How much link value does a tweet or Facebook like have? It just depends. White hat link builders know that, in most cases, high quality links take time to obtain. The same holds true in using social media to build links. Here are three things to consider.
Have Content Worthy Of Linking To
If you’ve been listening to or engaging in conversations regarding web marketing, you’ve probably heard this mentioned as often as the Pittsburgh Steelers have been to the Super Bowl: you’ve got to have great content to build links.
Having just one piece of content won’t be enough to sustain value over time. It’s vital to have a content strategy. By having a strategy, you’re able to build a following that generally consists of your target audience. If you create well-researched and well-written content around their needs, you’ll naturally build links and become a source of authority. Blogs can be a great platform for sharing content, but there are many other innovative content types.
Get Your Social Shares in Front of the Right Eyes
Again, this will take time, but find out who the influential voices are in your niche. Begin to interact with them on social networks like Twitter and LinkedIn to build a relationship with them. Read and add thoughtful feedback on their blog posts. Share their content on your social streams.
In creating those connections, it’s highly likely that they’ll begin to follow you. And, to make sure I beat the dead horse, I’ll remind you to have desirable content for them to link to.
If You Build the Relationship, They Will Retweet/Repeat
Social shares aren’t worth much if they aren’t distributed by those with clout (or is that spelled “klout”?). That’s why it’s necessary to build contacts who provide some swagger. In Todd Heim’s post,
Social Media Link Building he writes, “Even if your content is appropriate and of acceptable quality, you still need to have some influence and a network of users for it to spread. Otherwise you’re wasting your time.”
Your ROI will be more significant if you spend your time building associations with prominent people. These free tools that can help you find people to follow: Twitter Advanced Search, Followerwonk, Tweepz and Twellowhood just to name a few.
Look to see how many followers/friends/likes an account has, as well as the frequency and substance of their posts. These are helpful indicators to figure out how noteworthy a person is. Often, the more people following them and the fewer they follow, the more authoritative they are.
So What?
If you take these ideas and make them actionable in your social media link-building strategy, you’ll know the likes and tweets have value, not only because of what they contain, but also because of the network of people that will re-share them.
Feel free to disagree with me in the comment section, or let me know the ideas you have.