Not too long ago, social media was only deemed as a mysterious creature introduced to the online world. Some people were even skeptical of it, while others don’t have the slightest idea how it worked. Fast forward to several years, and social media became the internet itself. Millions of millions have joined different platforms. Some for the purpose of meeting new friends, connecting with families, and just about any other purpose you can think of.
But, even in this social media-driven world, there are still a lot of small, and medium-sized businesses that choose to brush it off or take it for granted. In fact, there are many business owners who think and assume that social media doesn’t have any relevance to their daily business activities and operations. They say Facebook is just for kids. That is just a tech thing, a pointless endeavor that doesn’t deserve their time. These are the thoughts of attitudes of these business owners. What they don’t know is that they only miss out on the glory and power of social media.
Social media, in the most basic sense, is composed of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, the often underused but ever important Google+, as well as many other websites. The aforementioned, collectively known as the Big Four, are the ones you should pay attention to. These sites can fight for your business, and they fight really well. The good news is that these are all free at a basic level, and this is just the best level you can be.
If you are still unsure, continue reading how to improve online business through social media and reap all its exciting benefits:
Share Images Easily
With Instagram, you will be able to share photos of your products easily. No one will likely buy something they haven’t seen anyway. Visual is very important on social media channels. By using Instagram, you can let your target audience get a sneak peek of what they can expect from your offers. You can even share photos that your target audience can relate to. Something that can also have a major positive effect on a customer’s purchasing decision.
Outsource Link Building
Your business site probably has a blog or page which gets regular updates about special offers or discounts. Even if you routinely update that blog, it might not be getting the buzz it deserves. You can use social channels like Twitter where you can post the link to the blog that your followers can share or retweet. This can introduce your business to a brand new audience. An added benefit is that links shared by real social media users can help search engines in finding relevance to your site that can further boost your search ranks.
Recommendations and Social Searches
People usually use sites such as Facebook to ask their friends for recommendations and use the search bar to find local businesses. If you don’t use social media, you will never take part in such search results and conversations. By being more present online, you have better chances of getting a thumbs up or being checked in. You might want to use Facebook Ads possibilities and their famous Pixel. In that case, this is a must-have social network.
Improve Search Engine Ranking
Posts and pages in social media channels are indexed by search engines. It means that these can also show up in the search results. To make sure that they do, it is a must to use keywords every time you write your social media biographies. It will also help if you link from your site to your social media channels. That’s great for search engines to find relevant data about your business to improve your search ranking.
That’s particularly true if you link from your site to your page in Google+ . The most of the internet searches are done on Google, and Google definitely loves if you use their products. Again, when there are more shares of the content linking to your site, the better the chances that it will help your site to show up higher in search results.
Conclusion
The use of social media is vital for the overall online presence of your business, not to mention that it can also work hand in hand with your SEO efforts. This only means that people will be able to find you online then use your services and products offline.
