Twitter, SEO, and Online Marketing: You’re Missing the Point
Twitter is definitely still one of the hottest topics in the social media, blogging, and online marketing spheres lately, with more and more people/companies beginning to realize the value of sharing their thoughts and ideas via tweet - as long as their thoughts are under 140 characters or less, that is.
*Like virtually every other web company out there, we have a twitter account - follow us!
Twitter isn’t the kind of service you can use to get more backlinks, nor can it drive traffic like digg, slashdot, or reddit. On the contrary, Twitter’s strengths lie at the core of social media: building relationships, networking, and communicating. Yes, there is nothing wrong with tweeting your latest post or asking your friends/followers to Digg/Buzz Up/Sphinn/etc. it, but if that is all you use the service for you are completely missing the point.
The key to using Twitter for marketing purposes successfully is marketing with others in your niche as well as using it to reach out to reporters, journalists, bloggers, and thought leaders that you might not otherwise be able to reach. It is still a small community, after all, and within Twitter’s 140 characters everyone is equal. Where else could you leave a message for say, Seth Godin or Robert Scoble and have them not only read it, but likely respond?
Of course, in Twitter as in anything else, you have to be interesting and relevant if you want to get a positive response - you can’t just spam people with your links and hope for the best (this applies to all social media sites though). Take the time to figure out the way the Twitter community works and you will be rewarded, but if you think you can just sign up and immediately succeed, you will probably end up never really getting it.
10 Responses
Twitter, SEO, and Online Marketing: You’re Missing the Point
October 16th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
[...] couple of links on Twitter & SEO: Twitter, SEO, and Online Marketing: You’re Missing the Point Twittering for [...]
February 2nd, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Thanks for the information on Twitter and SEO. I think you have a point when you say, that “The key to using Twitter for marketing purposes successfully is marketing with others in your niche”, I cannot agree more.
We recently started experimenting with Twitter for some of our websites. So far we haven’t really noticed an increase in the number of bookings. Maybe the current economical crisis which is affecting the car hire industry and the tourist industry in general makes it difficult to evaluate the exact impact of the Twitter experiment.
February 14th, 2009 at 3:47 am
Well said twitter will help to make you and your site social aware
March 31st, 2009 at 11:13 am
[...] Twitter, SEO and Online Marketing: You’re Missing The Point - SEO Group [...]
April 5th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Hey, great article. My company/employer is experimenting with Twitter and your advice could prove helpful.
I wrote my own post about Twitter and SEO (and yours surfaced during my “research”), but more from the perspective of an individual than a company. Check it out!
Thanks,
TJ Kelly
April 7th, 2009 at 8:51 am
[...] is certainly popular, but is it the right thing for SEO or is it just a waste of company time? Jacqueline Zenn from SEOGroup thinks that most people are missing the point of Twitter in their attempts to use it for marketing [...]
May 18th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Nice post, I’m happy to see people writing about the value of Twitter to online marketing, branding, and SEO.
The point about identifying your niche, and networking only with others in that are really resonates. The more targeted your followers are, the more visits to your cross promotional channels like your website or campaign you will receive, and the more likely those referrals from Twitter will convert.
I also think Twitter can help SEO, in the sense that it can circulate your webpage or blog post very quickly and widely if it is engaging. This will make people aware of it, and people will link to it on their own websites increasing your backlinks, and ultimately your search engine ranking.
I covered some of your points about the value of Twitter to SEO and Internet Marketing in my own blog post, and had a few ideas and topics you didn’t cover in this article, feel free to check them ouot and let me know what you think… http://www.bluefalconmarketing.com/blog/seo/5-twitter-tips-for-seo-marketing
Regards,
Omar
September 23rd, 2009 at 2:47 pm
[...] sites. As in any kind of communication, whether online or offline, it’s a two way street - constantly churning out links is not an efficient way to promote your company or the service you [...]
December 10th, 2009 at 5:14 am
It’s great for getting clients I’m finding. I’m also getting a good amount of traffic and the odd backlink.
December 16th, 2009 at 6:49 am
Your tips about twitter are useful, and I agree with you that one has to have a passion about what he writes and avoid marketing hypy as much as possible.