Social Media Marketing or SEO: Which Is Better? The ultimate guide
Social Media or SEO: Which is better? When talking about SEO and Social Media, there is often a great debate on which one is better. In truth, both have their purpose and depending on your business. One can be considered more important than the other.
With so many of today’s Internet users making a majority of their browsing and purchasing decisions online, it’s no surprise that businesses are turning to search engine optimization (SEO) and social media marketing (SMM) to get the attention they need.
In today’s post, we’ll dig into the differences between social media marketing and SEO. This may sound like a simple question, but as you’ll see there’s a ton of nuance here. There are several different ways to approach each and both can be powerful tools when used correctly. And because of that, it’s important to understand the differences between them so you can make an informed decision about which type of marketing strategy makes the most sense for you. So, let’s dive in!
This article reviews the strengths and weaknesses of both SEO and SMM and provides a roadmap for creating an effective plan for your company.
SEO
SEO is the process of driving targeted traffic to your website from search engines. You need to create quality content, pay attention to relevant keywords, and also incorporate backlinks.
Compared to SMM, SEO is definitely the harder of the two in many ways. It requires more commitment of time, knowledge and patience.
Benefits of SEO
SEO has some unique advantages that other forms of digital marketing don’t quite have. This is no surprise since close to 75% of searchers start their searches on Google.
While search engine optimization is not something you can rush into, it’s important to take the time to get the right results. Let’s take a look at some of its benefits and how they can impact your business.
Valuable website traffic
To achieve a high ranking in search engines, you must ensure that your website is relevant to the keyword or phrase your audience is searching for. Once they search with a keyword that’s relevant to your offering, your website will be the first to show up!
When it comes to how consumers research products and services, search engines like Google are powerful tools. They allow consumers to search for information about new offerings and product types.
1. When your business is online, search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial to its success. The following tips will help your business improve its SEO strategy and achieve better results.
2. Know what keywords are important to your audience. When you’re trying to drive traffic to your website, it’s important to know the keywords that people use to find your site. This will help you understand what people are looking for and will inform your content creation.
3. Write quality, informative content. To be successful with SEO, your content must be informative and valuable to your audience.
You spend less on SEO
This is a great way to get the benefits of search engine Optimisation. Hard work, patience, and smartness are what you need to get the results. If you want to get the best results, you need to work with an SEO company.
An expert SEO will know what needs to be done very quickly as they have a lot of experience. You as a novice will need to learn everything from the start and there is a surprising amount to learn.
SEO gets more clicks than some paid advertising
In a 2017 study, researchers found that the first result on any given search page gets 20.5% of the clicks on the page. Many people trust and rely on Google’s algorithm, and so prefer it to sponsored or paid content.
According to a study, 81% of customers research online before buying an item, be it from a store or online. This shows that you could enjoy more traffic with SEO than paid advertising.
SEO can help you achieve a good ROI
If you want your website to be seen no matter where you are, you’ll need to rank in the search results for the right keywords. This will help your target audience find your website.
Once your target market can see your offering, there is every likelihood that more conversions and patronage will occur. Naturally, this will take your business to the next level.
There are many SEO tools available on the market, and they can help you to make the process of optimizing your website easier and faster. Some of these are free and some of those are paid.
Perhaps the most famous SEO tools are Semrush and Ahrefs. However, they are expensive. If you are on a budget look at free tools like Google Keyplanner and SEO quake, they offer a lot of value for free.
SEO Musts
Below are some essential things you need to know in order for your SEO to be successful
Understand your audience and their expectations
You need to know what your target audience wants or doesn’t want to see when they query a word or phrase. They don’t want to look elsewhere if it’s simple and straightforward. Do you know the format they prefer, is it text, images, or video? It is possible to develop suitable content when you understand these. It is necessary that you pay attention to it.
There are some things that you need to be careful of. You must make sure that the information you provide is right for them. It is important that you keep in mind that not all your target audience will use the same search engine. It is vital to understand this. You need to understand the search terms used by the target audience. You need to know what the keywords are that people use to find what they’re looking for. It is important to understand this as you can’t write content that will appeal to everyone. Some people search using a different search engine than others.
Link building
Link building involves linking other websites to your online content. Links are used to crawl the web in order to find quality content.
The ranking of your website is based on the content of your website, and how credible or reputable the websites are that links to you, and how many links they have from other websites. If a good number of high-quality websites link to you, you’ll most likely get a high SEO ranking.
To build links, you must be consistent, dedicated, and patient. You may need to spend some time to build your reputation and gain links, but when you do, you will reap the benefits.
On-Page SEO
It’s very important to keep your On-Page factors up to speed. It is important that you use the right words on text, title, and heading tags. Page load speed and easy navigation are equally important. Users are not very patient, so if there is a slight delay or difficulty, they could leave your site. Click here to find out more about On-Page-SEO.
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
The use of social media platforms to drive website traffic is referred to as social media marketing. It helps to build your brand and boost sales with this traffic. It involves posting engaging content on your social media profiles, interacting with your followers, and analyzing your results.
According to a study, 80% of marketers rely on social media to raise brand awareness. The most important social media platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, and Snapchat.
Benefits of Social Media Marketing
Social media is a bit informal and flexible. It is often seen as a place to chill and unwind. Most marketers take advantage of this by targeting potential customers in this relaxed mood when they are more likely to have a better response.
Direct communication with customers
Feedback is crucial in marketing. Social media gives you the opportunity to interact with your customers and to know their needs. You can also have direct interaction with them, where they can express their needs.
It helps you understand their quirks and habits if you interact with them regularly. It’s possible to channel your campaigns in this direction.
You can reach a wider audience
Millions of people are on social media, and your target audience is likely to be there. When you post on social media, your followers can share the content, making sure that it gets to a broader audience. If a lot of people see your product or service, you’ll enjoy more traffic and possible patronage.
It´s not expensive
While traditional advertising is relatively expensive, social media advertising is relatively cheap. Opening a social media account is free for most of the platforms, and takes little or no effort to do so. All you need to do is to build a strong followership/fan base and watch as your business booms!
A lot great of options
There are a lot of social media platforms. The more inclined you are to a particular platform, the more active you will be. Here is the good news – you can have an account in all of them! Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Twitter, you name it!
This means that you can reach your target audience no matter the platform they are in or more active in. This will also drive traffic to your website if you add a link to it.
Social Media Marketing Trends
Here are some major social media marketing trends to consider
Live Video Content remains key
Social media is more of images and videos and less of text. It’s the perfect place for video content, and it’s very likely to continue that way. Most advertisers have used video content to a great effect on social media, and there seems to be a perfect fit. A lot of devices support video format, and many users also seem to be inclined to it.
Messaging Apps and Chatbots
Real-time communication apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and other direct messaging features are all tools used to deliver real-time communication between marketers and their customers. Through these avenues, they can deliver good customer service to their customers.
Private chats allow you to interact with your customers in a more personal way, allowing you to deliver your content in a more personal way.
Social listening for Lead Generation
Social media listening is the process of monitoring social media sites to see what people are saying about you and your products. With social listening tools, marketers can get a hint of the questions that customers are asking.
Use these tools to develop content that will address those issues. The tools also allow you to identify prospects across social media platforms. Following up on these leads could turn them into eventual customers.
Ephemeral content engages users
There are images and short videos that are only available for a short period. Due to limited access, they have a high engagement rate and encourage users to take action. The major platforms that carry ephemeral content are Facebook,
This can be seen in the examples of Instagram and Facebook “stories”. In the second quarter of the year, the number of daily active users on the photo-sharing service was about 400 million.
Influencer marketing remains the game-changer on social media
Social media influencers have a large audience/followership on social media. This strategy is one of the fastest ways to get your product out there.
It’s great to be featured on another’s social media profile, especially when they have a large following. It means that your product or service will be seen by a lot of people, and that can help you gain more followers.
Comparison – Social Media Marketing and Search Engine Optimization
SMM and SEO, how do they compare to each other? Let’s find out…
While SMM and SEO both focus on attracting visitors, their approach is slightly different. We’ll compare the two to understand their similarities and differences.
Social media users are more likely to be passive and spontaneous, so they are less likely to buy from you. But they are more likely to like your post and share it.
With SEO, specific audiences are targeted that already have an interest in the product or service you provide. Therefore the conversion rate will be much higher but most probably they will not share the article or blog.
Social media marketing thrives in content that appeals to the emotions of the users. This content will usually go viral within a short time and will usually attract a sort of response from the audience. However, the file of a post is very short-lived and will be forgotten very soon.
Comparison – Social Media Marketing and Search Engine Optimization
SEO, on the other hand, focuses on research-based and explicit content that provides answers to Google queries. If the content that you provide is very good and provides a comprehensive engaging answer and your website has the authority. That article can stay at the number one spot in Google for years. I have seen top-rated content that was published in 2015!
Content is king on social media, and so it is vital to create compelling content that will appeal to your target audience instantly. Social media is fast-moving, and so you need content that is engaging and catchy to get your audience’s attention. SEO deals more with long-form content, as the average page that ranks high in Google has 1500+ words. So it will provide a much more detailed answer to a persons question which should lead to better lead generation.
Social media marketing allows you to instantly gain visibility and traffic. For instance, on Twitter, you can even trend and make the number one spot. However, it may be short-lived unless you put a consistent and continuous effort. SEO on its part may take time to build rankings, but once it does, there is usually sustainability.
The special relationship
Social media can bring traffic to your website, which will help to boost your ranking in the search engines. Also, credible brands can become aware of your business through social sharing. In order for the content to be targeted, it needs to be found by people that need it.
Social listening is a tool used by marketers to develop content that will rank high on search engines. With this, they will attract valuable visitors that will most likely become customers.
So in a sense, both social media and SEO can work together to increase your brands’ awareness and also to get ideas for long-form.
Conclusion - Social Media or SEO: Which Is Better?
Both SEO and social media should have a place in your marketing strategy.
They both have strengths and weaknesses but can also work together.
Also, the type of business you are could also play a significant role in what % of your marketing you should devote to each one.
A business that sells emotional products for example affordable jewellery would more likely find success in social media.
However, for a business that offers Law services, it would probably be a good idea to concentrate its efforts on SEO.
If you want professional advice on what SEO can do for your business don´t hesitate to contact us, we would love to help you out.
