Indirect Marketing Techniques for Social Media

• Talk enthusiastically about what you are doing. If you are a Michigan web design company, then it’s perfectly fine to talk about your latest web design project. If you are a chef in Florida, Twittering about a new dish you’ll be making for your restaurant is wonderful. Social networking is all about letting others into your world. It’s expected.
• Write blog posts that have to do with updates in your industry and then Tweet or Digg your articles. Invite your blog readers to make comments. It’s a great way to build connections with people which may turn them into clients.
• Post your latest business newsletter on your Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. If your friends don’t want to read them, they won’t. There is no pressure. However, emailing your newsletter to everyone on your Facebook list is spamming.
• Hold a contest or special event that includes prizes or discounts. Announce the details through your social networking sites. Or better yet, provide a link to your website where interested individuals can sign up.

With a little creativity, you can come up with numerous ways to use search engine optimization and social media marketing as a dynamic duo. For those who prefer one, and won’t touch the other, are missing out on an affordable, and potentially profitable opportunity. That is their choice, but YOU can reap the benefits of both.

Optimal Leads Inc. is a Michigan full-service Internet Marketing and SEO company. Located in Metro Detroit, we specialize in Web Design, Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Click Management, and Public Relation Management.

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