Like it or not, social media has forced its way into the world of online marketing, and it’s not going anytime soon. In the past, implementing a combined search engine optimisation (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) strategy was enough to ensure that your website will get noticed. But nowadays, customers are looking for more than just that. Social media has emerged as an important way to engage customers.
There is no doubt that SEO and PPC remain important in website promotion but the growing popularity of social media means that there are a lot of opportunities in this field as well. In fact, it would even be accurate to say that a business may disappoint customers if there is no way to interact with the company on a more “personal” basis through social media. So what is the best way to promote your business online these days?

Combining Search Engine Optimisation with Social Media Optimisation

The process of search engine optimisation and social media optimisation do no contradict each other; they are complementary. It is all just about providing a social environment within the site’s development structure. For example, a corporate website may integrate a blog in order to engage with its readers directly. The blog itself is a social media tool but it can be further enhanced with effective keyword targeting, link building, and other SEO strategies.
It can also be that SEO is used to attract site visitors. When they arrive on the website, the structure may include a Facebook widget that allows them to “like” the company. Whatever the case may be, social media has definitely emerged as a way to have a deeper engagement with the target market.
If you have an active SEO campaign right now, you might still be seeing high visitor traffic. But if your website is like the other 99% out there, then you’re also seeing a high bounce rate and low rate of return visitors despite the number of eyeballs your site managers to catch each day. This is because while SEO is effective in helping you get more visitors, it is a good social media campaign that ultimately convinces most of them to stay and become loyal.
For businesses that want to maximise the benefit of SEO, it is important to start a SMO campaign alongside it as well. It will help strengthen your brand, improve awareness, and encourage loyalty among visitors.