On average, most Americans have over seven social media accounts. Every second, about 11 new people start using social media, too. Adding social media marketing to your digital marketing strategy can help you reach new clients online.
However, not many businesses realize there’s a connection between social media marketing and SEO. With SEO, you can improve your organic rankings to reach even more customers.
Not sure how to combine SEO and social media marketing? Read on for the tips you need for uniting these strategies today!
Research Your Audience
Before anything else, take the time to research your target audience.
Search engines like Google want to provide their users with the best possible online experience. As a result, Google has become better at recognizing each search engine user’s intent. Search intent (also called user or audience intent) indicates the purpose behind the user’s initial search.
Search intent is usually:
- Informational
- Navigational
- Commercial
- Transactional
Informational intent indicates the user has a specific question or wants to learn more about a topic. For example, your pest control clients might want to learn how to recognize they have termites.
Navigational intent indicates the user wants to find a specific website. If people know your pest control business by name, they’ll want to see you as the first result of their search.
Commercial intent indicates the user wants to buy something in the future, but needs to do some research first. They might want to compare different pest control companies to find the best one locally.
Transactional intent means the user wants to browse the web to find a product or service for purchase. For example, they might search for “pest control services near me.”
Understanding the user’s intent will help you create content that aligns with their search query. If they visit your site and recognize your content doesn’t match their needs, they’ll leave. When someone leaves without exploring other pages, your bounce rate will increase.
A high bounce rate will tell Google you’re offering a negative user experience (UX). It might decide to drop your rankings as a result. Low search engine rankings can make it more difficult for potential clients to find you online.
Instead, you want to lower your bounce rate while increasing your clickthrough rate and dwell times. You can increase your clickthrough rate as people click on your website from search engine result pages (SERPs). You’ll increase your dwell times as people stay on and explore your website.
Gathering Research
There are three types of research you’ll need before creating content: psychographic, demographic, and keyword research.
Psychographics includes information about the consumer’s pain points, buying behaviors, interests, and hobbies. Demographics include location, age, gender, income, and career information.
Keyword research can help you determine what terms people use to find your content online. Then, you can create content that aligns with those search queries.
Take the time to define your target customers. Segment them into distinct buyer personas. For example, you might separate customers based on the pest they want to eradicate.
This research will help you create personalized content, which can improve the user experience. About 80% of consumers are more likely to pay for services if you personalize experiences. Personalizing your blog and social media content can boost your marketing ROI by eight times, too!
Create Quality Content
Now that you know more about SEO and keywords, you can start creating content for your blog and social media.
Choose one of the keywords from your research list. Don’t try to add a keyword to your content after it’s written. Otherwise, the content might sound awkward and unnatural.
When creating content, focus on quality over quantity. Try to provide readers with helpful, informative information. Your blog content will help demonstrate your expertise within the pest control industry.
You can become a thought leader and go-to resource while encouraging brand trust. Gaining the reader’s trust will encourage them to hire your pest control business.
Diversify your content marketing strategy with blog posts, polls, quizzes, infographics, eBooks, and more. Different types of content will help you engage clients who are at different points in the buyer’s journey.
End each post you create with a strong, compelling call to action. For example, you can encourage the reader to contact you for pest control services. Add words like “today” or “now” for a sense of urgency.
For each article you write for your blog, consider how you can reformat that post for social media.
For example, you can create a carousel. Turn each header within the blog into a single post for the carousel.
If you want to cover a complex topic, consider creating a video or reel instead. Creating more reel content on Instagram can help you reach more people.
It’s important to note that Instagram recently recognized it was pushing too much video content on users. The platform plans on balancing the amount of photo and video content shown to users soon. Keep up with any algorithm updates relevant to the social media platforms you plan to use.
Instead of prioritizing one form of content over another, experiment with different formats. Reviewing your data can help you determine what types of posts your followers prefer.
Update Your Profiles
You can start gaining more followers on social media by updating and optimizing your platform.
First, make it easy for people to find the information they need from your platform. Include a link to your website. Add any relevant contact information (or a contact button on platforms like Facebook and Instagram).
Optimize your profile by adding a hashtag relevant to your pest control company, too. For example, you might simply use “#pestcontrol.” If clients find you via a branded hashtag more often, use your company name instead.
For each social media profile you create, make sure your branding remains consistent. Consistent branding will encourage brand awareness to grow. In time, people will think of your business when they need pest control services.
Make sure the branding on your social media accounts matches what appears on your website. Inconsistency could confuse customers. They might confuse you with another pest control company.
Update Your Website
Google will consider the user experience you’re offering visitors on your website. Make sure your site appeals to Google’s Core Web Vitals. Otherwise, make sure it’s fast, mobile-optimized, and user-friendly.
Most social media users will visit your website from your social media account on a mobile device. Run your site through Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. If it’s not optimized for mobile users, hire a web design and development company right away.
Otherwise, use these web design tips for pest control companies to make improvements.
Google will check the mobile version of your website before determining your rankings. Your rankings will drop if it isn’t mobile-ready.
Make sure the content on your website is easy to share on social media, too. You can use a plug-in to make the process as easy as clicking a button!
Strategically Place Keywords
When writing blog content for your website, make sure your focus keyword is located in the:
- Page title
- URL
- Opening and closing paragraphs
- A header
- SEO title and meta description
- Image file name and alt text
- Body text
Instead of prioritizing hashtags on social media, focus on including your SEO keyword within the caption. Update the image alt text for every photo you post on Instagram, too. You should also include the keyword in the subtitles or closed captions for video content.
Social media platforms are starting to pick up SEO best practices. Social media platforms already have their own search engines. Optimizing your content with SEO in mind will help you appear in front of people as they search for your content.
Encourage Conversations
Generate more engagement for your social media posts. For example, you can start asking open-ended questions within your captions. Once people begin responding and reacting to your content, respond back!
Generating more engagement on social media could help your posts appear in front of more users.
With your blog content, make sure to end each post with a call to action.
Work With an Influencer
If you’re struggling to generate traction on social media, consider partnering with an influencer this year. Try to find influencers who already reach your target audience. Make sure to double-check your audience research!
Then, ask the influencer to promote your pest control services!
As part of your SEO strategy, make sure to generate backlinks as well. Backlinks appear on other websites. They’ll direct readers to your blog content, helping you generate referral traffic.
Generating backlinks can help boost your organic rankings. Generating more website traffic can benefit your rankings, too.
Unite Your SEO and Social Media Marketing Strategies
Learning how to combine your SEO and social media strategies can help you reach new pest control clients. Start using these simple tips to get started. Otherwise, consider partnering with an experienced agency that specializes in helping pest control companies.
Help from an agency will allow you to focus time and attention on your clients.
Want to improve your digital marketing strategy this year? We’re happy to help.
Book a flow acceleration session today to learn more!
