Guest Post by Charlotte Waller – SEO Consultant “Social media is now an integral part of business; indeed firms can outsource such work to manage this aspect of their company. It’s influence on modern society? Inescapable. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit, MySpace, Blogs and countless other media are growing in momentum and their quest for the global domination of cyberspace. In conjunction with the powerhouse that is social media is SEO, experts are delving into the search engine algorithm to decipher how to work with it, for it and occasionally against it.

Backlinks, keywords, link distance, images, canonicals, cloaking, do’s, don’t’s and controversy all make up components of SEO. Similarly, followers, friends, likes, hashtags, notifications, connections, discussions and disputes all contribute to the world of social media.

So why are they both so necessary?

Rather obviously, with regards to SEO you can publish the most wonderful, elaborate website in existence; if no one knows about it…#epicfail :) . Absorbing the true and complete benefits of SEO is too great an ask of a beginners blog such as this, however I don’t believe many would argue that with a myriad of businesses and websites out there, there is a definite need for effective SEO. The generation of leads, brand management, promotion, and increase in accessibility to services are all immediate benefits good SEO can bring to your business. Something to ignore? Not anymore.

Similarly, an obvious example to demonstrate a benefit of social media is shown perfectly through Twitter. Sharing knowledge and information across networks, fulfils perhaps the most integral social media purpose – something businesses can no longer afford to ignore. Information is no longer sacred and very rarely private. To effectively maximise information sharing for business needs therefore, social media mediums now provide the perfect route through which SEO can deliver.

I’ve also had discussions that social media is not easily quantifiable and so not as important; how do you effectively track the impact of a campaign and explore its tangible benefits? Is it possible to attribute a retail sale to a Facebook like or a Twitter retweet? There are reports Facebook is working hard on integration into eCommerce and other industries, also evidence that LinkedIn is working to a similar effect via website integration tools aimed at improving their tracking capabilities. These two initiatives point to another benefit of social media; networking. Having arguably changed the face of networking forever, the worth of social media should now be beyond question.

Finally, perhaps another obvious point in favour of social media is its distinct lack of cost - it costs precisely zero to set up a LinkedIn account, yet with the wrong management this may prove detrimental to a company. Someone looking at an incomplete profile may be put off doing business with an organisation or individual and it’s now increasingly common for companies to browse an individuals Facebook account when hiring. Social media should be treated with caution in addition to common sense.

Despite mounting evidence to the contrary, I still come across individuals who remain stubborn in their belief that if they ignore SEO and social media, it will simply disappear. Given that you are reading this, it’s very unlikely you’re of this view however with a number of businesses being run using more traditional methods and even with growing acceptance, there is still a considerable way to go until social media and SEO are wholly accepted as an essential tool of business.”

Thank you for such a great guest post Charlotte. I would also like to add that the evolution of innovation of Google search means that it’s not just the most heavily optimised site that is getting visibility. With the implementation of ‘Real-time’ search it has become more and more imperative that you continue to work on the consistency and relevance of your content to be seen. Having a blog, website and social channels are great for your SEO if done in the right way.

Please make sure you follow Charlotte Waller on Twitter @charlottexana

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