What SEO Is And More Importantly Is NOT!
For a long time, all most businesses needed was a simple website that proved their company existed to potential prospects. While these “brochure sites” did serve a purpose, they weren’t created to drive new business. Today’s consumer begins their ‘buyers journey’ much earlier in the process. That means many of your potential prospects are searching and investigating solutions well before they come in contact with you and your site.
While the term SEO (Search Engine Optimization) has once again become a popular buzzword across the business community, its meaning has become wide and varied. In this post, my goal is to shed some light into what SEO is and is not, as well as make the argument that search engine optimization is essential to any business looking to grow using the internet.
What SEO is Not.
When someone asks me what I do, and I share that I work in search, it amazes me what the most common responses are:
- That’s like Facebook and Social Media Right?
- I need some of that, but the ads are so expensive.
- So you try to trick Google, huh?
If you weren’t aware, none of the above are SEO. For those of you who may still be confused, let me help you out.
Social is NOT SEO
Social media marketing (SMM) is a very focused discipline that falls under the umbrella of digital marketing. The goal of SMM is to build and nurture a following on social media platforms. While SMM can help grow your brand, and having links on major social media sites is a plus, the impact social has on SEO is minimal in most cases.
This is not to say that social should not play a role. In his article for Convince and Convert, SEO Expert Eric Enge shares how social can play a role. Building a digital marketing campaign that has synergy is where the real power lies. Using social media alongside your SEO efforts can increase your visibility and generate more traffic.
