Win the Web: SEO and Social Media are a Two-Punch Knockout

Public or private, business or individual, you will feel the difference between a positive web presence and a negative one. The number of strangers who are willing to take a chance with you or your product will either grow or decline, depending on what a simple Google search reveals about your name.

The real question is: who is doing the searching? Because if that person is just your average Google user, then there is a 33% chance that he or she will only look at the top search results. Meanwhile, there is a 91% chance that the search won’t go deeper than the first page of results.

Your Online Reputation is a Real-Life Safety Net

When failures in life, love and profession occur, how do we pick ourselves up? How do we attain that elusive second chance we are always hearing of in all those shared success stories?

Those second chances aren’t a product of fiction; they are there to make and take. And while there is no perfect formula to forge the opportunities that will help you grow in all your endeavors, a positive online reputation remains a consistent influence on the success of people and organizations alike.

Now, when it comes to the formula for boosting online reputations, there are indeed absolutes. And those absolutes give testimony to the importance of search engine optimization (SEO) and social media presence.

SEO is the Foundation for a Better Online Presence

SEO is not just a slice of the pie when it comes to online reputation management; rather, it is the crust which envelops the entire pastry, and more importantly, keeps it in good standing. SEO determines the placement of the material which individuals reference when they search you. So, in other words, if the best stories about you are at the top of the front page, then your SEO campaign has served its purpose.

In order to get there, take some advice from the pros. A blog on moz.com offers some insight on the human factors that influence a successful SEO campaign:

An important aspect of SEO is making your website easy for both users and search engine robots to understand. Although search engines have become increasingly sophisticated, they still can’t see and understand a web page the same way a human can. SEO helps the engines figure out what each page is about, and how it may be useful for users.

Moz.com is not alone in its appreciation for SEO. LinkedIn, a site whose niche lies in the grey area between social media and Business SEO, also shares an affinity for this ever-evolving methodology:

With Over 3 billion websites on Google alone, making sure the visitors find your site is a tough challenge. Competition is fierce for the top listings, yet without regular visitors your site might as well not exist. Search Engine Optimization is a proven methodology to increase domain authority with on and off site optimization techniques, which work in unison with content marketing and social media strategies to increase website visibility on search engine result pages.

But now that we’ve dropped an important keyword (lol, SEO joke), we should talk about the filling that goes in that pie crust.

Social Media Completes Your Online Reputation

Social media is the best way to take immediate control of your online presence. Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and more naturally rank well on major search engines, not to mention the search tools used within these sites can be leveraged in a manner reflective of traditional SEO.

That’s right: if you post on social media often and have followers engaging with your posts, you may also work your way to the top of these sites. It’s a popularity contest that is directly influenced by your level of activity and likeability. And sometimes, mastering those two factors still may not make a difference.

For example, if you are one of those people with the same name as a celebrity, then chances are your name may end up in that celebrity’s social media shadow forever; and it won’t be because you’re inactive on social media or because people don’t like you. It will be because someone with the same name as you already has a way stronger following.

The good news for those people is that because their social media profiles are hidden in the shadows of these high-profile celebrities, they have a smaller chance of their posts coming back to haunt them. Visibility is key in social media presence, and if your content portrays you in a negative light, it may be wise to let someone else sweep that under the rug.

But with that tiny population aside, the pros of a positive social media presence and the cons of a negative social media presence are shared across the board. A recent post done by our blog team reaffirms how the rules of social media apply to both people and brands:

“Whether you’re running a company, looking to harness in a more professional image or simply seeking to renew your online image, reinvigorating your social media presence with a more responsive, positive and engaging strategy can do wonders for your personal or professional brand.”

SEO and Social Media for the Win!

Social media strategy is an essential component to the online reputation management services offered at InternetReputation.com. That, paired with our expert SEO services, is a two-punch knockout to getting your online presence back on track.