So finally as of 2015 there are lots of SEO people and social media gurus out there from newbie to the seasoned and they all sort of get how content affects SEO, or they at least realize that it plays a role somehow.

Now that they have made this discovery it seems that many of them have the strong desire to jump onto a soapbox and declare that people need content……… And that it needs to be shared on social media.

For the vast majority of business owners this simply is not true.

smh
What is content marketing?

Content marketing is 2 things:

  1. Creating content.
  2. Getting the content in front of people who may choose to spend money with you.

I know, I know, there are exceptions. If you are a brand that actually HAS a dedicated fan base and following on social media and there are hundreds of thousands of people dying to hear what your brand has to say next, great. Or maybe you’re marketing funny T-shirts, postcards, or something that actually does ok on social. Or, maybe you put up a Halloween article that goes mini-viral.

For everyone else… There’s Google.

What Social Media does not provide:

  • There are no “social signals” that are going to magically make your page rank better in search. In fact, just erase the term “social signals” from your vocabulary. Here’s how social media affects SEO. Yes, you can get a DoFollow link from many social media platforms but the power of these links are very weak.
  • Paying to promote your content and push it into people’s streams isn’t going to make them jump from looking at grandma’s cookies and onto your website. It just ain’t gonna happen.
  • No, social media isn’t going to “amplify” your message. Yeah, maybe someone will share it with their friends but getting people to leave social media and go to your website is very tough. News flash: Most people use social media to communicate with their friends and family.

User intent and answering people’s questions

If you have ever owned a business that has a lot of great content and answers people’s questions then you already know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, well, you have no idea what you’re missing out on.

Showing up in search when people are actively looking for your product or service is key. THAT is when they want to hear about your contact lenses. THAT is when they want to know about your legal services for people getting divorced. THAT is when they want to know you sell houses. THAT is when they want to know that you are an attorney who specializes in traumatic brain injury.

Until then, nobody cares.

If a social media geek tries to tell you that you MUST share your content on social media, rest assured that they have no idea how most businesses work and have never experienced success with search engines.

If you have experienced success via content please feel free to let us know and maybe we’ll feature you on this blog on great examples of business website content.

Len
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On October 26, 2015   /   Content Creation   /   Leave a comment

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