Website SEO or social media marketing — which will give me the best return on investment?
During the pandemic, social media felt like a god-send for both individuals and small businesses alike.
We all headed over to Instagram once news of the first lockdown hit. I hold my hands up here too - it was and still is (for now) a great way to connect with my friends and keep up-to-date with everyone and everything. And just like Etsy/Fiverr, its interface is simple, easy to use and aesthetically pleasing.
This virtual connection with the rest of the world has been positive in many ways. But it’s created an over-reliance on these kinds of social media/marketplace platforms. They’re all transient.
I mean, I can easily spend 2 hours a day creating content for Instagram, connecting with people/businesses and recording stories. I could spend a whole day planning and capturing content for the next week… but when next week comes, I’ve got to start all over again.
It’s a never-ending hamster-wheel of churning out content which is at mercy of IG’s dreaded algorithm - what works today might not work tomorrow. We just don’t know.
But SEO is more predictable. SEO is for life (literally - put in the work now and it will start generating traffic and leads whilst you sleep)!
Social media is an energy drainer: lots of input for a short lifespan of content. SEO can bring you traffic for months and even years.
Seriously though, I wrote a blog post for a company 5 years ago and it’s still one of their top pieces of content generating them traffic.
Using keywords and optimising your content/copy is an awesome way to organically and consistently grow your - without relying on the borrowed land of an Etsy/Fiverr/Instagram type platform.
But WHAT actually is SEO MARKETING?
And WHY is SEO so important?
Let’s look at the WHAT:
SEO is a way of constructing our websites so that it is optimised for search engines, like Google.
It’s a technique we can use to get Google (or other Search Engines) to prioritise us over our competitors.
Google has to trawl through the billions of websites in the world to find the best solution to someone’s query, and there are a number of ways in which Google works out how to provide its user with the best answer to the thing you type into the search bar.
When we type something into the search bar, Google needs some way of determining which website to show on the first page of the search results and which to demote to its lower pages.
It looks at thousands of different indicators on your website, to determine whether your website is a good fit for what you typed in and comparatively how it holds up against all the other people doing the same thing.
WHY is this important?
Google wants to provide its users with answers to their questions that are useful, relevant and that isn’t out-of-date.
We can use search engine optimization to make Google’s job easier (and in doing so, make our website more appealing/relevant so that it moves towards the top of the good old search engine results page)
So we need to be clear on what our content is about and make it easy for Google to know what we’re talking about on each page of our website. If Google is unclear in any way what our website is about, it won’t bother showing it to the user. Basically, it won’t want to run the risk of providing its users with sub-standard content or content that isn’t going to answer their question.
If we (1) make it clear to Google what our content is about, and (2) make it clear what questions we can answer on your website, then Google is more likely to prioritise us over the competition.
This is because we add value – we answer the question our searcher/Googler was seeking to find. If your content is valuable to a search engine user, they’ll spend time on your website.
This is great in a couple of ways:
Google realises that your content really is valuable, so it’s more likely to show your website on the search engine results page and higher up the rankings too
This means other users will come across your content more easily – further boosting your rankings because you continue to prove your expertise and value
The user finds the answer/solution they are looking for
This boosts your credibility with the user: they see you as a problem-solver who provides value to them, without demanding/requiring payment…
They begin to trust your expertise and knowledge, returning to your website for more answers/solutions/help/support
This increases the chances of converting a user into a potential customer and eventually, a paying customer. Which helps you to build up a community of customers who are loyal to you and your brand. All because you provided them with something valuable and gained their trust right from that first click onto your website.
SEO really is a vital tool in your shockproof marketing strategy toolkit!
You don’t need to be a tech wizard to use SEO to work for you – honestly, I’m really a writer, not an SEO whizz, so if I can teach surf schools how to use it, you are going to be absolutely fine!
You can use SEO on your own website and for other marketing strategies like emails/newsletters… it’s a ton easier to use on these closed platforms where someone has to give you their undivided attention (the opposite of Etsy!)
And apart from driving more traffic to your services/products/content, SEO will let you:
Build trust with your target customers
Tell stories which make you relatable
Ask for feedback or engagement
Open up more - you can be authentic and show value without needing to be so shouty as you would on open platforms (IG always feels very competitive, meaning you sometimes feel like you have to make the loudest noise to even be noticed)
Increase your sphere of influence
Reach a more global audience - helping you to upscale your business
I do have to warn you though…
SEO marketing is not a quick fix that will give you results tomorrow, BUT it is a more effective long-term strategy that requires less time than social media to see an equal, if not higher return on investment.
I won’t lie and say that SEO is a case of spending a couple of hours on your strategy, adding your keywords and you’re done. It’s about making small tweaks, not just doing one thing, but over time they will all add up.
By implementing SEO to gain new leads and grab the attention of new potential customers, it takes a lot of the pressure off having to be on social media ALL THE TIME.
Remember SEO is for life: social media is temporary…
With its short life-span and energy draining tendencies, it’s pretty hard to rely on social media long-term. And similarly to marketplace platforms like Etsy and Fiverr, you have little control: what happens if the algorithm changes? What happens if your account gets deleted? (It has happened to business owners before and probably will again)
Stop relying on social media too heavily.
I’m not saying to completely leave social media behind (we all know there are some positives to it!) and just rely on SEO – you absolutely can use social media to your advantage within your marketing toolkit.
And if you do, here are my essential tips :
Make sure you have contingency plans for changes on each platform.
Use multiple platforms (but pick a couple, not loads and overwhelm yourself/dilute energy and message across to many places).
Play around with different ones – as I get clearer and clearer on my target market some platforms have gone/I’ve picked up maybe a new one to replace it…
Understand where your customers spend time: it will help you filter through the noise of all the new and existing channels to find the few that are going to get you the most traction.
So, if you want to make customer engagement and retention more sustainable/long-term, you need a varied and flexible marketing strategy. You need to shockproof it with a combination of social media, SEO and your own website.