I recently had a client asked me what was the best way to succeed with your online marketing in 2016. Learning from the past, Google now relies on social signals. What this means is if you publish one of your posts on your Facebook page and someone clicks on the link this is classified as a social signal.
There is tons web 2.0 websites on the Internet so it doesn’t have to be just Facebook. Other properties could include Twitter, Diigo, Delicious, Google + etc. When someone finds your information on one of these sites and then clicks on your link this is classified as a social signal.
Also if someone finds your post on one of these web properties and shares your post with their friends this is also classified as a social share.
This not only counts as a social share but if your posts gets shared amongst other friends and gets posted on other accounts this also creates as a possible backlink.
So my quick answer to succeeding with online marketing in 2016 and beyond is:
1. Have a properly built website that is search engine friendly. This is like the foundation of your home. If built properly the search engines can and will understand what your site is about and rank it accordingly.
2. Post/publish related information on your website. With Google’s new semantic search trust is a huge factor. If you can provide high quality content this builds trust.
3. Syndicate your content to all these web 2.0 properties. People don’t rely on Google for information they search on multiple social media sites to. So having your information on these sites people can find it.
4. Submit your RSS feeds to the major RSS directories. This will help your content get published across the web.
5. Publish a press release announcing some of your services. This is a practice that has been going on forever. These press releases should have a link pointing back to your website so this will help your SEO
6. Build your reputation. More and more people look for reviews and your reputation about your business. More and more people search online before buying a product or service so if you have a five star reputation there is a greater chance they will become customers of yours.
7. Build your marketing funnel. If someone comes into your shop or visit your website there should be a way for you to get their contact information. This way you can market to them over and over.
8. Share and market all your web 2.0 properties.
I hope this helps. SEO is not like the past where you can just build backlinks to your site. Google now looks for social signals that are about your business and brand. Sure back links do have a part in website SEO marketing but they are becoming less and less important. Social signals are becoming more important in 2016 and in the future.