Using Social Media For SEO

If you are like every other person online, you probably spend at least a moment of your day updating your Facebook status, tweeting about the blog you just wrote, or jamming out to the latest “it” band’s MySpace page. While social media activities grow in popularity and take a bite of your “productivity pie”, are they being leveraged for search engine optimization purposes?

Almost all of your social media activities contribute to the SEO of you or your business, you may not be utilizing the time and effort for maximum rank-age. Here are a few ways you can use your social media activity to increase rankings, traffic and conversions.

Facebook URL

A few months ago Facebook has a mad rush for ‘vanity URLs’ in which everyone could secure their profile URL as: facebook.com/yourname or any keyword that you wanted to include. Were there URL squatters? Sure. I’m pretty positive that some people were trying to financially benefit from the situation. Your facebook profile, with the exception of limited information, is not visible to the search engines so it is important that at least your profile URL contains your name or a keyword. Become our friend at www.facebook.com/volacci.

Facebook Fan Page

If you haven’t already, create a Facebook fan page for your business and use some of your keywords in the name. Facebook fan pages are public and listed in the search engines. They have a tendency to rank well, so make sure that you keep the page updated and loaded with fresh content every week.

Tweet. Tweet. Tweedleedeet!

Twitter can be leveraged for SEO very effectively, if done correctly. All the tweets you send out, including your profile, appear in the search engine rankings. Everything you tweet for your business should include keywords and are relevant to your industry or niche. Post links to great articles you've read or wrote about your industry. This is a great way to establish yourself as an influence in your niche all the while optimizing your SEO.

LinkedIn

Even if you don’t use this site frequently, it is a very savvy business move to have a profile on LinkedIn. Not only do the LinkedIn profiles rank well, but it is an excellent way to network, recruit and exchange ideas with other thought leaders in your industry.

Social media has grown into an unstoppable rebel force on the Internet. If you aren’t using it to your advantage, you need to hire someone who can. If you are just too old fashioned or, dare I say, scared of technology, it will hurt your bottom line. Everyday, more and more people are making their purchases online. These days, instead of how easy it is to find your real business from the highway exit, it is all about how easy it is to find your website online. Conversions can be a click away.