SEO Or Social Media? — The More Effective Online Marketing Tool

Many businesses may choose to focus on SEO or Social media to advance their online marketing efforts. This practice has generated a lot of healthy debate over which is more effective. According to the best Seattle SEO agency, over 60 percent of shoppers will carry out a search on Google or other search engines about a product before making a decision. A similar research though reveals that 71 percent of millennials will make a buying decision based on a recommendation from a friend on social media. Both SEO and social media have solid evidence of effectiveness and we shall examine these here with the hope of putting the debate to rest. Audience The audience plays a big part in determining your online content. It is important to identify the audience and then proceed to design content for that audience. Social media gives a more insightful idea of who your audience is and what they are talking about as well as their interests. Social media, therefore, forms the base for understanding the audience and then you can go ahead to use SEO to target that audience you have identified. Content There is an obvious difference in the type of content SEO and Social media present. SEO is generally longer, with search engines ranking longer posts higher while Social media tends to be shorter and with more pictures. So the question is which one would be more effective? The truth is it depends on your goal. If for example, you would wish to share technical information, it is more effective as a long post on a website while illustrations might be best posted on social media. However the two can combine to create an overall effective strategy, for example, you could post a graph on social media and then link it to the longer SEO content for an explanation. Amount of Work SEO takes up less daily input since you can create content and then wait a month to get its full impact on your ranking. Social Media, on the other hand, attracts attention and impact almost immediately with likes and comments flowing within seconds of a post. This, however, means that in a few hours, the content may lose steam, this means you will need to create new content more regularly. SEO, therefore, requires considerably less consistency than social media. Discussion Social media sets the discussion. Since it is shorter, it has to have a high impact but set the stage for more discussion to follow. Using tools like the hashtag, you can reach more people and get them to join in the discussion. It also has the ability to touch emotion more than reason. SEO content is more of the discussion itself since the content is longer but also engaging. It will appeal more to reason and provide content for discussion. Utilizing both SEO and Social, you can create wider discussion and attract more attention to your website pages. Each of them has a part to play in furthering discussions. How SEO helps your Business Grow Since every business has a specific target market, the creation of relevant and up to date content enables the business to reach its customers with ease. Up to date and relevant content makes the search engines increase your rankings hence helping you generate more traffic from your target audience at no extra cost. When people visit your site, you should also know how to treat customers to increase their confidence in your services and products. In the end: SEO Boosts Traffic: The more you generate traffic translates to the more growth your business will get. Increases Customers: Having a good website well structured to fit customer’s needs reduces the competition by giving you an upper hand above your competitors. So employing SEO is ideal for the growth of your business. Builds Trust: The more customers come to your site and get relevant and up-to-date content, the more it builds trust on your website. Final Verdict It should not be a case of one or the other, they are both tools to achieving your online goals. By effectively implementing social media strategies, you can affect your SEO ranking and in the end what you want is to succeed online. Hiring the best Seattle SEO agency can help build your brand online.