Social media is another method to bring attention to your company's services or products. For example, sign up for a Twitter account and write about your company's newest products or announcements. Twitter accounts only matter if the company can generate 'followers'. Facebook pages likewise are worthwhile as an SEO choice if your company can generate enough 'likes' by others with Facebook pages on your company's Facebook page.

Although social media can certainly bring public awareness to a small business, the time invested to creating that awareness is often time that a small business owner does not have to spare. Is the effort worth the time spent? In the long run, probably yes.

Online marketing specialists have differing views whether social media helps to boost a company's search engine results. After all, the biggest potential marketplace on the internet for a small business is a high placing with relevant search terms on the major search engines. There simply is no quicker instant, potential, customer than that provided by a search engine. The public searches for what it wants and the efficiency of the search engines provides those specific results. The debate continues, is social media capable of delivering that kind of business? Yes and no.

Ultimately, social media does have its place in search engine optimization methods however on a scale of a clear, concise web site and several social media options, the former will fare the best in the long run. With the boost of an authority web site (read article on authority web sites in this series), a small business web site will receive the much enhanced credibility with the major search engines to compete with other businesses effectively.

Good SEO begins with a cleanly coded web site (which a software generated web site cannot do) and relevant content that relates to the business or service provided.