A lot of people, particularly business owners, are currently wondering if social SEO is indeed a boon for business or nothing more than a waste of time. The truth is that it can be whatever you want to make of it. If you go about the process haphazardly, then it can indeed be a huge waste of time. However, if you stay focused on your business goals and map out an effective plan, then it can definitely be a boon to your business.

How Social SEO Can Be a Waste of Time
Some people who start out implementing (or trying to implement) a social SEO campaign quickly end up getting distracted by all the applications, games, videos, and other stuff they find on the various social media platforms. Allowing yourself to become distracted is how you turn social SEO into a complete waste not only of your time, but also your resources. Remember that there are always distractions whether you’re in the office or working online. If you want social SEO to be a boon, then you’ll have to focus on the business and make a conscious effort to avoid distractions. If an online activity isn’t likely to help grow your business, then don’t spend time on it!

Just as you need to avoid distractions and focus on the road while driving, you should also focus on your social SEO efforts and avoid distractions. (Commons.wikimedia.org photo by Edbrown05)

How Social SEO Can Be a Boon
One of the facts that exist in today’s online world is that social networking sites get good rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs). This is why social SEO is considered by many as a boon to businesses, regardless of the industry you’re in. When you successfully establish your presence on social media and increase your popularity on the various social platforms, you also effectively increase the visibility of your company website. To illustrate, if a lot of Facebook users like your page and mention your website, then search engines are likely to consider your site an authority and reward it with good rankings.

As you probably know, Google is still undoubtedly the most popular search engine currently available. What you also need to know is that its new algorithms now take into account a brand’s social media presence. This has transformed social media into an essential online marketing tool, where it was once just a place for social interaction and posting funny pictures. The more positive mentions your brand gets on social platforms, the more relevant your site will be in Google’s eyes. As mentioned above, however, social SEO will only be a boon to your business if you make it so.

Avoiding Distractions
One of the first things you need to do in order to avoid distractions and make social SEO work for you is to be realistic about how much time you can spend on social media each day. You may want to start out simply by spending an hour each day on this endeavor until you start seeing results. You could increase the time spent on social SEO at a later date if it’s really warranted. Otherwise, stick to the an-hour-a-day schedule. After a few months, you should start noticing which platforms work and which don’t. When you do, you have the option of getting rid of the accounts that aren’t working or carefully assessing them to see if they can still be made to work.

There are also some good tools you can make use of to ensure that your time on social media isn’t wasted. Hootsuite, for example, allows you to schedule relevant posts and manage multiple social media accounts simultaneously. You can also use the data provided by the tool’s analytics to learn which of your posts are the most effective and at what time of day or day of the week most of your online audience responds to you. This helps you pinpoint when the best time to engage with your audience is.

There are tools you can use to make social SEO a lot easier to manage. (Commons.wikimedia.org photo by Biser Todorov)

So, is social SEO indeed a boon to business or nothing but a waste of your precious time? Again, it can be whatever you make it to be. If you feel that you cannot effectively handle your social media campaigns on your own, then you could hire an in-house team to help out. Another option is to outsource to a company specializing in social media marketing. It’s safe to say social SEO is now a necessity for all businesses, but you’ll have to go about it the right way to make sure you don’t waste your energy, your resources, and your time.