A lot of people write and talk about the connection between SEO and social media marketing (SMM). While reading blog posts today, and subsequently submitting and/or voting for some of them on social networking sites, it struck me that there is a super obvious connection between a blog’s SEO and SMM.
When submitting web pages to many social networks, page titles and/or meta descriptions are automatically included as the submission’s description. This makes the social process quick and efficient. However, I was shocked at how many blog posts did not contain customized page titles or meta descriptions. Why is that a problem? Some readers who submit that content may not know to check the auto-filled description to make sure it is relevant to the page in question. And worse yet, there could be a reader who is just in too much of a hurry to bother – and you’ve lost that SMM vote.
So, without further ado I’d like to share 3 simple tips that any blog owner can implement to increase social networking interaction, and they begin with some SEO 101!
- Write Custom Page Titles & Meta Descriptions: I can’t stress how important this is. Even if you take the social media factor out of the equation, you need to write custom, page-specific titles and descriptions. Just to recap: Search engines use these to create that page’s snippet in the SERPs. URL shortening services like bit.ly use the page title to format your Tweet. Sites like Mixx pull the meta description. When you write custom titles and descriptions you’ll improve your SEO, control how your content is described in social networking sites (including keywords – think anchor text!) and you’ll make the submission process simple for your readers.
- Add Submission Links to Social Media Sites: This one has been talked about ad nauseum, but it still is worth mentioning. If you want to encourage your readers to push your content into the social networking world, make it easy for them to do just that. Include links to the submission pages at the major social sites. The social networking sites all provide “submit this” URLs, and there are plugins like Sociable for the blogging platforms that do all of the work for you. If you use FeedBurner, you can even add “Feed Flare” that will add those links not only on your posts but also in your feed (Sociable can do this, too).
- Write Interesting Content & Catchy Headlines: OK, maybe this one is a bit of a stretch. Regardless, if your blog posts are boring – the first 2 tips are worthless. No readers, no point in worrying about social networking! The key to finding SMM success with your blog’s content really starts with your writing. Take the time to write descriptive, catchy headlines. And publish content that your target audience cares about!
With that, I’ll leave you to writing your great content! Once you’ve crossed that bridge, make sure you create custom page titles and meta descriptions for every post and page on your site. And finally, include easy to find links to submit that content to the social networking sites. Easy enough, right?
