Linkbuilding vs. Social -- Allocating scarce resources.

[JesseCWalker]

I just watched Rand's latest webinar on the end of search without social.  It was very timely for me because I've been putting a lot of thought into how allocate my available person-hours.

It is clear that SEO these days necessitates both linkbuilding and social.  But how much of each?  (50%/50%?, 80%/20%?, etc.)

-For the DIY small business owner (<10 hours per week available for SEO)

-For SEO savvy web business (~20 hours per week available of SEO)

-For in-house or other full time SEO's (30+ hours available)

Clearly it depends on a lot of other factors, I'm just looking for a good rule of thumb that can be adjusted according to the business.

[AdoptionHelp]

Hard to say because its not clear where one ends and the other begins. A good link-building strategy will include a social component. I would say you should plan to spend time on:

• Making sure your content has social features like share & like buttons

• Creating great content that functions as link bait

• Reaching out to similar sites to build relationships

• Monitoring and responding to facebook posts and tweets

The first one is sort of initial setup, after that is in place divide your time equally between the last three, and make adjustments as it makes sense for you.

[JesseCWalker]

Hey thanks for your answer.  That helps.    That sounds about right to me.  Its very hard to measure the return on each activity but its hard to imagine a successful site that doesn't have your four points.

[AU-SEO]

Essentially it depends on the nature of your website. Viral Videos have great Social Prowess if the take off but often fail in delivering valuable closes. The additional link value gained can be temporary in nature. If I had a dedicated resource I would spend 30% on Link Building, 30% on Social and 60% on building Quality Content that would be valuable for both Social and Partners to link to and utilize.

• Phil

[JesseCWalker]

If only I had 120% to work with!  Man I could use that extra twenty...

Thanks Phil