SEM and SMM, don't choose between them, develop both

When thinking about digital strategy, some think that they need to choose between two options: Search Engine Marketing (SEM) or Social Media Marketing (SMM)?

This thought process is wrong and Moja digital agents will explain to you why. If your budget is low and you can’t afford to do both, do both but break it down into smaller steps. Even if it takes time, it’s worth it.

You have a website but no one can find you?

Think about the keywords your targets would type on Google to find your services or products. Having a website that is not optimised for search engines or listed on the first page of Google for most of these keywords represents a huge loss of opportunity.

See Google as a real marketplace. The first page for these keywords represents the main shopping street where your audience will hang out and visit the different shops (websites). The second and later pages of Google, are the small lanes where no one goes, except a few adventurous souls. People usually get tired after visiting all the shops on the main street and won’t bother to have a look at the smaller lanes after doing their shopping.

Indeed, if your shop is located in one of the tiny lanes and not in the main shopping area, no one would see it and you might lose your audience. This is even more relevant online.

It has been proved that users have more trust for websites listed on the first page of their search results. They know that they are there because they are more popular and consequently think that they are more reliable.

Search Engine Marketing, such as Google Adwords, could be a great strategy that you should consider using to be ranked on the first page of Google. According to your actual SEO and your business environment, there are different ways to do SEM. Some might be successful, but some should be avoided. Let Moja digital experts do a SEO survey of your platform first and guide you to the best SEO/SMM strategy for your brand.

Social media is a part of your SEO and SEM strategy.

Social networks are easy platforms to promote your brand and your website. It allows you to target the right audience that would be interested in your products, and to know their behaviour. Furthermore, you can create real engagement with your customers and build a community around your brand.

Even with a small budget, if you target the ideal audience at the perfect moment, Facebook Ads can be very powerful!

Social media marketing is not an option that you can dismiss in your digital strategy. It needs to complement your SEO and SEM strategy.

Part of SEO is relying on external links from your website to another and vice-versa. You cannot shut the door on links to social media. They have a strong influence on search engine rankings. Your website must at least have icons that link to your social media pages. Conversely create posts that contains your website link, such as blog pages.

Using social media to bring traffic to your optimised pages is a winning game plan for your SEO. It will allow the search engines to identify your pages as active and not floating.

Besides the “popular” social networks - Facebook, Instagram and Twitter - there are a lot of other social platforms that you can use to promote your brand and that will compliment your SEO strategy. Be aware of where your target audience is.

Moja digital agents can help you on your SEO and SEM strategy, do not hesitate to contact us.