Some great points to help explain social media’s impact on SEO from Marketing Sherpa’s 2010 Social Media Marketing Benchmark Report.
George Assimakopoulos
CEO & Principal Manager
Two months ago, I purchased Marketing Sherpa’s 2010 Social Media Marketing Benchmark Report. But after receiving it, I must admit that I’ve procrastinated a bit and have not given it the attention it really deserves. That said, I am so glad that other members of my team didn’t follow my example – and have actually read the benchmark report cover-to-cover.
My social media practice lead (Andrew Bates) recently shared with me some points that he read in the report that resonated well with me. As an online marketing consultant, I am constantly asked if social media truly impacts SEO rankings – or is that a myth. Believe me, I have explained and re-explained to clients how social media is a MUST-have for any SEO engagement. But the following two points from the benchmark report serve as a testament to why:
POINT #1: 69% of marketers using social media score its effectiveness at improving search engine rankings at three or higher on a scale of one-to-five, according to Marketing Sherpa’s 2010 Social Media Marketing Benchmark Report
POINT#2: Marketers also are successfully using social media for targeted search goals including:
- Improving search rankings — 91%
- Increasing traffic from targeted keywords — 90%
- Expanding content shown in universal search results — 89%
- Improving the ROI from search programs — 80%
- Generating more qualified leads — 78%
The report goes on to include five SEO social media trends to guide an integrated approach:
- Trend #1. A solid social strategy must come first
- Trend #2. Search engines are increasingly indexing social content
- Trend #3. Social media builds inbound links
- Trend #4. Search and social data complement each other
- Trend #5. On-site social media is a powerful content generator
In short, Marketing Sherpa’s 2010 Social Media Marketing Benchmark Report is a MUST READ for anyone targeting online social media as part any integrated marketing approach. And since I’ve already spent good-money to buy the report, it looks like I’ve just lined-up my reading-homework for this week.
To learn more about this benchmark report – CLICK HERE.
