Social SEO - build relationships not links

What is Social SEO?

Social SEO means that you need to build relationships and not links.

SEO doesn't mean that you should become some kind of crazed internet pest, spamming people with links and generic information.

Lets look at this from a human perspective.

Example - Human Communication

A woman walks into a bar ( don't worry there's no cheesy joke ) and she fancies her chances with a fella who's enjoying a quiet drink. She approaches.

 Question - Now which one of these ice breakers is more normal in everyday life?

1) "I WANT TO GET MARRIED WITHIN THE NEXT YEAR AND HAVE LOTS BABIES. LETS GO PICK OUT CHINA PATTERNS"

Or...

2) "Hi, my name is Jessica, I've never been here before, what drink would you recommend?" ( or something to that extent)

Answer - 2. Obviously 2 is the more normal approach in a real life social situation.

Example - Social SEO

Using SEO should not be any different than communication with real people in everyday situations - Hence Social SEO. Don't be weird and hassle people for what you want - just lay the foundations of the relationship on the basis of mutual interest.

Okay, so here's our Social SEO example;

Peter wants more traffic going to his website on guitar accessories. So he searches for some blogs to leave a comment on, where he can include a nice link back to his site. He finds a blog on custom guitars.

 Question - Which is the best comment to leave?

1) "Click on THIS LINK to buy my amazing guitar accessories."

2) This post was really interesting, my dream custom guitar would be the one featured in photo no.3 . I've suscribed to your blog, looking forward to the next one. Was wondering what strings you would recommend for my Fender ? Thanks from Peter at Guitar Accessories

Answer - If you chose 2 for the better comment, then well done! Its much better to leave a more personalised comment and use the keywords as links to your site in a more tactful way.

The Relationship Building Pyramid

An important thing to remember about SEO is that the days when you could build 000's of links in no time at all are long gone.

The higher value relationship building techniques take a lot more effort. You need to build up your Social SEO for maximum effect. The best links come from the relationships that you have really tried hard with.

What you can do...
  •  Scout for people! The guys who are behind the website decide if you get your link or not. Remember this Social SEO etiquette and you will go far. Take advantage of social media platforms and try to get in contact with people.
  • Don't hound for links! Think about what you can say to people, follow them ( on social networks that is - not in real life ) and start a conversation with them, try get some mutually beneficial agreements going on, offer to guest post for example. For information on guest posting check out our previous post on Anchor Text
  • Infographics is the new kid on the block when it comes to Social SEO. Folk like having their information represented as an image. They respond to it better. Despite the fact that search engines won't know what your infographic is about, the viewer certainly will, and they are more likely to share it, therefore building your link portfolio.

Hope you enjoyed the Social SEO post guys! Do let us know what you thought!

If you want some further information why not click on our Social Media Marketing Page, or alternaitvely why not get in touch today for a chat about how Social Media can be used to shape your online presence

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