SEO Vs. Social Media
Written by Chewie on October 14, 2009 – 8:49 pmI want to take an example of one of the most competitive markets in the world to give you an idea of how far link building can get you. I am not trying to pick on anyone by any means, but want to share a site that doesn’t have as big a name as Oreilly or Autozone, and show you what they have been able to do with link building.
Before I get to that let me say a few things. The issue will always go on about social media and how it is another way to build a website from the ground up in an online world full of link builders. That’s great for those who like to toil and never reach their full potential. I am not against social media by any means as it can be a great way to boost your image, and gain some trust, but lets be real here. Social Media is never going to get you perfectly targeted links for what you would like to rank for. Social media is never going to bring you the exact people who are searching for a product or a service. You are playing with chance if you are going to rely on social means for a business growth strategy. Social Media might be a great business model for the make money online niche for those who want to peddle their crap and make a buck, but its a horrible game plan for a niche like auto parts unless you are already a huge well established company searching for new ways of boosting your brand or interaction with customers.
Social Media should be used to complement basic SEO principles such as link building and on page optimization. In some cases where there is not a niche looking for something in Google, social means may be the route to go. But in 99% of almost all cases, link building should be at the top for ranking your website in the search engines. For those that get it from experience, I don’t even have to prove that fact, but for those that follow big names in the make money online niche, it can be very hard to prove otherwise because of all the sweet talking of the very people they worship.
I would like to ask those who say they view social media as their method of growth and of building a website how they would go about ranking for car parts? If they say they would use social media as a means to promote their business? Then I would ask them how they could ever reach a mass audience who is searching in Google for auto parts that have never gone to twitter or facebook looking for a car part. I wouldn’t say that social media can’t help you build a brand or trust, but it is not going to bring the maximum amount of people who are looking for you with the effort you spend. Of course you could get a few sales here or there, or maybe even get some people to tell you that they will buy from you in the future, but how will you reach millions every month searching for auto parts?
Lets look at a company who has used this method of link building to get to the top. Autoanything.com has managed to rank on the first page of Google for car parts. I guarantee you they didn’t get it there through focusing on social methods. They focused on link building. If you were to look at some of the terms they are targeting, you would find they rank for a whole slew of terms that are very difficult to rank for. How do you outshine a company like this with Social Media?
I’m sure you could comment and tell me I have used this example in a narrow context, and that social methods for getting traffic or building brand can work in their own way. But what I am telling you is that if you don’t start first with SEO as your main focus to ranking in Google and seeing traffic for years to come, then you are going to be busting your hump chasing after social traffic day after day without seeing the big money results. I guess I would liken that to 10 guys digging a hole with shovels rather than just using a large piece of machinery such as a backhoe to digging the hole for you.
There are plenty of other things I could add to this but I am going to leave it be now. Stop following the guys that feed you bull and start doing something that will really pay off for you.
Posted in SEO | 21 Comments »
October 15th, 2009 at 12:16 am
I think you mean “Auto Parts” not car parts… at least in my data center. Either way your point is still very valid.
October 15th, 2009 at 12:26 am
Thanks for the correction Jeff, I got that fixed up.
October 15th, 2009 at 12:36 am
Very very good points! No doubt about it that SEO beats social media 99% of the time in almost any niche. I’ve been trying to get this point across to people for years but unfortunately most people don’t listen. Oh well, more money for those of us who do know the real ways to make money online.
October 15th, 2009 at 12:43 am
Good points here Chewie. Like many others I too started off in the wrong footing thinking social media will bring in the moolah. Did get considerable traffic but all of them worthless ones. LOL.
October 15th, 2009 at 11:51 am
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October 16th, 2009 at 11:51 am
Hello from Russia!
Can I quote a post in your blog with the link to you?
October 17th, 2009 at 5:02 am
I think a lot of the well established bloggers use social media as a way to stay in touch with their readership….like a mailing list.
October 18th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
@ Trent – Will people ever learn? I think Griz said it best in his new post. SEO really is 99% links. Hands down!
October 18th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
@Costa – Yep, and I’m sure as long as there is a way to fill their pockets with extra money, people will keep promoting social media for a long time.
October 18th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
@link building seo – Don’t reveal too much! LOL!
October 18th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
@polprav – Sure you can!
October 18th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
@ Natespost – I don’t think that’s bad if you are encouraging people to read your information, but if you are using it as a way to gain trust and then betray that trust by promoting trash you don’t use that’s where I have a problem. I think that has been the method that Chow has gone by for a while. Build a list then pitch crap to people.
That’s the difference between people like Griz who tell you not to buy the crap on his site, and others A-listers who make it appear that they have used a product and so should you.
October 19th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Nice points.Seo vs social media is very interesting but the point is to make money with real visitors with real traffic and something valuable to offer to sell!
October 19th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
What’s even funnier are the people who do believe in SEO (links) like we do, but they want to piss and moan and argue all day long about how getting no-follow vs do-follow blog links makes a difference in the eyes of Google with the full moon at 90 degrees in the sky on a summer early evening and the temps are blow 76.
What they need to do is just go get the links!
…I hate people that bitch and moan on their blogs. LMAO
AL
October 19th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
There is one thing about social media that’s useful for SEO- StumbleUpon and Digg are both do-follow. Granted, if you’re a little guy, your Digg will probably outrank you until you get enough links built up, but it’s also a good quality link. StumbleUpon, I believe, hyperlinks the URL- but if your keywords are in your domain or post url, it’ll still be useful. I haven’t checked the other social bookmarking sites.
I only know that they’re do-follow by using the NoDoFollow plugin for FireFox, so if you know otherwise, feel free to correct me.
October 20th, 2009 at 12:24 am
So if an Alexa ranking is mainly the result of social traffic, why all the emphasis and touting of alexa rankings, i.e. I see it used when folks try to sell websites, is it something that those “in the know” just ignore? Tons of traffic doesn’t equal tons of quality targeted traffic, but Alexa seems to carry a lot of weight…
October 20th, 2009 at 5:10 am
@ Make Money – Yes it certainly is, and that is the reason I would rather sit around all day and let people come to me through Google rather than tweet or Facebook to get visitors.
October 20th, 2009 at 5:11 am
@ Allyn, you sure got the fire burning with your latest. I love the videos and hope to catch a new one soon.
October 20th, 2009 at 5:15 am
@WordVixen – Thats not a bad point, but I think Digg changed their policy on dofollow links didn’t they ..? err….. Either way, if that’s the best method of getting links then so be it, a link is a link, but relevant links is what gets a site to the top spots.
October 20th, 2009 at 5:22 am
@ SueC – Sue, Alexa is a metric/tool that people have been going by for a long time on the value of a site. It is also probably the worst gauge. Here is where I will play both sides. If these idiots who buy sites based on Alexa ranking want Alexa ranking, then go ahead and take their money. They obviously do enough research and want that to be a primary focus of a site.
If I was to buy a site, I am certainly not going to look at Alexa. Those numbers can easily be inflated and are absolutely worthless.
I have sites that have the worst Alexa ranking and yet they get thousands of visitors every month, and then I have other sites that have better Alexa rankings which may get very few visitors. The system is flawed.
Don’t use it as a gauge for your own site unless you are selling.
December 8th, 2009 at 11:48 am
I think Digg could be useful as they have ”do follow” links. Otherwise, I agree that proper SEO is a must ..