We’ve talked about how social media plays a BIG role in post-Panda SEO. Websites with a large percentage of “shares,” “likes,” and “tweets” on every page are much more resilient to Panda than websites with little to no social media presence.
Additionally, a few months ago, we speculated that social votes may replace backlinks. And with the continuing decline of backlinks (and backlink building methods), it’s looking like social media is backlinks 2.0.
But this is a big sticking point for a lot of SEOs and online business owners. It’s one thing to say, “social votes increase your authority!” It’s quite another to be able to get those social votes.
Sure, you might be able to toss up a few “like” and “follow” buttons, but how many people are going to actually click those? If you have a significant amount of traffic and your content is interesting, you may get quite a few. If you’re just starting out, well… good luck.
Until today! In today’s article, we’re going to be giving you some real pointers you can start using that will dramatically increase your site’s “sharability.”
Target Content Towards Close-Knit Communities
When most online business owners start creating content, they create it based on their interests. They create it based on the direction they feel their website should go in. If they’re very lucky, that direction may intersect with a group of people who also feel the same way. In this case, the content gets shared and may even go viral.
But more often, these business owners never find their niche. They never get those crucial shares. They don’t have people reading their content and plastering it on major social media sites.
So how do you tap into those people? Write content specifically geared at an already passionate and close-knit community.
Let’s say you run a political blog. Now, with the upcoming elections, you may be tempted to give your opinion on the major presidential hopefuls. But that’s what everyone else is doing – and “everyone else” has a lot more authority than a website that’s just starting out.
Instead of targeting a major candidate, why not find a close-knit passionate group of people who support a more underground candidate? For example, instead of writing content on Mitt Romney, you could write content on Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.
Since Gary Johnson receives little to no mainstream media coverage, his supporters are always looking to share any media mentions he does get. By publishing content specifically geared towards this passionate community, you dramatically increase the odds that people will share it.
Have your Audience Choose Content Topics
Another way to increase the number of shares you get is to get your community involved in the content writing process. Next time you’re looking to write some content, instead of just picking a title and going with it, pick out a handful of them. Then, send an email to your newsletter or post a message on your Facebook page.
List the five titles and ask your community which one they would prefer learning about. This does two things:
Helps you create content your audience really wants.
Ensures that once you publish content your audience asked for, they’ll read it and will most likely share it.
When you get your audience involved, they invest themselves in the process. If you send out a list of five topics and one gets an overwhelming response, you can then create content based on that topic. Then, everyone who wanted you to write about that subject will see that yes, you listen to them.
Since they already invested in the process by giving feedback, they’ll almost certainly read the content. And provided its top quality, they’ll also share it with everyone they know.
Lastly, you’ll now know what the majority of your audience wants as far as content goes. So you can begin creating content specifically geared towards the topics your audience selected.
Want More Post-Panda SEO Tips?
A lot of SEO’s are swimming in confusion after Panda. But as you can see from this article, flourishing in the “New SEO” isn’t really that hard – all you have to do is put a focus on quality and stay updated on what Google’s doing.
We can help you out there. To receive updates on what Google’s doing, or to receive helpful tips on how to optimize your site for the “New SEO,” go ahead and fill out the form below. Or if you prefer Facebook, head on over to our page and give us a “like!”
Lastly, don’t forget to do an on-page SEO analysis using our free analysis tool!
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