As a marketing company, we’ve seen it too many times; companies not linking their SEO strategies and social media marketing. But wait, does social media affect SEO? Well, we want you to know upfront that your social media efforts and SEO are soulmates. Yes, you heard that right. They belong together, interconnected. Together, you can use both to your advantage to get your name out to a wider audience.
In this blog, we’re going to talk about the divine matrimony between your SEO and social media. And why pairing both can give your company a competitive edge.
Use Social Media to Boost SEO
It’s believed that Google doesn’t use social media signals directly for ranking purposes. In fact, shared links across social platforms are responsible for increasing brand exposure. Contrary to popular belief, your shares across social media sites have no seat at the table of SEO. Still, they are beneficial to helping prove to Google that your content is relevant to your target audience.
SEO source analyzed 23 million social media shares on selected platforms and came up with interesting findings. They discovered an indisputable link between social shares and SEO. Shares, likes, and comments on social media posts are vital signs which Google and other search engines use to rank your website.
Although social media is helpful for ranking purposes, Google doesn’t see it as it would a primary authoritative site. Still, just because social media doesn’t directly impact your Google ranking doesn’t mean it doesn’t positively affect it. It’s important to note that good social media coverage can vastly improve your SEO.
Use Social Media to Boost Visibility
Social media platforms give your website and blog content another place to take up space online––furthering your overall reach. And while your social media platforms are a great way to promote your content, they’re also one of the best ways you can reach your target market.
How can you boost your brand’s visibility?
- Know your audience
- Use the right social media platforms
- Use hashtags
- Share useful content––(be the thought leader of your industry!)
- Interact with your followers
- Optimize your social media profiles
- Embed social posts in your blogs
Since visibility is one of the primary goals of SEO, it’s safe to say that social signals do impact organic search rankings.
Use Social Media to Build Brand Awareness
By now, we know the role social media plays in brand awareness. Hint: it’s a big one. But did you know that building brand awareness can also carry over to users’ search queries? Yes, it’s true! Your social media platforms are just another digital space for your target audience to find you, engage with you, and contribute to your overall brand. Think about it, if someone recognizes you in public, they’re going to be more inclined to talk to you. Well, with your social media presence, it’s the same way. If people recognize you in search, they’re going to be more inclined to click, or engage.
In addition, more brand awareness could translate to more branded organic search traffic coming to your site, or visiting your other social pages.
Some Quick Pointers to Integrate Your SEO & Social Media
Let’s discuss a few quick, practical ways to intertwine SEO and social media.
- Optimize your social media profiles and posts. As with most content marketing musings, it’s important that you craft your social media posts with SEO in mind. This means, using the right keywords in your bio in addition to your captions.
- Use hashtags to your advantage. Hashtags are how people find the content they’re looking for on Instagram and Twitter. Use hashtags to your benefit and take time to research what others are searching for. This is the best way to reach your target market on platforms with heavy hashtag usage.
- Use tagging to build more relevance. Your goal on social media isn’t just to gain followers, but to become a trustworthy source for your followers and audience. Tagging and mentioning other pages and users in your content is one of the best ways to boost your posts. Users will be more likely to engage with your content if you consistently go out of your way to include them in your posts.
Though this isn’t an exhaustive list of social media’s affects on SEO, it’s a great start if you aren’t already using both in tandem. Remember, your goal isn’t just to rank highly on Google. It’s to build a reputable brand, and create content that adds value to your audience’s lives.
