While some people place SEO and social media in two separate categories, we believe that online marketing does not exist in a vacuum. Leveraging social channels, and the information they possess can work wonders for every online marketing campaign. To prove it, here are four ways that social media promotes and collaborates with your SEO goals.
Social Sites Build a Search Presence for Branded Searches
Branded searches don’t receive as much attention in the SEO community as general product searches, but they’re extremely important nonetheless. Users who enter search queries that include a brand name have typically moved on from the research stage of the buying process and have entered the buying stage. These users know that your property has what they want in an apartment community, but they’d like to see what others are saying before they make a purchase decision.
Apartment communities that maintain a presence on several social networks typically control a lot of Page 1 listings for branded keyword searches, and this is an extremely good thing. It’s much better to have your Facebook or Twitter page as the second search result than it is to have a negative listing that’s completely out of your control, such as a news article about a burglary incident that occurred on your property several years ago. By maintaining a social presence on multiple channels, you help to ensure that your brand searches remain clear of anything negative.
Social Sites Also Influence Non-Branded Search Queries
There’s an ongoing debate over whether or not social chatter influences Google search results. While it’s unlikely that online marketers will discover all the trade secrets of Google’s algorithm anytime soon, we do know that Google+ has an effect on search results under the right conditions.
If you’re following a certain site or have a certain author in your circles, and you conduct a search that includes a keyword that’s used on a page published by that site or author, it’s very likely that the page published by that site or author will appear in your search results. Although social’s influence on search is complicated, apartment communities can take advantage of the knowledge that is available by creating, and optimizing, a Google+ profile.
Social Sites Serve as a PR Tool
Responding to reviews is a great way to build your authority as a trusted business. Approximately 90 percent of consumers trust the reviews they read online. And if you’re not responding to these reviews, you’re losing a ton of opportunities to improve your public relations and show renters, as well as potential renters, that you care about their concerns.
Although failing to respond to reviews is bad for business, responding in the wrong way is much, much worse. Remember that some reviews can be personal in nature, so you need to check your emotions at the door before responding. If you don’t feel confident in your ability to stay calm in such situations, Respage offers a Review Response tool where trained public relations specialists respond to user reviews in a highly professional manner.
Social Sites Brainstorm Content Ideas for You
Social feedback isn’t just good for building a positive brand image, it’s also a fantastic way to create ideas for new content. For example, if residents of your pet-friendly apartment are constantly asking you about where they can find services for their animals, it might be a good idea to create a blog post about pet-related services in the area.
Keeping an eye on your social profiles will help you identify content trends. If you see residents, or potential residents, asking the same questions over and over again, take the initiative and devote a lengthy article to that topic. Creating new, unique, and engaging content that answers the right questions will work wonders for your organic search listings.
Don’t have enough time to handle social media on your own? Check out the Respage line of fully automated, easy-to-use social media management tools for apartment communities.
