4 ways Social Media can Grow Your Business

In a time not long ago, seriously, just a few years ago, social media was a mysterious creature taking over the Internet. Now, it is the Internet. Yet many small and medium-sized businesses are still brushing it off, assuming it has no relevance to their day-to-day activities. "It's a tech thing," "It's pointless," "Facebook is for kids," these are actual attitudes of real business owners who are missing out on the glory of social.
Social media encompasses Facebook, Twitter, the ever-important and often underused Google+, and numerous other sites, but the aforementioned are the Internet's Big Three. These are the sites that are fighting for your business. Lucky for you, they're all free at the basic level, and that is a perfect level to be at. Using social media is critical to your business' overall online presence and it continually assists with your SEO, which means people will find you online and use your products and services offline. Here are four ways using social media will benefit your business.
Social Searches & Recommendations
People often use sites like Facebook to ask for recommendations from friends and use the search bar to look up local businesses. If you are not using social media you won't be a part of these important conversations and search results. The more present you are online, the better chance you have of being "checked in" at and getting a thumbs up.
Outsource Your Link Building
Your business website likely has a blog, or at least a page that gets updated regularly with discounts or special offers. While having a routinely updated blog itself is great, as this helps Google know your website is as active as ever, that piece of literature you just crafted may not be getting the buzz it deserves. By creating and using social channels, including Facebook, Twitter and Google+, you will have a platform to distribute your new content. When you post a blog link on social media it invites people directly to your website. Not only will your followers see this blog that links to your website, but many of them may share or retweet it, giving a brand new audience an introduction to your business. If you write a piece that really heats up the Twittersphere you can count on your website getting a lot visits, which often translates into sales. Links shared by actual social media users also help search engines find relevance in your website, which boosts your search rankings. More on that below.
Improve Your Search Engine Ranking
Social media pages and postings are indexed by search engines, meaning they can show up in search results. To ensure they do it is important to use keywords when writing your social media biographies. Linking from your website to your social channels also helps search engines find relevant information about your business, again helping to boost your search ranking. This is exceptionally true when linking from your website to your Google+ page, as a large majority of Internet searches are done on Google and Google loves it when you use their products. As mentioned, the more that content which links to your website is shared, the better chance is has of helping your website show up in search results.









