5 Key Questions on Social Media, Content & SEO
A few weeks ago, @aknecht and @SocialMichelleR had me on their #socialchat and as I am prone to do, I question for questions in advance and try to answer them so when the actual Twitter chat comes, I’m ready with robust content and links as a replacement for of thinking of everything on the glide. The result is a richer experience for all I reckon. It’s also a source of content that one can use for a blog post. Like this one 
According to Hashtracking, that #socialchat was quite active, with 523 tweets, 76 contributors, a reach of 291,000 and 3.2 million impressions. It’s incredible how much potential reach is doable through a well attended chat on Twitter. I did a #blogchat with @mackcollier before BlogWorld LA and we posted huge numbers: 4k tweets, 800+ contributors, reach of 3+ million and over 29 million impressions. Twitter chats are on the rise in popularity and such scheduled gatherings have extended to other platforms like Facebook and Google+.
Julio Ojeda-Zapata of the St. Paul Pioneer Press newspaper recently covered the topic giving some fantastic examples of how locally focused Twitter Chats are bridging online social media with real world connections. And that brings me back to the topic of this post – Social Media, Content and SEO: What do marketers need to know to bring those disciplines together and why?
I’ll dig into the topic in a Q/A format as used in #socialchat which I reckon is a fantastic, practical example of this intersection.
In simple terms what is the connection between social content & SEO?
The simple answer is customers. People use search & social to learn content. Search engines & social platforms like content because it makes the basis for publicity opportunity. My favorite metaphor is Content = Bread, SEO = Peanut Butter, Social = Jelly. PBJ marketing.
Customer-focused content is made w/ purpose. SEO & social are manifestations of what people care about to attract & engage. Customer needs, interests, pain points, motivations + brand goals feed an Optimize & Socialize content strategy. Anyone, heck all is a publisher now. Brands and consumers can easily make & share media 24/7. Search & social optimized content with a purpose attracts & engages customers to buy and share with other buyers. That’s in contrast to keyword list optimization that’s focused on top of funnel traffic to a website.
Stats:
- 53% of time on the internet is content consumption. (AOL Nielsen)
- 27 million pieces of content are mutual per day (AOL Nielsen)
- Content Creation was cited as the most effective SEO tactic (& the toughest) in MarketingSherpa’s 2011 SEM Benchmark Report
Do specific types of social content have a larger impact on SEO?
Types of content that are excellent for SEO need to be excellent for people first (in my opinion). Content & media that gets mutual, associated & acted on most, has a larger impact. People are savvier about what’s “excellent” vs. what’s mechanical. That’s the problem with how many companies are approaching their social participation. They’re focused on on scale with the smallest amount amount of resources. That often results in a more “mechanical” approach when it’s a “meaningful” approach that matters more in terms of building community, on the rise a network and engagement.
Here’s a thought for you as you’re reading this post: What’s social content? Content that exists on social platforms or websites with social features? I’ve always said fantastic content isn’t fantastic unless it gets consumed, mutual & associated to. It’s the ancient, tree falls in the forest and no one’s there to hear it, does it make a sound? If a fantastic infographic, video, blog post etc is made but no one (substantially) sees or shares it – is the content really fantastic? I say no. Promotion is essential along with thoughtful creation.
What writing styles should copywriters implement to ensure maximum impact on SEO?
Always test what facility with the community you’re trying to engage: Hypothesis, test, refine, repeat. If you’re optimizing for customers and outcomes, then that should influence your style first and foremost with SEO a close second. Keep in mind the potential impact of a social share vs. a link from another site as well as the relevance to uncommon audiences. If your objective is thought leadership, then your consultation for the content will be influencers in the industry. If your objective is lead nurturing or customer acquisition, then your consultation will be buyers. Style of content should follow the objective and consultation accordingly.
Attention spans online are small & even shorter with social content. Write scannable content, headlines, bold, bullets. Your booklover should be able to discern the key points of your content in just a few seconds, then dig in for more if they want to. Also, headlines are gold. Make sure your headlines are compelling to read AND share.
Make modular messages from small to long and media specific for a diversity of options that you can use in uncommon situations and on uncommon platforms. By ”modular” I mean: Small (like tweets, Facebook or G+ updates), Long (blogs, articles, press release) or something more media specific (video, infographic, audio).
What’s the most common mistake made when preparing copy for social & SEO?
Not understanding what motivates people to search & share & what that means for content style, format & promotion. Another mistake is over emphasizing well loved keywords straight from Google AdWords keyword tool – basically crappy writing. Yet another mistake is poor quality messaging, irrelevant incorporation of keyword targets in body copy and “space filler” pages to look huge.
How can an organization best leverage social & onsite content from maximum SEO effect?
Of course the Content Management System, web page templates, code, tags, feeds and other similar aspects of the site need to be optimized right along with content. A lot of SEO is about making things simple: For search engines & crawling. Ease of sharing is also vital: “social media friendly”. Connect the site with sharing features into Facebook, G+, Twitter & where the butt consultation shares. Leverage resources to make fresh (as in new and updated) content that’s sharable and promote to social networks and other channels of delivery.
How are you incorporating SEO, Social Media and Content in your online marketing mix? If you are, what are is driving the effort? Is it Marketing, PR, Sales?
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