Three Ways to Integrate Social Media on Your Website
Social media and SEO are two vital parts of your online marketing campaign. While it’s not uncommon that our members have one without the other, social media and SEO are at their best when they’re working together. Just think of your favorite pasta dish. Would it be the same without the sauce? No. Would it be the same without the pasta? Certainly not. In this scenario, think of SEO as the pasta and social media as the sauce. The pasta is the base of your whole meal. It’s filling and has all the nutrients (i.e. practice information) that you need, but generally, it’s boring on its own. It needs something to really make it stand out. That’s where social media, err, the sauce comes in. The sauce gives the pasta the flavor it needs to be a creamy fettuccine or a delicious lasagna. See where we’re going with this?
We’re not just making this up with an elaborate food metaphor because we’re hungry, it’s a well-known fact: The strongest online marketing strategies are the ones that incorporate SEO and social media seamlessly.
If you’ve been struggling to combine the two, here are some quick tips on how to better integrate social media into your website:
Social Icons
Having social media icons on your website is a must. Just like having your website on the “About” section of your Facebook page can drive traffic to your site, having social icons on your website will encourage potential patients to get a glimpse of your sauce, AKA the less serious, more personality-oriented content that people like to see online. Believe it or not, your online brand can be a huge deciding factor for someone who is looking for a new doctor.
User Created Content
Whether you’re getting reviews on Google+, Facebook, or Yelp, having positive patient reviews on your site is great for SEO and your overall brand image. Incorporating snippets of credible social reviews on your website is a great way to boost your online presence. Basically, it says to prospective patients, “This place is solid, the pesto pasta is delicious, and you should totally order it.”
Top Facebook Posts
If you notice a Facebook post that does especially well and has a lot of engagement, use it to your advantage! Expand on it and turn it into a blog post to put it on your website. Even better, link to the original Facebook post somewhere within the blog. If you feel like really going for it, you can boost the post on Facebook and include a link to your website, or the blog itself. That’s the equivalent of “Extra cheese, please!” in our Italian metaphor.
These are just a few ways that you can start to implement social media into your SEO strategy. For more tips make sure to follow our Facebook page, or if you have any questions, feel free to give our Sesame SEO and Social teams a call!