Social & Digital Conversations

aka Talking with Your People via Social Media, Marketing & Communication

The places you show up and the way you talk to your customers or prospects can have an impact on your SEO. Having your business on social media can be a big way to build trust, get found on the internet, and show up in search engine results. Additionally, email campaigns, content marketing, and advertising are all a part of the mix that move people toward your goals and work alongside your SEO efforts.

Guide to SEO Basics: Your Business’s Online Real Estate

Guide to SEO Basics: The Internet Popularity Contest

Big Tip

For social media, it’s crucial to go where your people are. If you’re a small business, it’s likely that you don’t have time to put your business on every single social media platform right away. We highly recommend doing some sleuthing to find out where the majority of your prospects “hang out” and begin by focusing your energy there.

Facebook

How does this affect SEO?

Direct
Indirect

On-Page
Off-Page
UX

Difficulty level?

Easy

What do I need?

Here’s how to set up a Facebook business page

If you don’t have a Facebook Page for your business, it’s time to consider one, especially if your target audience consists of consumers rather than other businesses.

Facebook is a great place for people to publicly declare that they like your company and it’s another avenue for amplifying your latest news.

Make sure to customize your “username” so that the web address for your company page is not just a bunch of numbers.
You’ll want facebook.com/YourCompanyName instead of facebook.com/83748493.
You may need to have 25 likes on your page before you’re allowed to customize this.

Tip

Facebook for Business is constantly changing, so we recommend finding resources that were published recently (within 6-8 months) when looking for strategies.

Instagram

How does this affect SEO?

Direct
Indirect

On-Page
Off-Page
UX

Difficulty level?

Easy

What do I need?

Here’s how to set up an Instagram business page

Consider an Instagram page, especially if your business has products to show off with “pretty” pictures.

Facebook owns Instagram, so it is easy to create the two at the same time.

Tip

Using popular hashtags on your posts can really help you be discovered.

Twitter

How does this affect SEO?

Direct
Indirect

On-Page
Off-Page
UX

Difficulty level?

Easy

What do I need?

Here’s how to set up a Twitter business page

Whilst Facebook is excellent for connecting with people who already know about you, Twitter is great for connecting with complete strangers.

No introductions required! Browse for connections, or look up hashtags relevant to your industry to “Follow” people and start seeing their “Tweets.” But remember to leave the hard sell at home – this is a place for connecting and finding common ground.

How does this affect SEO?

Direct
Indirect

On-Page
Off-Page
UX

Difficulty level?

Easy

What do I need?

Here’s how to set up an LinkedIn business page

If your target customer or client is a business, then LinkedIn is a great place for you.

It’s the corporate wing of social media. You’ll want to create a business page, as well as a robust one for yourself to make connections.

Tip

Look into LinkedIn Groups that you can join that focus on your business areas.

More Social Platforms

How does this affect SEO?

Direct
Indirect

On-Page
Off-Page
UX

Difficulty level?

Easy

What do I need?

Internet access and time to spend.

YouTube

If you make video content for your business, you’ll want to have a YouTube channel and host your videos there.

If you sell clothing, art, or food, then get on the Pinterest wagon. A picture is worth a thousand words, and a virtual pinboard has a lot of potential for your business.

Tip

Take product pictures in good lighting, “Repin” and “Like” things that resonate with your business, and create boards so that you can group your favourite things together. Get acquainted with Pinterest for Business.

Tik Tok, Snapchat…

There is a revolving door of sorts for trendy social media platforms. We recommend researching the demographics of the audience before making a decision to invest your time onto the platform.
Are your ideal people spending time there?

Articles, Resources, Whitepapers
and other Content Marketing

How does this affect SEO?

Direct
Indirect

On-Page
Off-Page
UX

Difficulty level?

Easy

What do I need?

Ability to add pages to your website, or a website designer

Content Marketing can be a huge way to get discovered online via SEO.

If you identify topics (or keywords) that your ideal customers are searching for, you can write a resource, blog post or article about it and publish it on your website. When these content pages are optimised for SEO, they can bring new visitors to your website that may not have been searching specifically for your product or service.

Email

How does this affect SEO?

Direct
Indirect

On-Page
Off-Page
UX

Difficulty level?

Easy

What do I need?

Email marketing platform such as MailChimp

How you communicate with your subscribers or customers via email is part of holistic SEO.

Whether you are sending marketing email campaigns or sending order confirmations and other transactional communication, your emails are an online representation of your brand.

Every interaction someone has with your brand affects their trust and perception of your business, and therefore affects your SEO. When email is done right, it can be a welcome benefit and delight to your customers or subscribers.

Pay attention to these factors

The volume and frequency of email you send – Are you bugging people?

The personality & manner in your email – Is it consistent with your website and brand voice? Is it polite, friendly, and courteous?

Personalisation – Are you mentioning them by name? Are you signing off with your name or the name of your brand?

Email address you send from – Does it match your website URL and is it professional and recognizable? Please don’t send email from a Gmail or Yahoo email address. It needs to be a business email address.

Does your email contain any legal requirements such as your company number and a link to unsubscribe? Pay careful attention to the laws in your country, whether GDPR, CCPA, CAN-SPAM, or others. Having your emails marked as spam can break your business.

Does it include links to send people back to relevant places on your website?

Online Promotion & Advertising

How does this affect SEO?

Direct
Indirect

On-Page
Off-Page
UX

Difficulty level?

Medium

What do I need?

Advertising or e-commerce platforms

Any time your brand is represented on the internet, it can have a knock-on effect on your SEO.

Whether you are advertising on social media, listing products on Amazon, or running campaigns on Google AdWords, it needs to be consistent with your brand image, tone, and message.

If you saw an ad while scrolling through Facebook that gave you a positive impression about a brand, you’d expect that same positive impression to be matched when arriving on their website. If there’s a mismatch in personality or tone, you might start to doubt the business – is this brand trustworthy?

No online efforts are an island – everything impacts the impression your brand makes on people.

That’s it for the basic SEO Action items that have to do with your social and digital conversations.
Continue on to learn more strategies.

Guide to SEO Basics: Your Business’s Online Real Estate

Guide to SEO Basics: The Internet Popularity Contest

Visit Other Sections of the Guide to SEO Basics