Below is an interview I did with one of the top SEO consultants, Todd Ramos as he explains why social media is a crucial part of SEO.
1. Please tell our readers something about yourself and your SEO and Social Media services.
My name’s Todd Ramos, though some people know me as ‘the SEO guy’, and I’m (one of) the founder(s) of PenTech Consulting. We are a complete online solutions firm, including SEO and social media management. Although primarily we focused on SEO, we also expanded into social media at the behest of our clients. And honestly, I’m quite glad we did.
2. Considering Google’s efforts to stifle link building, is Social Media a savior?
Social media was always going to be a big part of any website’s SEO and digital marketing strategy. However, thanks to Google waging war on various link building methods, especially guestposting, social media has been thrust to the forefront. In the end, content is very important and will be the holy grail by which Google’s algorithms will judge everything. But social media will be just as important and it’s something we cannot afford to ignore.
3. The idea that “content is king” has been decried by some experts and the online SEO community is convinced that search engines are looking for something more. In the Hummingbird era, can content still be the primary driving force in SEO efforts?
As I mentioned, I think content can still be the driving force behind good SEO. Obviously, our approach to generating and sharing the content will have to be tweaked, but in the end, good content will always be rewarded with good results. Google and other search engines want to outdo the competition by providing the best search results possible; the most relevant and accurate results. For that, a website’s content will end up playing a massive role.
4. What would you consider to be the biggest challenge SEO will face in the future? Anything on the horizon that SEO specialists should be worried about?
In SEO, you’re constantly facing the challenge of staying 2 steps ahead of the search engines. Though I wouldn’t say it’s a worry, I think the most immediate thing that SEO specialists should be concerned about is ‘integration’. Gone are the days when just a couple of components would make up your SEO strategy. From on-site content to social media exposure, it’s becoming all about synergy and that is what will drive the future of SEO. Honestly, I think SEO has to break new grounds and the line between SEO and digital marketing is going to started fading very rapidly.
5. Is real-time Reputation Monitoring going to be the biggest thing in the future?
Will it be the biggest thing? No. Will it be big, though? Absolutely. Social media use has grown as rapidly as we expected, but the effect of it on brands is something beyond anything expected. Reputation monitoring is still growing and you know what, it will continue to for some time. I think the smart money’s on getting involved with it as soon as possible.
6. What is the most common blogging mistake you come across that drives you up the wall?
I would have to say that a lack of reviewing and editing is by far the most common mistake I come across. How serious can you be about your work if you can’t spend more than 5 minutes editing it? Doesn’t matter how good our ideas are, if the execution is shoddy, audiences aren’t interested.
7. If you have to give our readers one crucial social media tip, what would it be?
Rely on one thing above everything else: Common Sense. Sure there often are guidelines in place to help you out and let you know how things are done, but when common sense takes a backseat, trouble isn’t far behind.