Search Engine Optimization: Comparison of Link Building and Social Sharing

The practice of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can significantly increase a website’s search rankings, driving more traffic to the website, and thereby increasing revenue. Three primary SEO strategies are Content, Link Building, and Social Sharing. Our study compares the performance of three similar content-rich websites; each uses a different SEO strategy – one focused on Content only, the second uses Content and proactive Link Building, and the third uses Content and Social Media campaign designed to elicit social mentions and social sharing. We use Google Analytics to collect, analyze, and compare their site traffic, domain authority, search ranks, and ad revenue before and after SEO implementation, over the course of 18 months. Our study suggests that link building and social media both improve website traffic and revenue. Social media can be an effective method for quickly building traffic (for events); however, link building provides better return on investment in the long run.