Back in the good ol’ days, when SEO was simpler, there wasn’t a whole lot you had to put into getting your website at the top of the results page. Yeah it took a little work, but not nearly as much as what you need to put in today. As the amount of websites on the internet grew, so did the competition of getting your website to not only that first spot, but even the first page of results. It also hasn’t helped in the matter of difficulty that search engines such as Google have increased the complexity of their search algorithms and ranking techniques.
As the matter of SEO became more difficult, a new shining beacon of hope for brands and organizations emerged…social media. As the popularity of these sites increased, so did the importance of their contribution to branding efforts. There was finally another way for people to obtain information about your brand (coveted WOM information no less), and paths to your website that didn’t include the beloved search engine.
But before you ditch SEO completely, you should know that these two forces actually work together in perfect harmony. Google is now looking at how much interest your website stirs-up on social media sites, helping to determine how high on the results page you appear. In other words, the more buzz you generate through social media, the higher up your website will be on the results page. Also, with the addition the social network, Google+, it’s said that Google will be combining both website results and features from your personal social network in its search results. For example, searching “Fourth of July party ideas” could result in websites featuring Fourth of July recipes and decorations, along with pictures of your friends on the Fourth of July. So, there is a glaringly obvious piece of advice for brands out there; get out there and get social!