SEO vs. Social Media - Which is Right For You?

SEO vs. Social Media – Which is Right For You?

If you’re a business owner in 2019, having a strong internet presence is absolutely necessary. Otherwise, you’re destined to get lost in the shuffle among thousands of other companies in your industry.

It can be difficult, however, to understand how you should budget for getting your audience to your site. Even then, there’s still the question of SEO vs social media and which one’s more effective.

Not sure where to start? Don’t worry, we got you covered.

Let’s take a look at everything you need to know which to choose.

Where do your “people” hang out?

What is their behavior there?

Let’s talk about behavior…

Are They Both Required?

Not necessarily.

The main factor at work here is that you need to do all that you can in order to get your content in front of your paying customers. So, where are they?

Well, they’re not going on social media to make a purchase. After all, it’s called social media.

They’re going on Google to look for products and services, or to research potential purchases.

Using only social media ads carries the risk of little to no payoff per dollar spent on marketing, and the results could be inconsistent. The ads disappear as soon as you stop paying, which means your traffic goes along with it.

SEO, on the other hand, is virtually the lifeblood of your website’s performance. You could get by and succeed (and plenty do) by implementing solid SEO strategies.

If You Had to Choose One…

Think of it this way:

Let’s say you were deciding between two different stocks to invest in.

One company will continually grow and provide you with a steady stream of income due to its solid and consistent business practices.

The other company could provide a large return here and there, but its performance is volatile and it needs consistent outside help to reach its full potential.

That’s SEO and social media.

With SEO, you’re building a foundation that helps people find you on their own through search results. With proper SEO in place, you can employ the “set it and forget it” strategy and watch your numbers rise over time.

The same can’t be said for social media.

For example, despite their popularity, Facebook ads have a particularly low return on investment (especially compared to SEO). And, money and time you invest in these ads won’t affect your ranking on Google, which is vital for long-term success online.

Can I Use Both?

You could.

But, given that search engines are where people go to find products and services, it makes more sense to invest in SEO as you’ll get a higher return per dollar. Social media shouldn’t be your first priority.

As previously mentioned, SEO has the long-term effect of bringing in more traffic over time, which will gradually build your online presence and lead to even more conversions in the future.