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Tuesday 7 January 2014

Do the Search Engines Produce Higher Traffic than the Social Media?

This is a frequently heard question. If you own a business website, you obviously want to bring lots of traffic to it. So, which option is better: investing in social media optimisation or in search engine optimisation services? 

The answer is a bit more complicated than just “invest in both”, but that is the main idea. Your potential customers use both means, and the social media and the search engines have an intricate relationship. 

Search Engine Optimisation

Life without the Search Engines

In 2011, an event that showed the power of the search engines occurred. It was something close to a search engine apocalypse: a major change in Google’s search algorithm (the “Panda Update”) made lots of websites lose their keyword rankings. 

The effect was devastating. Lots of online businesses lost visibility overnight, also losing sales and revenues. Recovery was slow or impossible without significant investments. 

The shock was even greater for search engine optimization contractors. In terms of SEO services, London experts recount, this event had dramatic consequences, with many contractors losing clients overnight, due to their perceived inability to deal with the problem. 

The “Panda Update” and its consequences showed the power the search engines have. With all the available alternatives, being there, on the first places in the search engine results pages, makes the difference between a successful online business and one that barely survives or goes bankrupted.

 But, the other thing the event showed, is that being totally dependent on them is not good either, and a solution to avoid this dependency seems to be the social media. 

Unfortunately, social networking platforms may also play such tricks on their users. For instance, a change in the Facebook Page design brought lots of unwanted costs to enterprises needing to change their pages to comply with the new rules. 

Interdependence

As you may have noticed, the search engines are incorporating more and more social media features in their ranking algorithm. Think of the Google +1 function or of the social media updates incorporated in the search process by many search engines, including Google and Bing. And the relationship is reciprocal, meta descriptions and titles, for instance, being now visible to social media. 

Customer Preferences

The most important issue here is what your potential clients use the most. Think of whether your target group is made of mostly social media or search engine users. They probably use both. 

 When they are looking for a certain service or product, most people do some research using a search engine. They find online businesses this way, and this is why investing in search engines optimisation services should always be a priority. 

But, many of them also check if you are present on the social media networks, how many followers your have and what your buyers have to say about you, social media prominence becoming more and more of a necessity as well. 

So, social media optimization is always a good idea. Try to focus on the networks mostly used by your target group, so that you do not waste time and resources. Create attractive content and try to make a good impression. 

Combining search engines and social media optimization is the best way to reach out to all your target customers and convince them to buy from you. 
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