For many small companies, managing a single website well can be hard enough, but with the numerous alternatives such as social outlets becoming more popular, there is the question of whether to duplicate the content across several platforms, and will search engine optimisation still be a worthwhile technique?

Larger companies will almost certainly use a dedicated team to manage internet content, probably with a content management system. This will be a repository for content and any changes made to the content, enabling the business to keep track of what it releases, especially where multiple social channels are in use and there may be legal implications. A large business may be able to engage its own search optimization experts as part of the website team instead of usingthe services of an external search engine optimisation company and properly take optimisation in hand as it creates the content.

Small companies without a strong brand rely on conventional search queries using keywords as the first point of contact from new clients so that requires a good natural search engine positioning to be productive. This will require the use of search optimization tools, probably by a specialist search optimization company. In time, the efforts of the search optimisation experts will elevate the natural search engine positioning of the company’s web pages.

It may be tempting to have a presence on the better known general use social channels (numerous social channels are aimed at special interest groups) but a small business is unlikely to be able to write the sort of content these networks seem to prefer. Where organisations do have a presence in a social network such as Facebook, the content is often just anchor text to a connection to the core website. Larger organisations will have the size of marketing team capable of handling the conversations that ensue, but this is way beyond the scope or needs of a small business. Your business should be contactable through the website, but there is no requirement to show every line of a live dialogue to everyone. This just adds to the clutter that can overwhelm what would be meaningful content.

It is true that using social channels takes up many hours of the day for many people just being social, but even they use conventional search facilities when searching for goods, particularly when so many companies remain outside the socials and the internal search facility will not find them. The greater concern for most websites should be use of conventional searches on mobile devices. The modifications that are worthwhile for highlighting keywords may also help readability on platforms other than PCs and laptops.

Social outlets may be another way of reaching new clients but for a small business managing across several outlets at once with the need to control content is too much to ask. It is theoretically possible for your business to be included in several places at once and increase the chances of multiple entries on the results page. It can be more sensible to focus on the core website and use search engine optimisation promotional tools to elevate the natural search engine positioning on conventional search platform results pages to become more visible to new clients.