You've been hearing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) this and SEO that for ages. It used to be that you could just have a popular website by having good content and keywords that would get you some good search engine results. But that's not good enough anymore. Those things are still absolutely important, but you've got to start taking a look at how social media sites can help you. It's a whole new bag now, GLAD WORKS friends.

The good ol' days

SEO used to involve two things: the right keywords and authoritative links that led back to your site. And now, social media is taking over and changing the game on us as search engine results have started bringing social signals (1+s, retweets and facebook likes) to help inform search engine results.

(For an explanation of SEO and why it's important, we will refer you to a post we wrote a little while back. Things have even changed since we wrote that post, but it will still give you some important basics.) 

How to baste your social media with SEO Awesomesauce

It all starts with content. If you have good quality content, you'll have a solid launching point for successful SEO. This is because Google pushes high quality content over high quantity content. You can have a ton of stuff out there, but if it's not great, you're out of luck. Google wants to send users only to the best content, not the them most content. 

Write love notes to Google

No, we don't mean writing such romantic poems like “roses are red, violets are blue, there's no other search engine better than you.” We mean that there's a way to write to get Google's attention. That means writing how you speak. People perform searches in their own words, so if Google can find that, you'll come up in a search. This is why the internet tends to be a bit more informal and colloquial. It's how people talk and talking to people is what it's all about.

With that in mind, it follows that if you write high quality content in words that people understand, appreciate and get value from, they're more likely to share it on social sites like facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc. This connects your brand to a wider network of people and allows your message to spread. All you have to do is be clever about it and let the sharing begin!

Getting people to share your content

Getting people to share your content may seem like a daunting task, but it's actually not. You can customize your social media buttons on your website to make it easier for them to share in just the click of a button. Have them at the bottom of every page or blog post so it's right there in front of them. The goal here isn't to get more “likes” on facebook. You're looking for shares and retweets. If a reader feels like your content is shareable, then their friends are likely to read it and, perhaps, share it with their friends and so on.

Don't make your posts all about you

A great way to reach people is to talk to them about them. Don't go on and on about your fabulous product. Understand and address your customer's pain points. Give them a solution and they'll be pleased as punch to help spread the good news for you. 

If you want something, just ask!

Sometimes people don't realize that the next step is to share what they've just read. Maybe include something like “If you liked this post, share it with your friends today!” Having a clear call to action is never a bad thing.

Pictures, people!

Everyone likes images and because of that, they can be great SEO bait, so never overlook the power of an image. Content is super important, but images impact SEO and can be optimized many different ways like in the way you caption them and describe them.

Google + is a biggie

If you were Google, who's social posts would you favor to come up in search results? That's right! You'd favor your own! That's why Google+ is a powerful tool and a great place to post links to your content. Being active there will help you a lot! You can even toss in a few keywords to make it extra attractive. Just make sure you don't sound like a robot. Nobody likes a spammer. 

It doesn't end with just posting things

You have to measure what's working. Use your analytics to see where your traffic is coming from and what's working and what's not. Be at the ready to change your tactics because things can change on the daily. Google Analytics is a great place to start tracking the impact your social media traffic is having.

This is just a quick overview of things that you can do to make social media your SEO partner. Are there any topics mentioned here you'd like us to go into in more detail about? 

Leave it in the comments below and it shall be yours. Let GLAD WORKS be your guide!