The first and most important step in launching a social media marketing strategy is determining how you want people to find you online and on Google when your social media articles and blog posts are ranked in the Google engine. Ask Google which key phrases are best for your site. Google will tell you in many different ways. Do some research on which keyword phrases are best for your business, industry, region, and niche products? You will be surprised how people find your site. Look at your website statistics and use Google, ask Google which phrases are the best.
Getting found on a social network is really just another way to get found on Google. The goal of social media marketing is ultimately to create one more parallel medium by which Google search engines will find your material. That is why you need to determine which websites are the most compatible with Google. I have a list of the most Google-friendly big sites, but rather than just telling you which ones to use, I’d rather teach you how to determine for yourself if a network or website is Google-friendly. Once you can judge for yourself, you’ll be able to identify local sites and other sites that are most beneficial to your success.
Also remember that almost all sites are, in some way, social networks. An example of a site that is highly Google friendly is BlogTalkRadio. BTR is a site where you can host your own radio shows and it’s a great tool for that, but when you look at it you’ll see that it’s also a social network for radio show hosts and listeners. If you write articles for online exposure and do not produce associated audio readouts of the material, then you should seriously consider BTR and host your own radio show. Not only is it more free exposure, but you’ll find that if you apply your keyword strategy to the tags for each radio show, you’ll get very good Google exposure from the tags you post for each radio show.
I recommend that if you write articles and content get a free BTR account, make some shows and see how your tags for the shows rank you in Google. Take note of the phrases you use in the tags and how you rank on Google with the phrases you want. It may take a few weeks after the program, but you’ll see how well it works in a few weeks. I also recommend PRWeb, Facebook (with a custom web address), EzineArticles, Ning social networks, and just about any blog that has real/natural naming conventions. Natural naming conventions simply mean that the web address assigned when you post an article is the actual name of the article or closing.