Social Media is an Inbound Link Machine
In the last few years social media has exploded onto the interactive scene and has forever changed online marketing. From bookmarking, to Twitter, to Facebook to Blogging, social media offers many different channels through which users can connect with each other. For search marketing, and in particular, search engine optimization (SEO), social media offers a vast pipeline through which inbound links can be established to help boost keyword rankings and site traffic.
Inbound links are an important part of the correct approach to getting search engine visibility. Most SEO experts will agree that keyword dense content is “King” and while I completely concur, it must also be said that inbound links are “Queen”. The simple truth is, that in order to achieve desired rankings, especially in a competitive space, both content and inbounds links must be utilized to win the rankings battle. I personally feel that on a percentage basis, the breakdown is approximately 65% content and 35% inbound links. However, regardless of the mix, the key take away is the two parts must be employed to get the best possible rankings.
Until social media came along, inbound links were typically established by targeting complimentary websites and then contacting the webmaster with a link request. Some sites would respond by either rejecting or fulfilling the request, others would want a reciprocal link (which does not really help improve rankings) and some would want to charge. In addition to the simple link request strategy (which is still effective), there are also less than unorthodox tactics such as link farms that should be avoided as the risks are high.
Today, one of the best ways to generate inbound links is through social media. People use social media for many different reasons and a good portion of them use it to tell and/or recommend information to others about products, events, services, etc. This means that social media, by nature, involves people listing links to third party websites within their posts and messages to others. Understanding this is key to establishing an effective inbound link program. In a nutshell, your strategy should focus on leveraging various social media channels to take advantage of content and networks that have already been created by others.
Here are a few examples:
Blog Commenting - This tactic begins with research to identify industry related blogs that have traffic and a good reputation. The next step is to post comments on recent posts with links back to relevant content sections of your site. But, be careful not to overdo it. You must make sure that your comments are related to the content in the post and that the link that you are suggesting offers related content that is of value.
Blog Influencers - This tactic builds off of the first. The goal is to identify key bloggers in your industry that have a strong following and that write content that is complimentary to your business strategy. Once you identify these industry champions, reach out to them. Let them know that you like what they write about and ask if they’d be willing to write a post about something that your company is doing that would provide value to their audience. If you’re able to get a few key influencers to include information and a link back to relevant content on your site, it’s a huge score!
Networking Communities - There are many communities on the Internet where individuals network with each other. Some are specialized and very focused on specific subjects. The key here is to find communities that would be interested to know about your products, services, thoughts, ideas, etc. Then, join the community and become active in it. When it makes sense, share information by posting comments that contain links back to relevant content on your website.
Twitter - Just like blog influencers there are extremely active tweeters out there. The goal here is to identify those that are focused on your industry, products, services or something related to them. The approach is to Direct Message these individuals with valuable information that they in turn will post to their extensive group of followers. The challenge is to identify these individuals and then to provide them with content that they will view as something they should share.
These tactics are just some examples of how social media can be leveraged to generate inbound links. Taking advantage of them will greatly help your SEO efforts and in general work to drive traffic to your website. Social media is a vast movement within the online landscape and it offers many different channels to network through. From an inbound link perspective, narrowing down the sea of possible targets by focusing on relevant and complimentary websites, blogs and network communities can and will improve SEO.
