Sometimes, looking at things from a different perspective helps. Here are 4 ways to look at social media from a different perspective ... and none require the submission to go 'hot' to receive benefit.
Use it for:
1. Reputation Management - as my previous post on the subject (Reputation 50+ Posts to Help You Bury Negative Posts About You or Your Company ) suggests, by developing and building out profiles on numerous social media sites, you can often preempt negative posts about a person or company, so they never make it to the first page of the search results. You can also use it in a more reactionary way ... to bury existing negative posts about you or your company.
2. Generating Direct Backlinks - some social media sites offer dofollow links, so blog posts submitted to them actually generate good quality relevant links :).
3. Identifying and Reaching Key Influencers - as I blogged about previously Using Digg to Get TV, Newspaper, Radio, and Magazine Mentions . We've used this technique to get clients on each television, radio, in newspaper articles, magazine pieces, and even to get mentions by prominent sites, government agencies, and .edus. It works really well!
4. Attracting Additional Search Traffic - Often, submitting a blog post to a social media site will result in both the initial post and the portion on the social media site ranking for the given keyword(s). Change the title somewhat, and social media submissions can be used to target long tail keywords as I alluded to in this post Improving Search Traffic Using Social Media.
All in all ... like social media or loath it, it can benefit you! Enjoy, and happy socializing!
I looked at the photo a few minutes before I realized it was rotated. Perfect for getting the point of the post across.
Wow, these are excellent techniques to improve your search engine exposure. Thanks!
All good ideas of course. It took me a couple of minutes to realize the rotation of the picture. Thats freaky and is a great pic.
What worries me most about reputation management is that it’s often employed in its most simple form; out-shout those that are making you look bad.
I’d like to think that if I had a large enough brand, I’d have people contact those that aren’t happy with me and get those issues resolved.
be proactive rather than reactive…
Alternative? those are my main uses for social media 🙂
it is better to act proactivly than reactively – but how about both – this covers your ass in case it happens again, and a lot of times even if someone takes down a page it might take ages for it to truly disappear.
In the end like it or love it the social media spin doctor is there and free!
Your surname suggests a certain wit, and the picture proves it. Perspective indeed, point well taken! Am new to this blog and must say that I like it! A lot! Will be back for more!
Most of these come under the same “theme” obviously but I like the way you have gone with this.
What is great is that all these channels can interlink.
i.e. writing a blog with great content can help you get backlinks but also give you a channel to voice your feelings if you ever get in an ORM issue
[…] seen on a post from Search Engine People. Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and […]
2. Generating Direct Backlinks – useful for discovery too for launching new sites. Especially if you launch with a decent article and don’t link to the home page (doh!).
[…] media is not just for kicks – Jeff Quipp shares 4 alternative uses for social media you can apply to your Web […]
Nice list. I think these are good, but they don’t happen overnight and that’s what people need to realize. Once you have become established and build the relationships in the social media arena THEN and only then can you pull great benefits out of it like these.
Give give give give and then finally get.
[…] media is not just for kicks – Jeff Quipp shares 4 alternative uses for social media you can apply to your Web […]
New to your blog, good points. but for a couple of them you’re relying on the social media sites / posts ranking well and in certain sectors they don’t – still valid points of course.
I’ve seen the picture somewhere before but can’t place it (perhaps on a recent digg collection?). Really weird for a couple of seconds!
Social Medias also help a great deal in making friends and leave posts in pages with high page rank for at least a period of few hours. Some times the cascading effects could make or break a website in a period of days time.
I must say this photo freaked me out a little bit. I thought it was a girl sitting under a waterfall.
@ Michael … I thought the photo was perfect too. Thanks!
@Wordpress Hosting … they do work well. Know from experience. 🙂
@ Toys … the pictures supported my point perfectly!
@ Wayne Smallman … agreed, but why not do both. Some people aren’t reasonable, and negotiation tactics won’t work. Better to be safe than sorry!
@ Utah SEO … you’re ahead of the curve Jordan!
@ Underworld … EXACTLY!!!!
@ PPC … suppose I got the surname honestly. I look forward to seeing you around the site more. Thanks for commenting!
@ Glen … they absolutely can all interlink, and should. Thanks for mentioning!
@ Hobo … ooooh Sean … some more advanced tactics 🙂
@ Kyle … good point Kyle, though not all require you to be a power user eithier. THe stronger your profile though, the better they’ll typically work.
@ Manchester SEO … the picture is disorienting huh? Actually, only the fourth one above is greatly aided by a popular submission … and even it does not require it!!!
@ linkmingle … so so true, and with the right friends you can accomplish almost anything! Great point!
@seoblog … absolutely … as soon as I saw it I knew it had to be used in this piece.
[…] 4 Alternative Uses of Social Media “Sometimes, looking at things from a different perspective helps. Here are 4 ways to look at social media from a different perspective … and none require the submission to go ‘hot’ to receive benefit.” […]
[…] 4 Alternative Uses of Social Media […]
Actually, I thought that #2 and #4 were the main uses of social media *marketing*, too.
#1 isn’t what everyone needs (yet) and #3 is something sporadical, unless aiming for it, IMHO (off to read your article on the topic, tho).
Thanks for the advice. Anyway nice photo:)
@ Yura … thanks for the comment. I suspect most people are missing my point here. I’m not saying that once it goes hot it generates lots of links, but rather if you submit it to say 50 dofollow social media sites, you can secure 50+ links to every blog post using targeted link text … talk about powerful!
@ paulette … thank you!
[…] 8. Submitting your own stuff *appears* crass, try to get someone else to submit for you (the more powerful they are, the better). You can also use social networks for other things too […]
Some excellent uses for social media that I hadn’t thought about.
I think social media platforms are also an incredible place for market research.
Social media platforms like Twitter allow you to actually listen in to the conversations that are already happening in the minds of your customers.
Powerful…
Excellent techniques to improve search engine exposure.
A picture speaks better than a thousand words! how true it is!! I loved this ‘out of the box’ thinking.
[…] last week’s post I talk about 4 alternative uses of social media. Point #2 I mentioned in that piece talked about “generating direct backlinks”, though […]
Wow that picture is tight. So are you making these social accounts and using them often, or do you make the account and then leave it, using it every once in a while?
@ Kim Roach … absolutely Kim. Social Media is a great opportunity for research.
@ forumistan … thanks! Always nice to hear that!
@NikSan … also speaks to the whole KISS concept too. The picture was merely turned on its edge. Perfect in soooo many ways.
@ Tool Belts … depends whether or not I like the social media after I’ve trialed it for a while. Sometimes I will abandon it if I really don’t find it useful.
That picture is an excellent way to get across the point about perspective! Don’t have much time social media sites, but I see from your post, how they can come in quite handy as a promotional tool.
[…] media is not just for kicks – Jeff Quipp shares 4 alternative uses for social media you can apply to your Web […]
Nice topics. Anyway what social media that you use? sorry for my bad English
I Like The Picture :D, The Picture is Cool
Managing online reputation using the social media technique is indeed one of the best way to bury negative content about your business or site. Try it, it works well.
Thanks so much for the awesome tips, I have been using your suggestions with great success.
Thanks jeff for such a thoughful article i never thought about backlinks from social media sites and their importance. you are very rite i am on campaign for making my blog’s good reputation through bookmark websites and tell you what i am getting known and having a lot of feed readers and targeted visitors. nice points to keep in mind.