Should you focus more on search engine optimization (SEO) or social media strategies? That’s like asking if you should have cake or ice cream—they just work better together. The past few years have drummed up conversations on the importance of user-generated content, how to actually manage social media presence, and the inclusion of local SEO (LSEO) for certain geo-targeted websites. Overall, adopting a more social approach while keeping up with SEO best practices is what will take your web presence to the next level.
You already know your clients, customers, and readers are on social media sites. You also know that you need to utilize SEO to get better rankings on Google and other search 
engines. Tackling both of these approaches separately can lead to double work and burnout. With online reputation management (ORM), you can tackle two birds with one stone.
A Marriage of Equals
So, how can you best use social approaches in SEO? At the most basic level, you need to ensure that SEO best practices are used in social media so that every post and Tweet gives you SEO “juice.” You don’t just want your website to come up high in Google rankings when someone queries your top key words. If you offer clarinet lessons in Providence, why not aim to have your website, Facebook page, and YouTube clips of lessons all come up on page one?
That’s the most obvious of approaches, but don’t forget about the importance of social in all things content. For example, if you’ve added a blog—which can be SEO gold—how are you writing to your readers? Is it easy to share the blog on applicable platforms, do you have just the right amount of buttons, and are you dishing up engaging and/or informative material? Don’t have time? Then you need to hire an SEO firm that takes care of your social media marketing along with your search engine optimization.
In It for the Long Haul
With both SEO and social media, this is a long-term endeavor because you’re building relationships. You’re improving your reputation and, in turn, driving more traffic to your websites. This isn’t something that can be done overnight. Many businesses are also spending money on social media marketing, which is a wise investment. You need to know who your target audience is, what you want to achieve, and how to improve brand awareness and credibility.
The absolute best way to get the results you want is to merge social media marketing campaigns with SEO strategies. These are two very different digital marketing strategies that play extremely well together. They feed off one another in a good way, allowing you to maximize your efforts while ensuring the brand stays true. If you keep these strategies separated, you might be signing up for a lot of extra work and something is bound to slip through the cracks. Instead, consolidate your efforts and streamline the process—it’s what smart business owners do, and it’s simple with a professional at the virtual wheel.