Not Into Social Media Marketing? Then Organic SEO Really Matters.
Sign up for a free Squarespace trial here! #afflink
As a species, we love social media. We’re endlessly amused by our own faces and the things we do, and by golly everyone else probably is too. I mean, who wouldn’t be interested to see our feet in the sand or us dancing in slow motion?! Or better yet- our “profound” thoughts, clever one-liners, or take on the latest media stories.
Each time a little heart-like dings, we get a delightful little dose of dopamine. Ahhhh.
We’ve all been there.
I personally got pretty burnt out by the vapid feeling repetition and ego-stroking of it all, so I keep a low profile these days. No Instagram, and Facebook only to stay in touch with friends and family since I live thousands of miles away.
That said, many people love social media. They don’t really overthink it, they just go with the flow and see it as a communication evolution and if we want to be relevant at all, we need to be active social media users. Otherwise… we might *gasp* go unnoticed or be forgotten!
There’s nothing wrong with this. There are so many types of people on the planet, and we’re all trying to craft lives that work best for us as individuals.
I am personally put off by social media and the behavioral/psychological and cultural patterns it promotes, and I know many others who are too. So this article is aimed at those of you who want to run an online business, grow your brand, whatever your goal… and want to promote it without being promote-y. This is for those of you who wonder, “Is it really necessary that I post to Instagram and Facebook once a day, add frequent stories, and engage with people I don’t even know because we share a common hashtag interest…?!”
The answer is no. It isn’t necessary at all.
I don’t do it, yet my business ranks among the top in my industry and I maintain a steady flow of lovely clientele and course sales. No hashtag research required!
What you do need to do, though, is focus on organic search traffic. So let’s talk about that!
How to Be Seen Without Using Social Media Marketing
Position Your Site Well in Search Engine Rankings
That’s my answer. If you don’t want to spend time engaging with social media to promote your business/brand, then you need to optimize your site so thoroughly that it appears in the top search results for a variety of your target keywords.
Are you a yoga instructor looking to take their classes online and attract new members?
Then you need to appear on Google Page 1 for keywords like yoga classes online and live yoga classes online.
If you’re a wellness coach who focuses on the health of mothers, then you should position your site to appear on Google Page 1 for keywords like wellness coach for moms, holistic health coach for moms, stay at home mom life coach, and the like.
Wanting to offer knitting classes through your site? Show up on Google Page 1 for searches like advanced knitting classes online, knitting classes for beginners, and zoom knitting class. Don’t forget to target more specific keywords, too, which usually have less competition- online sweater knitting class, for example (assuming that’s something you offer).
You get the gist!
Check your analytics
Let’s assess your site’s current standing.
Login to your Squarespace site (if you aren’t on Squarespace, you can use Google Analytics or however you usually check Analytics on your platform)
click Analytics
then go to Traffic Sources (under Acquisition)
You’ll get a handy-dandy graph with a breakdown under it pinpointing precisely where all of your glorious visitors come from. You can adjust the parameters to check out last year, last month, yesterday, whatever you want to analyze.
The main traffic source categories are:
Direct - meaning someone enters your URL directly into the address bar of their browser
Search - they found your site through a search engine
Referral - they clicked on your site from another site
Social - they reached your site through a social media platform (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.)
If your site has solid SEO, most of your traffic should be coming from Search.
Here’s a breakdown of where my visitors are coming from, for example:
Almost all of the visitors to my site find me through search engines. That is fantastic and means my SEO work is paying off for me!
Why is ORGANIC SEARCH TRAFFIC SO IMPORTANT?
Building SEO into the very bones of a site and then maintaining it on an ongoing basis moving forward means that you don’t have to put so much effort into other promotional marketing (unless you just want to).
Instead, your site is going to work for you by showing up organically, not through paid ads, in the top results for keywords that people you want to attract are typing into Google.
Perhaps you’re thinking, “Ok… sounds great! I’m in. I need to optimize my site so good that I don’t have to worry with all of this social media marketing… but where do I start?! What do I do?!”
A captivating sea anemone I came across recently
It all begins with skillful keyword research!
The foundation of any and all SEO begins with good, creative, effective keyword research.
The goal of keyword research is to almost act as a detective, investigating what your target audience is searching for on Google. To do this, you have to step inside their shoes and try to think like them.
I actually find this to be an enjoyable and creative process!
You don’t have to hire an SEO Specialist or Company either, if you have a Squarespace site, you can learn professional-level SEO with my Squarespace SEO Expert Course.
And here are some more useful articles on this topic for you to explore:
Hopefully you’ve found this article helpful and now realize that you don’t have to interact in the loud sphere of social media megaphoning, if you don’t want to.
So for the introverted or just too busy, we can still get noticed while maintaining a low profile ;)
* clinks hot tea mugs together * Cheers!
Talk to you again soon! Take care~
x
Tiffany
Welcome!
Hey there! I’m Tiffany ~ a Squarespace Web Designer & SEO Expert. I design beautiful & professional websites that rank well on Google, & I teach courses on becoming a Squarespace SEO Expert and Starting Your Own Squarespace Design Business!
Feel free to contact me at: tiffany@tiffany-davidson.com
Sign up for a free Squarespace trial here! #afflink