Groupon, Living Social, and other daily deal websites have been known to drive offline traffic to local businesses of all kinds. From yoga studios to pizza parlors, daily deals are a great way to spread the word about your business and create an influx of customers. But did you know that the benefits extend beyond that? Let’s take a look at how these platforms can help your website rank and increase social media following.
Benefits of search engine optimization
Many SEOs will argue that backlinks are the key to increasing search engine rankings and I agree. One way to get a quality one-way link to your website is to run a function. Groupon, for example, applies SEO techniques to every feature it writes. They do this not only to rank well, but also to help the business they present. With contextual links pointing to your website embedded in the copy, a surge in love for SEO is sure to occur. Groupon links to a merchant’s website in a number of ways. Depending on the quality of your website, they can link you multiple times in one function and help you rank for multiple keyword phrases overnight. When a site as large as Groupon links the keyword phrase “Hot Bikram Yoga” to your local Yoga studio, you are likely to move up the ranking, at least locally, for Hot Bikram Yoga (enter your city here). The ranking changes are likely to be dramatic and often lead to an increase almost overnight. So, consider thinking about how your feature is structured when executing a deal, and work with your chosen provider to write the most SEO-friendly feature you can; Your SEO will thank you!
Love on social media
Another benefit of running a feature is the buzz that is generated on social media. When you create a feature and run it on a site like Groupon, a lot of social media discussions take place on platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Online reviews will also increase and websites like Yelp and Urban Spoon will be filled with new reviews from the people who visited and took advantage of the offer. It is not unusual to receive dozens and sometimes even hundreds of new fans or followers as a result of its daily deal feature. So make sure you stay on top of the discussion by engaging with your followers on social media and making the most of the attention.
In summary
- A daily deal feature is more than just a way to generate leads.
- A strong website will benefit from SEO techniques that platforms like Groupon use to promote features.
- Social media is an important part of a role, so be sure to monitor and participate in the discussion.
In closing, be sure to be picky when deciding which daily deals website to partner with, there are several hundred to choose from these days. My advice would be to focus on the quality of the daily deal and that generally means working with the industry leader. Groupon, LivingSocial, Facebook, and now Google have a platform to run a function. Be wary of local startups or old-school business models, like local mail coupons, which have added daily functions to an archaic business model in an effort to look modern and relevant. These platforms are typically built as a ‘me too’ and do not have the support or expertise of the larger platforms that focus strictly on daily deals.