Using Social Media to Improve Your Local Search Results

There is a lingering question as to whether social media can influence search engine ranking, as well as local search results. Whenever this is studied by a reliable source, there appears to be a connection – but not formally confirmed by Google or Bing. Whether someone makes a statement or not, it cannot be denied that social media is indeed powerful. It gives an opportunity for businesses to connect with consumers and find out what they need. Those who are willing to pay attention to what consumers have to say will be able to come up with new ideas for products and services.

Consumers in the US use up about 19% of their digital time on social networks, which means you can get in touch with them there. Three reasons to add social media to your local search strategy are as follows:

Connect with a New Audience

Your message can reach a multitude of potential customers through social media. Nobody can deny the power of social media as a place where people come together. Millions of Facebook users have offered lots of psychographic data to the network, leaving a digital trail all through the ads, pages plus other links they have clicked. FB is capable of targeting users based on demographic data, as well as their interests.

Drive Traffic

Though social media lets you meet and engage audiences, businesses also need consumers to visit their sites.

  • Whether live or prerecorded, a video can always be helpful in educating viewers. Consumers will want to come back for more each time, building loyalty and raising awareness.
  • Another effective method for the site to get more clicks is to create custom graphics, featuring stats, tips plus bits and pieces of data, as well as include links to the site to know more about the topic.
  • When special offers are revealed first and also exclusively on social media, this builds a fan base that will make consumers keep coming back, taking notice and buying again and again.

The ultimate goal is to drive traffic to the website, which reveals a lot about the business, as well as the products and services they provide – all this to make it easy for consumers to decide or purchase.

Monitor the Metrics

Many major social platforms come with free metrics to monitor your posts’ popularity and reach. Buffer and Hootsuite are third-party apps that let you view, update and keep lots of social media accounts as well as compare their effectiveness.

In addition, it is critical to know the length of time they stay after clicking on the website, the other things they click on, and if they convert to being a customer. Incorporating Google Analytics will let you monitor where the consumer goes the moment they get to the site. You need to manage the time and money invested in different social media sites in order to maximize your investment.

As you can see, you can no longer afford to ignore social media marketing. You should also worry about your mobile website design if you want more traffic and conversions from mobile traffic.