Ideally, your marketing should be integrated. But when you don't have the time or resources to do both, you have to choose which to do first - social media or search engine optimisation?

Search Engine Guide wrote a couple of articles outlining three ways to decide when you should do one or the other, which we've summarised below.

Different social media platforms appeal to different audiences, so choose accordingly. Facebook suits business selling to consumers, whereas LinkedIn suits professional services and consultants.

When to start with social media

1. When you are launching a new web site

New websites take a while to achieve search engine rankings. Not only does it take a while to develop a body of content and back links, but there is the much talked about Google 'sandbox' which reduces the ranking of new sites for the first few months.
Social media builds a conversation around a product, service or company. This leads to links and you can also see which topics are generating the most conversation and factor this into your SEO strategy.

Just make sure that you have the content to support your social media activity. Sometimes a new site means a new business and you'll need to have a plan in place of what you are going to talk to people about!

2. When your product or service is an impulse buy

If you sell one of those 'I want that' products that are cheap enough and/or or cool enough that people want them, and will want them even more if everyone else has one, then social media may serve you better because you can ride the buzz.

We've seen businesses that sucessfully generate business during low-activity periods by offering special, time-limited deals on Facebook.

3. When you sell something people don't even know they want

Consumers can't search for the product they don't know exists. If you're introducing a completely new product or service that's never been offered before, social media will allow you to build awareness, educate the market and gain exposure.

Locally, Paw Justice - a cause, not a business - has generated a large community from their Facebook page which they say was completely unexpected!

When to start with SEO

1. When you have an established web site, but need more traffic

Search engine optimization will help get your product in front of people who are looking but failing to find your product or service.

Of course a good SEO campaign has to start with keyword research so make sure you do that first!

2. When your product or service has a research based sales process

Some products are the ones people buy as soon as they see them (impulse buys) But others require a lengthy research process before a purchase is made. You need to connect with these people at each point during the buying cycle so when they buy – they buy from you.

3. When you sell something people already want

SEO is a good idea if you sell a product that's already well established and popular, but you aren't getting the type of traffic and sales you want. A site that is well optimised for keywords with high conversion rates means the sale won't go to your competition.

Consider PPC

Search engine marketing includes paid advertising – those sponsored links to the right of organic results. A paid Google Adwords campaign is a way to generate traffic quickly and will tell you which of your keywords are getting the most attention and have the highest conversion rate – without having to wait for your SEO campaign to build traffic naturally.