Has Your Social Media Gone Stale?
Are you turning customers off and away from your business?
What makes certain businesses more interesting? Why do some Facebook Fan pages have more LIKES? Why do some Twitter posts have more retweets than others? What do all these questions have in common?
Before we get to the answer of what they are all missing, I want to tell you a story that is an analogy. What if you were to walk into a bakery and find all the bread and bagels so old there was mold on them, wouldn’t you be turned off? In fact you would probably not even return to that bakery and would tell your friends about it. The word would spread quickly and customers would stop coming and eventually they would be out of business.
Social media is the same way in that it has a shelf life. When someone goes to your blog, Facebook Fan page, Google+ Business page, Twitter, etc. they want to find new fresh content.
To answer your question about what all those questions above have in common, is that they should all have fresh content and updated posts. Readers are constantly hungry for fresh content. When they go to your blog or social media profile they are looking for fresh and unique content. Why build a fan page and then abandon it? It is important to make a positive brand name for your online business and not turn off potential clients with your lack of actions. In this post we will discuss 3 reasons why it is important to have fresh content.
Did You Abandon Your Profile?
With so many social sites out there and new ones coming in, it can be easy to sign up, set up camp, and then leave your site. Are you guilty of this with your own social media? When was the last time you posted on your Facebook Fan Page, Twitter, or Google+ Business page, etc.? When was the last time you posted your own blog post or video and shared it on your social sites? If you are guilty of not updating it daily or producing fresh content then you are not only repelling people away, you are throwing away all that potential to spread positive words about your business and brand! You are ignoring the chance to develop relationships with your fans and prospects. Your social media needs to be updated daily even if it simply is to say “Happy Friday” to your followers and fans and giving them the latest daily scoop on your business.
Have Your Social Media Sites Become A Static Billboard?
Social media is meant to be social with current news. That’s right; you can’t just set up a site and be done with it like a billboard or a yellow page listing. It this were to be true, people would have just stuck to the yellow pages. Instead they have now gone online looking for a more personal and current touch by going to your fan page. When they hit the LIKE button or answer your posts, they want that interaction. Social media is a place for your business and brand to shine by engaging with your fans and potential clients. If you are not interacting or posting, why have a fan page and why be on social media at all?
Why Do You Need Fresh Content For Your Website And Social Media Sites?
Fresh Content Reason #1- Ranking & SEO
Do you want your website to rank above your competitor’s websites? Do you want to increase the traffic to you social media sites? The fresh unique content you put out is what will drive the hungry search engines to your sites. Search engines reward sites that have new content and ignore the ones with stale content. Google and other search engines look for the most relevant current information on topics and place them on the top of the page where people are searching. This is how people can find your business when they are searching for information about your niche. You need to constantly put out fresh spider food (content) to stay at the top of the page. It is an ongoing feeding, not a just a onetime feeding. Online spiders are always hungry and they get mad if they can’t find new fresh content to feed upon.
Let’s say you are a plumber and no other plumber in your area is pumping out fresh information. Google would rank your site with fresh content information above the other stale content plumbing sites because the bots are looking constantly for sites that are hot with updated content. They way they say thank you for their fresh spider food by ranking you higher than your competitors.
Are you keeping your business site and social media sites hot? To stay hot you need to be posting fresh and unique content daily. Are you producing your own content (or outsourcing it so it is taken care of?) such as blog posts, videos, tips, or stories, that have to do with your niche? If you are doing all this daily, you are going to look like fireworks in the sky and your business is going to be buzzing. You will start ranking higher and when people do a search, they will find your website, Facebook Fan page, Twitter, Google+ Business Page, etc. Wouldn’t you want them to find you and not your competitor?
Fresh Content Reason #2 – Newsworthy
There are thousands of websites that have free articles so why can’t you just copy and paste them to your site? Search engines will penalize you for taking other peoples articles, this is called duplicate content. Duplicate content is information that is found in more than one place or URL.
Think of your blog and your social media sites like a news channel. You need to be talking about the latest trends, tips and what is going on in your niche. Even if you are just a plumber or dentist there are many things you can do to produce fresh content. If you were searching for the latest cell phones on Google, would you rather read a blog post from 2 years ago or one that was a week old? I am sure you would agree that the one that is a week old would be more of interest to you since technology is constantly changing and the other post is out of date.
Fresh Content Reason #3 – Keep Your Brand Alive
Back to the example above about walking into a bagel store or bakery and finding that all the bread gone stale. What if this was your social media presence? If they went to your website or Facebook Fan page are they going to find posts that are over a month old? If so, they probably would not come back for more and worse yet they probably will tell their friends. On the other hand, if you updated all your social media and blog post they could hit the LIKE button, share it, or comment, etc. They would more likely to return again since you are looking like the expert of your field that has great current resources versus your competitor that has stale content that is out dated. Pumping out fresh content on your social media sites will keep your fans interested and bring in more traffic.
How Fresh Is Your Site And Social Media Posts?
What would your potential customers find right now if they were to visit your website or social media site? Fresh juicy content? Don’t risk your brand going stale by abandoning your site or social media profile! Having a Facebook Fan page that has posts over a month old or a Twitter stream that is not updated is not a good image for your brand and business. At the opposite extreme, you don’t want too many posts that annoy your followers and fans.
Do You Need Help With Your Social Media?
The St. Paul Marketing Team understands how overwhelming and demanding the time that is needed to keep your brand fresh. This is why the St. Paul Marketing Team has a team that creates fresh content to pump into your website or social media sites. This keep both the hungry spider bots and the hungry potential customers fed.
Your Turn…
Have you found a positive solution to the challenge of keeping your content fresh that you would like to share with our readers? If so, please share your experiences by commenting below.
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