Content and optimization have become two very important buzzwords in the online marketing community. If you are a company who is interested in reaching your target market online – you need to have compelling AND optimized content to do so.

I’ve spoke about content and content optimization before. This is not something new. What’s new is the growing interest among companies who are desperately trying to get the most out of their online marketing efforts. Like I always say, if you are going to spend hours (or hey, even minutes) developing content – you want it to hit the mark AND actually be seen!

This brings me to the over-riding theme of this article: optimizing your posts for Facebook and Twitter. As a social media specialist and owner of The Go! Agency, my team and I are constantly on the lookout for the best ways to optimize content from every angle.

Briefly – here are my three pillars of content optimization:

1. Engaging Content: Well-written content which is laser focused on your target market.

2. Timing: When does the post go out and when will it be seen by your target consumer.

3. Social Media Optimization: Do your posts contain keywords, hashtags, tagging and more that can get your content seen by greater numbers of your target audience?

While I could break this down further, I think that these are the three main pillars that you need to concern yourself with when it comes to social media content optimization. These are overall, but when it comes to Facebook and Twitter, I want to give you specific tips to further optimize your posts in specific ways.

The reason I am choosing to focus on Facebook and Twitter is because these two sites are the ones that I am most frequently asked about in my classes, radio show, and when speaking with businesses in general. Everyone wants to know how to get the most “bang for their buck” when it comes to their social media posts on these two well-known sites.

With that said, let’s kick off with the people’s favorite – Facebook.

Facebook has many idiosyncrasies that prevent many newbies from truly being able to realize the full potential of engaging their target audience. This is due to their constantly changing algorithm which seems to be moving towards a more “pay-per-view” advertising model.

But do not fret! There are still ways that you can optimize your posts on Facebook. Here are 5 quick and simple tips for further Facebook content optimization:

1. Every Post Needs a Visual: Let’s start off with the most obvious tip – visuals are king on Facebook. Visuals have been said to drive increased engagement of 60% over posts without images. So start creating your own images, take photographs, or find some online to increase your posts engagement.

2. Longer Posts: We have seen with our own clients that longer posts to their Facebook Page have experienced higher levels of engagement than shorter posts. It has been said that posts with 80+ words get twice the level of engagement.

3. Hashtags: Make sure that your keywords are hashtagged for full optimization. Hashtags will increase your engagement by 60% in many cases.

4. Tagging: Are you mentioning another Page in your post? Then tag them in it! Even if you are using source material from a newspaper, it is a good rule of thumb to tag as much as possible. This will increase the reach of your posts.

5. Native Posting: All of your posts (whether pictures, links, video, anything) should be natively posted through Facebook as the site favors all information that is posted directly through them, rather than a third-party. This is especially true when it comes to video, hashtags, and tagging.

Now let’s move onto Twitter. This is a much more intimidating site for many as the learning curve can be steep and the understanding of the usefulness for marketing can be even steeper. I can’t tell you how many people get upset at the thought of Twitter.

Then I think about our clients and how their minds have changed once they have seen the power of Twitter. It is worth it!

Let’s just say that you understand the true value of Twitter and want your content to really shine. Here are the tips I have for optimizing your tweets!

1. Keep it Short: We probably all know that a tweet on Twitter is maxed out at 140 characters. But that does not mean that you should use all 140 characters! To fully optimize your posts for sharing (RTs) keep your tweets to around 120 characters for maximum effectiveness.

2. Don’t Overuse Hashtags: Make sure that your keywords are hashtagged for full optimization. And don’t overuse them! As a rule I always say no more than 2 per tweet.

3. Use Mentions: These are basically the same as tagging someone on Facebook. When you are mentioning another account, make sure to add their username to the post. For example “@ChrisGoAgency”. By doing this in your tweet, you will mention me, I will be notified, and then will entice me to engage with you in some fashion.

4. Shorten Links: Give your tweet more real estate – use a link shortening tool to give you more space for content.

5. Don’t Forget About the Visuals: While many tweets on Twitter do not have images, by adding some to your content mix will give you the edge over your competition. So grab some of the ones you are using in your Facebook (or other social media) campaign(s) and add them to your Twitter updates.

And there you go! Now while these tips will help you create more optimized posts that will increase reach and engagement, without solid content you will reap no results. Focus on defining your target market and creating well-written content. Once you have that, the rest (that I have mentioned above) is rather clinical and simple to do.

Writing the initial content is the hard part.

Take it from someone who has written 1,000+ social media updates for my clients per week in the past – I know!

Now GO! get optimizing!