Each new year brings updates to internet marketing and search engine optimization. This upcoming year will be no different. The need and desire for instant information continues to grow, and in turn is changing the face of SEO for marketers and businesses alike. Not only do businesses need to be concerned with on-page SEO, but Google has now ranking social media and review sites higher in queries. But what does this mean for businesses looking to enhance their online presence in 2016? Learn how these sites can affect your brand presence here.

 

Why Do Users Enjoy These Sites?

Simply put: instant gratification. When users are searching for information online, many prefer searching and receiving information not only from reputable sources online, but from their peers as well. Social media and review sites combine this information in their search algorithm and provide the information in a easy to read, user-friendly manner.

 

Search engines began to lose queries to these sites and are now ranking queries from these sites higher to attain the search volume instead of other sites. This is causing some users to go through Google to reach these sites instead of going directly to the stated sites. It is popular among some users because they can search multiple social and review sites at once instead of visiting each particular site.

 

How Does This Affect Your Business?

If your business does not put effort into many of these sites, there is a big possibility that you are missing out on some easy ways to rank higher in queries. If your business is being mentioned or posting consistently on these sites, you are likely to show up higher in their queries and in turn show higher on Google queries. Many businesses may not be ranking high in search queries with their website, but can reach the top of queries on these sites, driving potential customers to gain information about the business.

 

How Does Your Business Take Advantage of This?

Creating a strong strategy focusing on the social and review sites that make the most sense for your business can help tremendously. If your business is in the tourism industry, focus on review sites like TripAdvisor, Yelp and Google Local. Social Media sites like Pinterest and Facebook are great for tourism posts and can help your business show up in new queries. No matter what industry you are in, focus on the most effective outlets for you and drive new reviews, questions and posts to these pages. This helps your company achieve new brand presence and works alongside your website to improve your SEO.

Focus on creating a structured plan for 2016 that combines, on-page SEO, content creation and social management to attain success in the new year. Ready to start your 2016 with Atria? Contact us today!

Image Credit: Search Engine Land & Moz