You probably haven’t heard of the term “SOCO” SEO.
That’s because I just made it up.
It refers to the new dimensions of SEO: namely SOcial Media and COntent.
SEO now involves three main pillars:
Let me explain…
1. Traditional SEO
Traditional SEO is still alive and well. It includes all the old-school stuff like keyword research, XML sitemaps, urls, navigation, directory listing, and link-building.
This stuff is still very important when it comes to achieving higher rankings, but SEO companies and professionals can no longer rely solely on traditional SEO practices to get results.
Hence the need for…
2. Content Marketing
If you want to get better rankings than your competitors, you should produce better content than your competitors.
I’m not going to tell you to “write great content” (that’s a given). But I will say that your business is probably doing a lot of things that could easily be packaged into content.
For example, what are customers asking you? Turn the answers you’re already giving into blogs, training guides, or how-to videos. Asking your customers for feedback and how you’re helping to grow their business? Get them on a quick podcast or Q & A session and put it on your site.
And don’t forget about the “marketing” part of content marketing. Use social media, RSS feeds, and email to distribute your content but don’t shy away from paying to promote your content either. Whether it’s a LinkedIn ad, promoted Twitter tweet, sponsored post, or even using a PR firm: just remember that gaining attention for your content is always a good thing for SEO.
3. Social Media
There’s lots of reasons your business should be using social media: to target prospects, deliver better customer service, and build relationships to name a few. But it should also be used to promote your content, build natural links, and better your SEO.
(for a little more on Social Media take a gander at my presentation below).
And when it comes to social media, consider the increasing popularity of influence marketing. When done right, influence marketing can help you gain links, traffic, and visibility; help crown your content king, and promote your product or service to new audiences. And all these things are good for SEO.
SEO, Google algorthims, and rules will always change. But a fundamental rule likely will not: the successful marketing of your website to people will also mean the successful marketing of your website to search engines.
Great article! I love it when peeps make up new words. SOCO makes perfect sense. I agree with you, good content is everywhere, but good writing and sincere intent seems scarce in the blogging world. We post 80% pillars on our college football blog, hoping that good content is shared and revisited. They take longer to write and leaves less time for SOCO. We do SEOup with the Yoast plugin and promote it through Twitter and Pinterest. From what we’ve read, keywords and desirable content still rule. Thanks Y’all!
Thanks for the comment. It’s true, having great content is the same as having a great product or service: you still need to market it. And when it comes to social, it’s a two way street – you have to be a “sharer” if you want people to share your content too 🙂
Great article! I love it when peeps make up new words. SOCO makes perfect sense. I agree with you, good content is everywhere, but good writing and sincere intent seems scarce in the blogging world. We post 80% pillars on our college football blog, hoping that good content is shared and revisited. They take longer to write and leaves less time for SOCO. We do SEOup with the Yoast plugin and promote it through Twitter and Pinterest. From what we’ve read, keywords and desirable content still rule. Thanks Y’all!
Thanks for the comment. It’s true, having great content is the same as having a great product or service: you still need to market it. And when it comes to social, it’s a two way street – you have to be a “sharer” if you want people to share your content too 🙂
Thanks for the comment. It’s true, having great content is the same as having a great product or service: you still need to market it. And when it comes to social, it’s a two way street – you have to be a “sharer” if you want people to share your content too 🙂