Search engine marketing is changing — and it’s time to stand up and take notice. No longer is it enough to optimize content and create meta tags. While these elements are still important, social media has revolutionized SEO. All of the major search engines are now indexing blogs, images, videos, podcasts, press releases, social profiles, news and more. To increase and/or maintain positions on these search engines, companies need to start integrating social media into their marketing mix. Today, SEO and social media go hand-in-hand. Here are five tactics to consider in boosting the performance of your search campaigns:
Start a blog A blog is a great way to talk to your audience. Let them know who you are, what you think and what the latest news at your company is. It’s also a great way to engage in open, honest dialogue with your customers. Plus, the search engines view blogs as relevant, indexable content.
Get behind the camera Videos add content to your Web site and provide another way for someone to engage with your brand. Whether it’s a clip about your latest whitepaper or an instructional video, it allows your audience to learn more about your company. By posting it on video sharing sites like YouTube, you increase your brand exposure and your company’s visibility. Remember to add descriptions and tags to your videos, to ensure that they’re indexed by the search engines.
Snap some photos Whether you have existing photos on your Web site or just a few photos of a company event, they’re a great way to let the world know who you are. Make certain that you include tags with all of your photos, so the search engines index your content properly. Also, be sure to post your photos to sharing sites such as Flickr.
Record a podcast A podcast is portable, popular, personal, entertaining, informational and accessible. In other words, podcasting is a great way to reach your target audience. It provides another outlet for your listeners to find out more about your brand and the products, services and people behind it. You should post your podcasts to iTunes and your corporate Web site with a written description.
Tell your news to the world Press releases announce your news to the world. To ensure the world can actually find your press releases online, include relevant keywords that can be indexed by the major search engines. This will help raise your search positions and spread your news to an even bigger audience.
By providing a variety of relevant, indexable content to the search engines and optimizing your complete online presence, you will increase your online visibility. So, go ahead and get social with search marketing.
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