According to Statistics Brain, Americans spend an average of 7.6 hours per month using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The fact is that social media is not only a powerful tool for individuals looking to stay in touch with friends and family but for businesses looking to foster a relationship with their fans. Here are four ways utilizing social media for businesses improves web-based outreach.

• Existing with Your Fans

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Perhaps one of the simplest reasons using social media for businesses is successful is because it demonstrates to consumers that your company is interested in staying modern and current. Many consumers feel that because you are using something that they also love to use, they have something in common with you. This puts the two of you on common ground for a rapport to grow from.

• Blogging

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IgniteSpot points out that 61% of consumers in the United States have made an online purchase because of a blog post. What that means is that quality, engaging content that your readers want to share across social media is key to improving your online sales. As Statistics Brain shows, 70 billion pieces of content are shared on Facebook each and every month. Maintaining a quality blog is a great way to have your content, and subsequently your brand, shared and your traffic increased. You can help necessitate the easy syndication of your content by learning how to add social media buttons to websites you manage.

• PR Management

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Social media allows you to spread the news about your products and services, but that social freedom absolutely works both ways. As TechNet writes, disgruntled customers and internet trolls can also use social media to tear your image down. By being on social media, you can respond to these issues as they happen. The ability to use social media for businesses as a means to turn a PR disaster into a win is one of the number one reasons to utilize social media in business.

• It Counts Toward SEO

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Up until very recently, say with Google Panda in 2012, the way SEO was done was sort of nefarious. Keyword stuffing, link farming, and mass production of junk content was the name of the game. However, the approach these days has shifted to the creation of high quality content and natural methods of creating a web connecting to your page. Marketing through social media is a relatively new approach but the idea, according to Social Media Today, is this; you create content, share it on social media, and watch as it is shared across the platform. This equates to the natural production of quality back-links. When search giants like Google see this, they know to assign your page more quality points and, potentially, higher ranking.

Effectively utilizing social media can be an important step in growing your web outreach and potentially improving your revenue. The best thing is that none of the above methods cost a penny, and all of them are effective. What are you waiting for? Sign up for Facebook, Twitter, and others today to help your business.