10 Most Important SEO & Social Media Tactics of 2012

Submitted by ClickOptimize on Thu, 07/26/2012 - 11:18

The year’s just half over, but certain internet marketing professionals are already forecasting what they believe to be the most important search engine optimization and social media marketing tactics of 2012. In efforts to provide our clients the best internet marketing results possible, we have taken their list and tweaked it to reflect our own preferences!

1. Get an SEO site audit

Site audits are one of the most important tasks we as internet marketing professionals can perform for your business. At Click Optimize, our SEO strategists offer a variety of paid and free website analysis options to help you determine your site’s ranking on major search engines, how many site visitors you’ve had in the past month, and where each of those visitors came from.

Don’t want to wait for a ranking report? Our SEO package provides you access to a personal Google Analytics account, so you can monitor website traffic on your own time. Bare in mind that real SEO results don’t happen overnight...there are no quick fixes to give your page a better ranking in Google search results. We strive instead to help you achieve consistently higher search engine results over time through our long-term, multifaceted approach.

2. Register your brand name on major social channels

Do you own a clothing store? Or a brew pub? The best way to spread word of your brand name is to set up accounts on all the major social channels.

If you’re reading this and don’t have Facebook or Twitter, stop what you’re doing right now and go claim your business on both. We encourage active participation on these sites. However, your mere presence on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and other social media sites will dramatically improve your search engine rankings.

3. Tweet it. Tag it. Like it. Pin it. Plus it.

Whether you want to post an 1100-word blog on Facebook or tweet “TGIF!” to your Twitter followers, it is essential that you make some sort of effort to engage your customers online through your various social media channels.

Did you know that 91% of adults online use social media regularly? And that 20% of Facebook users have purchased something because of an ad or comment they saw on there? With social networks and blogs accounting for nearly a quarter of all time spent on the internet, we highly recommend the optimization of your social media accounts–and we can help you do it!

At Click Optimize, our social media specialists can create a custom social media package to meet your unique needs. From social media strategy to online reputation management–we are sure to have the social media services to help you gain exposure and insight in your target market!

4. Display your social media “connect” buttons on your website

Once you’ve built your Facebook page and established a Twitter following, make sure your social media “connect” buttons are visible on your website. In doing this, you allow your website visitors to connect easily with your brand which a.) maximizes the value of each website visitor, and b.) helps your SEO value by showing that you care about your social media presence.

Just be careful with how you go about placing these connect buttons. You don’t want to overdo it by putting buttons at the top of every page of your site. Give customers the opportunity to connect, without making them feel forced to do so.

5. Enable your visitors to easily share your content with social media “share” button

This is one of the easiest and most effective ways to organically outsource content from your site. By allowing others to share your content, you expand your reach as a brand and help your customers easily discuss your content. It can also bring in a host of new visitors to your site and result in a ton of SEO-boosting social signals.

Examples of “sharable” content include case studies, lists, interviews, infographics, resources/curated content, videos, images, breaking news, and tutorials.

6. Build your email list

A time-honored marketing tradition, email marketing is permission-based because people have to first give you permission to contact them by providing you their email. A good way to build your email list quickly is by placing opt-in email forms on all the pages of your website and blog. We offer a wide array of email marketing solutions to help you create and manage your email campaigns. There are also a variety of free email management solutions (such as MailChimp) out there to help you design email newsletters, share them on social networks, integrate with services already in use, and track your results.

7. Get on the Pinterest bandwagon

With more than 3 million visitors a month, Pinterest has become the fastest growing website of all time. If you haven’t jumped on board the Pinterest bandwagon, now’s the perfect time to do so! Though your presence on the site will not lead directly to sales, the advertising potential is exponential.

Before jumping on the bandwagon, be careful to make sure your company is a good fit for Pinterest. Just because you can get on Pinterest, doesn’t mean you necessarily should. Consider what content will bring users to your site (pins) and what content you want them to take away (pinning from your site). Certain service-based companies ( i.e. plumbing, HVAC, and others) may not benefit from the creation of a Pinterest account.

Unsure whether your company is a good fit? Worried about getting overwhelmed with the creation of yet another social media account? At Click Optimize, our social media strategists will walk you through your options...assisting you along the way in the creation of your own infographics, price banner, web links, etc. We can also streamline your social media efforts by integrating your Pinterest account with your Twitter and personal Facebook accounts.

8. Publish awesome content on your blog (lots of it!)

Think of every page of content as a hook in the proverbial ocean that is internet marketing. The more quality content you have coming out of your site, the better your chances are of yielding organic search results. Search engine algorithms are sophisticated enough nowadays to distinguish between rich, high-quality content and shallow, thin content. Therefore, it is essential you author factual, well-written content when creating a new article or blog for your site.

If you don’t have time to devote to writing good content, we recommend you look into hiring a copywriting professional. If your site is determined to have over-optimized or duplicate content, you could be penalized by Google and subsequently rank lower in search engine results.

9. Start an SEO link building campaign

If content is the hook, building links is the bait that goes on those hooks. The quantity and quality of inbound links to a page is the most important indicator of the quality, relevance and credibility of the content on that page. Syndicating your blog posts on your various social media channels is a good place to start. However, you have to do more than that to REALLY grab the attention of search engines.

Social news sites allow you distribute press releases, curate content on web 2.0 sites, establish an author profile on high-quality article directories and participate in forums in efforts to make it easier for you to enhance your web presence.

10. Author guest blog posts

Guest blog posts can boost your site’s visibility and earn precious backlinks. Scope out the top “dream sites” in your industry and reach out to them about the possibility of writing a guest blog post. In doing so, you will enhance your credibility as a brand and increase your brand awareness.

Not a wordsmith? Our web writers offer a full range of professional writing services, including those for press releases and press kits, SEO articles, brochures, advertising copy, and video script writing.

Contact us today at 919-301-8406 to learn more about our website copywriting services. Fill out our online form to request a free, no-obligation consultation.

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