Social networks are not the future for website marketing and SEO | Norfolk Tech Journal

Home

About Us

Events

Advertise

Contact

Download Magazine Latest Edition January 2014 December 2013 November 2013

Latest Edition

January 2014

December 2013

November 2013

Linkbait alert! If a marketing expert tells you that leveraging social networks is the future, or is as important as content, fire them on the spot. They’ve got it the wrong way round.

Cast your mind back to the end of 2013. Try to remember how the internet of 2013 felt. Depending on how quickly I get this article out there, or how often you visit the Norfolk Tech Journal, that may have been last month or a few years ago.

Whether you remember them or not, or even noticed them, trust me when I tell you that there were a lot of these beauties hanging around:

(Buttons similar to these were found on pretty much every site I tried, with the exception of Apple.com who are apparently too good for social media.)

Each of those social media icons would either link to the company’s page on bemytwitfacespacebookboer.com™, or maybe even skip that step and let you follow or tweet or post about how awesome their page or product is directly.

At the end of 2013, a senior SEO consultant claimed that 2014 would be when social media becomes as important to SEO as content. I’m sure that was just a slip of the keyboard, so I won’t mention his name. But he said it, and it shocked me.

By the end of 2013, if you did not have a couple of social media links at the very least, you were missing out on a basic opportunity to gather new customers – unless you have the size, stature and purity ethos of Apple Incorporated. Social media was fundamental to developing ‘trust’ in a product or content. Real human people promoting a website is one of the strongest indicators to a search engine that you might be an authority on a given subject.

So this chap is wrong on a very basic level – even by the end of 2013, social media is not the future of SEO – it is the present. And some might say, the persisting past.

But don’t be fooled – this is not the same as a social strategy.

If you are not engaging with your followers on bemytwitfacespacebookboer.com™, then you are not making the most of the benefits that these sites bring, neither in terms of organic growth and new user acquisition, nor with regard to search engine optimisation.

If you are not producing regular content, or promoting feedback on a product that people enjoy using, then you have no roots with which to grow your social network, and nothing with which to feed your social followers. Why do people want to visit your site? Why do people enjoy using your products? How can people enhance their experience of the things you have to offer?

And this, my friend, is Content. Content with a capital “C”, like “see what we’re doing here”, and “see what your friends think about us”.

Content wins you search engine level-ups. Content is why your visitors visit in the first place. Without Content, you are hollow. Social media makes Content shine no brighter, but does let your Content’s light go a little bit further.

Social media will never be as important as content, but if you want to be seen, it is already foolish to ignore it. Go and develop your own social strategy that engages with your customers and prospective customers, and augments your content. Don’t ever be tempted to think that social media is as important as content. It is not – and it never will be.

P.S: I know that Myspace is dead. Except it isn’t . Except that it probably is. Unless you’re a musician, in which case myspace might just be alive. ish.

P.P.S: But Bebo is definitely dead. Oh, wait .

Words: Matthew Bennett-Lovesey

Matthew is a director at Bennett-Lovesey Ltd, who provide software design, development and consultancy for web and mobile applications.

Adam January 20, 2014 at 1:57 pm I dislike those ‘experts’ think your right if its not interesting its not interesting how ever many places you put it. P.S. No ones bought bemytwitfacespacebookboer.com now i only need a developer to clone facebook for £50. Reply ↓

I dislike those ‘experts’ think your right if its not interesting its not interesting how ever many places you put it.

P.S. No ones bought bemytwitfacespacebookboer.com now i only need a developer to clone facebook for £50.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Name *

Email *

Website

Comment

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

Sign-up to receive regular updates on all of our content and site activities.

SEO Specialist – Norwich

Web Developer / Designer (ASP.NET, C#) – Norwich

FXHome Are Hiring

Epos Now are recruiting.

C# Developer, up to £35K – Norwich

.NET Developer, up to £35K – Norwich

Graduate Integration Support Analyst, £20K – £25K – Norwich

Web Developer, up to £35K – Norwich

Online, from the Outset.

ASP.NET Web Developer

Software Company Life-Cycle: the start

Social Media Isn’t Always The Answer

Making the leap to freelancing

Meet the Community: Matt Davey

ip21 Ltd gets the crunch from Norfolk’s Tech Community

The UK’s most surprising new tech hub

Reflections on the TechCrunch visit to Norwich

TechCrunch Visits Norwich: The Naked View

Meet the Community: Adam Wilson

Ten Tips for Face to Face Networking