Many businesses today realize the importance of SEO to their sites’ marketing strategy.  What many may not realize is that while traditional SEO is very important to a business’ marketing efforts increasingly businesses that would not typically be engaged in social media should be.  As social media becomes increasingly integrated with search, it’s time to add social media as a tool to all businesses’ SEO strategy.

Social SEO makes it easier for smaller businesses to compete with the big guys. A new site or startup would have a difficult if not impossible chance at ranking for highly competitive keywords.  Older sites have been at it too long to knock them off the top of the search engine results page without years of search engine campaigns.

Social factors now influence both paid search advertising and search engine optimization. Marketers are now able to demonstrate their social influence on paid search ads and organic search results by linking either Google+ (on Google) or Facebook (on Bing) accounts with their website.

Google recognizes that one personal endorsement from someone we know outranks endorsements from thousands of those we don’t. The same applies for a trusted authority.  Sharing a blogging link by a known expert carries more weight than something a casual user shares. A tweet that receives a viral-size number of re-tweets may have as much as an effect as a link from a high ranking site.  A Google +1 from a friend can send your site to the top of the social search engines’ results page for that friend’s entire network.

So with these thoughts in mind, all businesses should seek to ramp up their social strategies.  Be sure to put an emphasis on increasing followers and sharing content. Post your articles on social media and your products on Pinterest.  Lastly, add +1 buttons to anything & everything.

Pay-Per-Click advertising is available to anyone who wants to monetize their site or blog.  People buy advertising with a PPC company, like Google’s AdSense. The Pay-Per-Click company then lets webmasters and bloggers sign up for free accounts. The site owners get to choose the format for the PPC ads. The Pay-Per-Click company generates an ad code. The site owner places the code on their site and within a short amount of time the ads appear. Any time a visitor clicks on one of the ads, the advertiser pays the Pay-Per-Click company and the Pay-Per-Click then gives the site owner a portion of the profit.

Pay-Per-Click advertising can be an effective way of selling goods and services. If you’re aiming to build brand awareness or launch a new product, pay-per-impression advertising may be appropriate.

PPC advertising costs relate to the number of visitors your site receives, not the number of times that your ad is shown. This ‘pay-per-performance’ model also allows advertisements to be delivered only in certain geographical locations and only on sites with related content. The aim of this targeted traffic is to lead to not only a higher number of visitors to your site but to convert those visitors from browsers into buyers.

PPC providers allow you to set upper limits on your cost-per-click and total daily spend, meaning you only spend as much as you want. You can monitor the results of your campaign in real time and poor ad performance can be adjusted in light of the results achieved.

Pay-per-click advertising has a quick set-up and money spent can immediately translate into clicks through to your site. PPC advertising is a great companion to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) campaigns.  An SEO campaign can ultimately produce more visitors to a website, but the results may take time. If you need to generate online revenue immediately and have a business model which can support cost-effective PPC advertising, then a PPC campaign is a good complement to SEO as part of your internet marketing strategy.

Skillful implementation of Pay-Per-Click advertising is important to realizing the advantages of this marketing strategy.  Hiring an experienced PPC professional can really help make your Pay-Per-Click campaign successful.

Web presence during the holiday season can be just as important for brick and mortar businesses as well as those whose only presence is online. There are many things that traditional businesses can do on their web sites to impact holiday sales.   Here are some ideas on how to use your website to promote and enhance the holiday season.

Use your website to advertise sales and promotions.  Everyone loves gift ideas and good deals.  Target holiday shoppers by letting them know about your new products and sale promotions.  Getting these in front of potential customers via the web can help motivate them and get them into your storefront.  From newsletters to ads, now is the time to incentivize buyers with a reason to shop with you as well as to choose your products and services over others.

Post online store and product reviews.  Posting online reviews of both products and your business is a good way for customers and potential customers to get information about you and the goods and services you sell.  You can incorporate this into your website by simply posting client feedback, adding product reviews and business testimonials on home and product pages. You can also post any awards or endorsements from professional organizations that your business has garnered.  Encourage satisfied visitors to ‘like you’ or a product on Facebook or pin one of your products on Pinterest.

Make doing business with you easy by listing store policies and services. Make sure that all information such as shipping charges, services, return policies, and guarantees are easily found.  Doing so will help current and potential customers feel more comfortable about doing business with your company.  Answering all your customers’ questions up front — often translates to more sales.

Be sure to post store hours and directions.  Post store hours and highlight holiday hours to facilitate customers’ busy seasonal schedules. Make your business easy to find with clear address and directions available on your site.  Include a Google map or other way to find directions easily.  Because many people will probably be using mobile phones and other devices, make sure this information is accessible on mobile devices.  You want to make it convenient for them to find and visit you.