Social Media or SEO? That’s the question.
This post has 2 comments.
Ok, so I am going to write this post basically inspired by a post added in one of the LinkedIn groups I subscribe to. And I have to thank Zachary O’Brien for bringing forward this very interesting topic. Social Media vs. SEO.
I am simply going to quote myself; hopefully you’ll all give me your opinion as I would like to extend this beyond the group where it originated and LinkedIn altogether. In the end, I hope I can spark everyone’s sense to understand that there is a marked difference between the two, and that they simply complement one another. Some members chose Social over SEO due to the fact that it “creates relationships” which translate into long lasting business.
So here is my own opinion in response to this:
“I don’t know if that’s true. Social Media builds relationships but it is much harder to convert those relationships to clients due to the “non-targeted” nature of it.
As much as you can play with group demographics to try and narrow down your market, you are building relationships but they may not be ready to buy. Therefore this process may take longer to deliver real results. I mean, the process takes time to build your brand and be recognized in groups and communities, when someone is ready to buy THEN you will get a sale (if you’re the right choice).
On the other hand, SEO is a way to get INTERESTED buyers to you, people who are close to or already within the “buying” process. They plug in a search, SEO helps you show as one of the first choices –> you get a visitor –> depending on your content, you may get a call –> depending on your pitch, you may get a client.
SEO Converts quicker than social media. I would say, if you don’t have the budget to do SEO, then do Social Media only (no choice) but if you have the budget, don’t just choose Social Media, do both.
Lastly, I dont know if it is true that SEO builds no relationships, SEO can help you build a mailing list based on valuable information you’re willing to provide in exchange to the contact. With this mailing list you can establish a relationship through regular email newsletters and communications. Also Through SEO people can find your site –> then find your social presence and end up following your writings and opinion.
Look at it this way, with SEO you get an interested buyer $$$ who may become a relationship , with social media you get the relationship and maybe later an interested buyer $$$ (but it takes longer, and far and fewer between than SEO).
If you have the money and not the time, then just do SEO. It all depends on your resources. I would do the best to do SEO if I had to choose (and I have the money)” –Jovanky De Los Santos
Comments
Luis Maimoni
I agree with you: SEO is the hands-down winner between the two choices. While some folks have been able to generate sales by tweeting about specials, or created relationships on LinkedIn or Facebook, SEO has a greater and more long-lasting effect on lead generation. You mention the budget issue ("if I had the money"), and that's true to a point. But, entrepreneurs with very limited budgets can do a lot to attract search engines, especially writing articles or creating videos. And, it's east enough to learn to update your H1 tags to include the keywords you're optimizing for, etc.Ivor Tetteh-Lartey Photography
The major benefit o SEO is when a visitor uses your keywords to find you, I find that they spend more time and view more pages by comparison to social networking sites.