Perfexion Inc. Web Design, SEO & Social Media Blog

When it comes to developing a winning social media strategy, Google says quality content is key in terms of earning a higher ranking on their results pages. Since 2011, Google’s most popular ranking algorithms—panda, penguin, and hummingbird, respectively—have been focused on indexing and ranking as much quality content existing on the Internet as possible. Intuitively this makes sense, but it also begs the questions: what exactly is high quality content and how does Google define and/or recognize it?

In order to answer these questions, you first have to understand Google’s ultimate aim for their search engine; how it is evolving; and what steps you can take in order to generate content that is consistently well-written, well-researched, and relevant.

The Endless Evolution of Search

Accounting for 3.5 searches daily, and approximately 1.2 trillion searches per year, Google has surpassed all platforms to become the leading online search engine. Every day, consumers rely on Google to generate the most relevant and reliable results concordant with their specific searches. While there are multiple search engines competing for our attention, Google sends the most traffic to your site, and thus, remains the most popular.

Despite its market dominance, Google must work to maintain its competitive edge over other popular search engines like Bing and Yahoo. Over the past several years, Google has rolled out a series of policy changes and algorithm updates aimed at ranking quality sites higher in search results and demoting and removing lower quality sites. With each new and improved iteration, Google strives to create a more seamless connection between users and the knowledge they seek.

As technology continues to evolve, so too, will Google’s search features. Google wants to be the default search engine; the one that instinctively understands user’s intentions when they ask a question and then immediately provides them with the exact information they want and need. With each new algorithm, Google is making it clear that the focus should be on publishing quality content that is the best of its kind rather than ranking for keywords.

While keywords can provide useful context to your digital content, they have become a bit of a hindrance when it comes to conducting online searches. Without the proper context, the intent and use of your selected keywords may confuse/mislead users, or even direct them to a different website altogether, thereby returning the exact opposite results you want.

Google has decided that keyword-heavy, low-quality content is out; high-quality content is in. Webmasters, content developers, and business owners alike have little choice but to shed their allegiances to traditional SEO tactics and follow Google’s lead.

How Does Google Define Quality Content?

So, how does Google define quality content? While there is no set definition, here are a few factors that Google uses to define quality content:

1. Learn your audience and engage your core clientele. A successful social media strategy begins and ends with consumers, so it is imperative to understand who your target demographic is and how to appeal to them. In other words, create content that establishes trust and credibility among your users.

2. Provide valuable information that users are looking for and will actually benefit from. Be transparent and don’t confuse or mislead users with deceptive titles merely to improve your ranking. Whatever you write about should be informative, interesting, and meaningful.

3. Become a resource. Link to high quality content from other sources and refer to them from your own page to increase the legitimacy of your site.

4. Publish new and innovative content as often as possible. For Google, what you publish is more important than how often you publish, but you should strive to be consistent as possible when it comes to producing fresh content.

5. Differentiate your website as much as possible (especially from those with very similar objectives). Think about what makes your website unique, and create content that emphasizes your individuality.

6. Establish a call to action that allows you to connect and interact with your customers and vice versa. Encourage them to ask questions, leave comments, and share your post — anything to stimulate interest and keep consumers active and engaged.

The Bottom Line

As quality content becomes an increasingly crucial tool for business growth and development, it is necessary not only to have a refined strategy that encompasses the preceding points, but to frequently assess whether your content is helping you meet your short and long-term business goals. Creating quality content that is easy to read and navigate should be your primary goal, and Perfexion, Inc. is here to help! Our qualified professionals specialize in producing high quality content on a consistent basis that can increase your ranking and reputation, while also keeping you in Google’s good graces.

WEBSITE pfxn.com
E-MAIL hello@pfxn.com
CALL 610-783-7660
SAY HELLO

The longevity and prosperity of businesses is largely determined by, and dependent upon, the ranking, reputation, and revenue they generate over time. There are many ways to grow your business, but developing a targeted social media strategy with highly specific objectives that are attainable, measurable, relevant, and timely is one of the most effective and essential ways to increase visibility and enhance bottom line results.

What’s [Social Media] Got To Do With It?

In short, everything! Today, internet marketing is all but a necessity for local businesses. If your brick and mortar business does not also have a robust online presence, it might as well be invisible to consumers. But, how exactly did we get here and what are the advantages of social media marketing? Let’s examine the individual components of a quality social media strategy in more detail.

Webmasters, content developers, and business owners alike unanimously agree that social media is one of the most powerful and prominent ways to target new customers, while also maintaining strong, personal connections with current or recurring customers. Unfortunately, however, new business owners and inexperienced marketers often utilize social media without first developing a clear and concise marketing strategy. At best, this is a waste of time and effort; at worst, it can be the downfall of your business if the account is not managed or monitored appropriately.

So, how do you develop a winning social media strategy? While there is no one-size-fits-all approach, here are a few tips to get you started:

Set attainable goals that address the purpose of your social media marketing efforts. If, for example, your main objectives are customer retention and satisfaction, you should devise a social media strategy that reflects and supports those initiatives above all.
Make sure your objectives are achievable and measurable. If your goal is brand awareness, for example, your first step is to decide how many mentions you can realistically get each month, and then create a social media strategy that allows you to measure and monitor your progress. Regardless of what your objectives are, they should be closely aligned with your overall business goals — and they must be quantifiable.
Learn your audience and engage your clientele. A successful social media strategy begins and ends with consumers, so it is imperative to understand who your target demographic is and how best to appeal to them. Creating ‘buyer personas’ is an easy way to ensure that you are attracting the quality — and qualified — customers you desire.
Keep your competitors close. Getting acquainted with the competition will make you a better, more strategic business owner because you are learning from the failures and successes of others and modifying your approach accordingly. Also, while you and your competitors may have similar messaging, try to generate original content that sets you apart.
Choose your channels wisely. With so many media platforms at our fingertips, it can be tempting to market our goods and services on every channel. It is important to remember, however, to choose the channel(s) that most closely align with the products or services you are promoting. A fashion blogger, for example, will amass a larger following on Instagram and Pinterest than on LinkedIn or Google+. Focusing your marketing efforts on the most relevant platforms increases the probability that you will find your ideal customers, and that your ideal customers will, in turn, find you.

As social media becomes an increasingly crucial tool for business growth and development, it is necessary not only to have a refined strategy that encompasses the preceding points, but to frequently assess whether that strategy is helping you meet your short and long-term business goals.

The Importance of Auditing

One of the best ways to assess the quality of your strategy is by conducting a social media audit, which requires you to collect pertinent data from all of your social media accounts. This comprehensive evaluation of your online activity will reveal whether your strategy is in fact helping, or hindering, your business goals.

The first step of the audit is to collate metrics from all social media activity, including: advertising impressions, affiliate clicks, comments, engagement rates, followers, likes, mentions, shares, and views. Once compiled, the metrics provide valuable insights about which platforms drive the most traffic to your website, what types of posts facilitate the most user engagement, and how your audience is interacting with you on each platform.

Source: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-conduct-social-media-audit/

Additional metrics to be considered include the day and time of your posts, as well as the consistency, frequency, and quality of your posts on all channels. Unless done intentionally, discrepancies across platforms can appear sloppy, negatively affecting your overall ranking, reputation, and revenue. Posting quality content on a regular basis, however, establishes customer loyalty and credibility.

Your Audit Toolkit: Measuring the Metrics

While many social media networks provide their own metrics, third-party tools like RivalIQ, SEMrush, Hootsuite, Klout, Audience, TweetReach, and HowSociable also allow you to track and monitor the health of your social media profiles. Furthermore, these auditing tools provide useful insights about your target demographic — including what they do (or what they don’t do) during their visit.
RivalIQ and SEMrush, in particular, are worth noting because they allow you to perform a personal audit as well as a competitive analysis. That is, both RivalIQ and SEMrush offer a broad overview of your competitors’ online activity so that you can see how your business (and online presence) compares to theirs.

While it is important not to fixate on metrics alone, regular social media audits will allow you to determine what is working well and what needs to be improved across the social media platforms you utilize to ensure that your business thrives. Analyze your metrics at least once a week to ensure that your social media strategy reflects both your short-term and long-term business goals. And as your objectives inevitably change over time, it is imperative that you continue refining your strategy to accommodate them.

If you need assistance developing a targeted social media strategy or even conducting a social media audit, Perfexion, Inc. is here to help! Our qualified professionals specialize in managing and maximizing clients’ web content, ranking, and search results traffic.

WEBSITE pfxn.com
E-MAIL hello@pfxn.com
CALL 610-783-7660
SAY HELLO

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/246085
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.semrush.com/blog/social-media-audit-seocafe/amp/

Share this:

What’s [Social Media] Got To Do With It?

The Importance of Auditing

Your Audit Toolkit: Measuring the Metrics

Share this: