Do you need social profiles or can you just build a list?
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Yeah I was mainly building social profiles for the sake of “backlinks” but I figured it would be better to focus on one aspect (building a list) rather than spreading myself out too thin
Side note: personally never had much organic success with social profiles so that’s why I asked the question
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From an SEO Standpoint:
The backlinks from the profiles mean nothing in the long run, nor do the measley peasley social signals you'll get out of it from going easy on them and just posting without interacting. But every once in a while you'll strike gold too, finding virality and your link spreading out to other networks and forums. That's when you get the links and traffic.
Another thing to think about is the 'brand signals' you're generating when you have existing and semi-active profiles, at least on the big sites. Out of their own mouth Google has admitted that one of the ways they fight spam is by promoting brands higher through the algorithm.
From a Marketing Standpoint:
Go to where your audience is and work them over. If your demographic isn't on Pinterest, you don't need to bother. Maybe they aren't on any social media really and prefer forums. That's where you should be then.
Most definitely prioritize your list over creating a list you don't control or can't reach to 100% because some other business manages your "fans and followers." But don't fall for the trap of binary thinking where it has to be one or the other. If you have the capacity, build them all as part of your funnel. Sometimes capturing a user on Facebook, for example, is a step in the warming process before you get them on your email list.
The backlinks from the profiles mean nothing in the long run, nor do the measley peasley social signals you'll get out of it from going easy on them and just posting without interacting. But every once in a while you'll strike gold too, finding virality and your link spreading out to other networks and forums. That's when you get the links and traffic.
Another thing to think about is the 'brand signals' you're generating when you have existing and semi-active profiles, at least on the big sites. Out of their own mouth Google has admitted that one of the ways they fight spam is by promoting brands higher through the algorithm.
From a Marketing Standpoint:
Go to where your audience is and work them over. If your demographic isn't on Pinterest, you don't need to bother. Maybe they aren't on any social media really and prefer forums. That's where you should be then.
Most definitely prioritize your list over creating a list you don't control or can't reach to 100% because some other business manages your "fans and followers." But don't fall for the trap of binary thinking where it has to be one or the other. If you have the capacity, build them all as part of your funnel. Sometimes capturing a user on Facebook, for example, is a step in the warming process before you get them on your email list.
seoauthority
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Honestly, my SEO business has started dying on the forums over recent years (only just started here) - because fewer and fewer people use forums and the vast majority of my audience has moved to Facebook groups.
I'm implementing a big social media push and have found a huge untapped audience waiting for me. Together with blogging (always pushing my post to social media), having an up-to-date Instgram and Facebook audience is key to my current activities and is already paying.
I feel that's where the audience is now, very few people use forums. I've seen this trend happening for years.
I'm implementing a big social media push and have found a huge untapped audience waiting for me. Together with blogging (always pushing my post to social media), having an up-to-date Instgram and Facebook audience is key to my current activities and is already paying.
I feel that's where the audience is now, very few people use forums. I've seen this trend happening for years.
turbin3
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I usually approach things from the brand-building angle. This may not apply to everyone.
For certain types of affiliate sites, maybe a person just cares about the exit, and anything non-essential is ignored. If that works for you, cool.
If building any sort of brand, I would say YES. Create your branded social profiles on most of the major platforms. The reason? It costs you nothing but a few hours of setup. Or, there are many services out there you can throw a few hundred bucks at and have it done for you.
It potentially gains you brand signals as @Ryuzaki mentioned. That might not be an ROI-driver for you like building a list might be. But this game is about "pulling out all the stops". So why not do ALL of it?
If you're not on some of these major platforms you basically don't exist in 2018.
Just look at the slow, painful death of so many small businesses. Best case scenario they have a default Wordpress install. Almost never have SEO. Rarely have social. Reliant entirely on Location. Location. Location.
Brahs, we gots that Amazons. We 'bout that GrubHub and DoorDash. Location and foot traffic doesn't mean what it used to. When I see a site hasn't even registered their social profiles (even if they rarely use them), this is what I see:
Now, mind you, I'm not saying everyone needs to be active on all of these platforms. Ultimately, going where the audience is would be the point. At the least, populate those profiles with your brand assets and info, so you have those legit "brand signals".
For certain types of affiliate sites, maybe a person just cares about the exit, and anything non-essential is ignored. If that works for you, cool.
If building any sort of brand, I would say YES. Create your branded social profiles on most of the major platforms. The reason? It costs you nothing but a few hours of setup. Or, there are many services out there you can throw a few hundred bucks at and have it done for you.
It potentially gains you brand signals as @Ryuzaki mentioned. That might not be an ROI-driver for you like building a list might be. But this game is about "pulling out all the stops". So why not do ALL of it?
If you're not on some of these major platforms you basically don't exist in 2018.
Just look at the slow, painful death of so many small businesses. Best case scenario they have a default Wordpress install. Almost never have SEO. Rarely have social. Reliant entirely on Location. Location. Location.
Brahs, we gots that Amazons. We 'bout that GrubHub and DoorDash. Location and foot traffic doesn't mean what it used to. When I see a site hasn't even registered their social profiles (even if they rarely use them), this is what I see:
Now, mind you, I'm not saying everyone needs to be active on all of these platforms. Ultimately, going where the audience is would be the point. At the least, populate those profiles with your brand assets and info, so you have those legit "brand signals".