talkingDigital

Do you know the difference between the internet and the World Wide Web? Many people don’t.

READ COLUMN AS IT APPEARED IN THE BEACON

The internet is the massive network of computers that allows you to use email, send pictures via your phone, and see who’s at the door from all the way across town, using that new video doorbell you keep seeing on the home shopping channel.

The World Wide Web is the collection of websites that you access by typing an address into the web browser of your device.

It’s acceptable to say, “I went on the internet to find out if giraffes can see in color.” But it’s more accurate to say that you did your research on the web.

Everything you do on the web is done via the internet, but not everything on the internet is done using the web.

Where does social media fit in?

Sometimes you’ll hear the argument that social media is the new World Wide Web, suggesting that Facebook is the preferred channel for information. Rather than visiting www.beaconseniornews.com to read the news, for example, many people simply follow the BEACON Senior Newspaper on Facebook and let the news come to them. This is a totally acceptable way to get the news, but you don’t want to use social media as your only source for gathering information online.

Don’t limit yourself

The biggest downside of using social media sites exclusively is that they only show you what they think you should see. If you follow The BEACON on Facebook, you won’t get all of the paper’s updates. You’ll only see updates that Facebook thinks you will interact with.

It’s also important to remember that there are great sources for news, information and shopping that you’ll never find if you don’t go directly to sites like news.google.com or www.cnn.com.

But there are some things social media does better by design than the web ever could.

Social media’s advantages

If you lose a pet and don’t post about it on a Facebook page designed to help find lost animals in your area, you miss out on the best possibility of reuniting with your furry friend.

The reason it’s so effective is because when you post your lost pet update, everyone in the group shares the post on their own Facebook pages, connecting with their friends. Suddenly you have a whole network of pet sleuths helping you.

Social media is also becoming the best place to sell your used items. Unlike sites like Craigslist, Facebook shows you the first and last name—and usually the face—of the person with whom you are dealing. It’s also becoming the best place on the web for job searches, business recommendations and even product reviews.

So the next time you hear someone say, “I don’t use social media because I don’t want to see what my friends ate for lunch,” explain to them that social media has as many practical uses—like videos of cats getting scared by cucumbers.

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a phrase that may cause people who are not in IT to shudder and others to cock their head to the side in confusion. It’s not necessarily easy to understand for those who don’t have to work with it day in and day out.

But if you have a business and a website, SEO should become your new best friend. Without it, your company is unlikely to grow. SEO is essential because it’s how the Internet ranks your website in search engine results.

If you want to grow your brand, you have educate yourself on the ins and outs of SEO. The first thing you may need to know is how SEO technology benefits your business.

SEO creates visibility

In a nutshell, SEO means your website is relevant. The higher your page ranks, the closer to the top of Internet searches it appears. Think of it like this: When you perform an Internet search for a specific company, don’t you usually choose the first one you see?

And why is that? Because if it’s the first result the Internet provides you, it must be a good one. Chances are you don’t scroll down to the bottom of the search page and choose the 89th search page — or even the third — to click on.

With SEO, your website has the capability to make it closer to the front of these search engines, which means your business gains visibility.

Consumer confidence

If your SEO techniques are solid, your business will appear in numerous searches. This gives your business consumer confidence.

Most Internet users rely on more than one search for target keywords. When they see your business name appear on more than one of these searches, this builds their confidence in you.

For example, it’s been demonstrated that more than half of searchers use the first three results of any given Internet search. That’s how important search optimization is for your company’s brand.

SEO education

Now that you know what makes SEO so useful to your business, you need to educate yourself about how it works. This might mean investing in a company that specializes in SEO techniques that can help you build your brand.

SEO is one of the most important facets of conducting business today. Without it, your firm will become obsolete in terms of Internet searches and brand-building ability.

Since most company owners haven’t the time to take on another project, hiring SEO professionals is a growing trend. You’ll receive not only a first-hand education on the inner workings of SEO, but the best possible optimization for your brand and business — driven by those who know the process intimately.

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