Optimizing Social Media for Your SEO Rankings
It’s hard to believe that it’s only been less than a decade and a half since most of us made our first
Facebook accounts. Today, everyone’s on social media. It’s difficult to find someone who doesn’t have at least one social media account, whether that’s Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or Twitter. Digital marketers recognize the importance of utilizing social media, among other factors, to optimize SEO rankings.
If you’re curious about how social media can affect your SEO strategy, then read on.
Does Social Media Affect My SEO Rankings?
The short answer—no, it does not. But just like Facebook’s relationship statuses, it can get complicated.
While Google has admitted that social media doesn’t directly affect SEO rankings, the key word there is directly. It’s a different story when we consider how social media indirectly affects SEO.
Despite not being able to directly influence SEO rankings, the links you share across social media
platforms contribute to your brand’s exposure. These links are called “social signals” and although they don’t directly influence SEO rankings, they can affect them in the following ways:
1. Increase visibility and therefore brand searches;
2. Increase in search impressions;
3. Increased brand recognition and authority;
4. Broader content distribution and increased content lifespan;
5. and, Improved local SEO.
Why Should You Care About Social Media?
As previously established, social media doesn’t directly influence SEO rankings. However, it would be a mistake to not care about your social media presence at all. After all, social media has the potential to drive traffic to your site. Here are some of the reasons why you should care about social media:
Increased Visibility
The basic thing to remember is that when you post on social media, your audience amplifies your content.
The social signals brought by the shared posts generate visibility for your brand. Posting across multiple platforms allows you to reach more people.
Social media campaigns create a unique footprint on search console. They create a sudden spike in search impressions primarily driven by brand searches. As you increase the name recognition and visibility for your brand, you create more search interest in queries for your brand and products.
Increased Brand Recognition
With the increased visibility, more people are able to recognize your brand. This is not necessarily
measuring the popularity of your brand, but rather the ability of the general public to associate your brand with slogans, logos, colors, etc. Social media platforms are excellent mediums to build brand recognition as it helps you with your top funnel marketing and helps the said branding be ingrained your audience’s mind.
More Chances of Backlinks
Since more people get to see your content, you have more chances to organically connect with people who value your content. When people share your posts, the chances of garnering a backlink from one of these people grow larger. As you know, backlinks are important in your SEO strategy as it signals that your site is an authority site.
What are the Best Social Media Platforms for SEO?
Since some social media platforms rank higher in SERPs than your official website, it’s important that you have the right social media platforms. Although the platforms you should be visible in will vary depending on your goals and strategy, here are six social media platforms that you might want to consider:
Youtube
Ranking as the second largest search engine behind Google and with more than 1.5 billion active monthly users, it’s almost a necessity to be active and present in Youtube today. Video is one of the most compelling strategies that digital marketers use to attract consumers to a brand. If it fits your strategy, then it’s almost imperative that you have your own Youtube channel. Keep your content fresh, dynamic, and creative and utilize the video titles and description so your videos can rank and appear on SERPs.
Not to mention that the link your youtube channel, the link in the card of the video and the description links are all valid indexable links.
Twitter is one of most powerful social media platforms when it comes to making your brand and business known. Unlike facebook, Twitter’s content is crawlable and indexable by Google and other search engines. Tweeting often helps your brand stay connected with your target audience and having a plugin that embeds your business twitter feed keeps your on-page fresh. Use strategic hashtags and don’t forget to include links in your tweets. Keep the visuals engaging and snappy and link them to your new blogposts, websites, or new products or offers.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but having a large presence on Facebook translates really well for your brand. After all, with over 1.71 billion active monthly users, Facebook remains as one of the most powerful social media platforms worldwide. The best thing about Facebook? It’s a content amplification channel so share what you blog, and blog what you share. Oh, and that link in your business page to your website? Yes, that’s a valid link.
This platform is for the highly visual brands. Although primarily attributed to the glamorous influencers, Instagram is actually a really good option for brands who want to tell a visual story. When using this platform, remember to place links in your bio, utilize the caption, and of course the hashtags! And don’t forget to blog what you post and post what you blog.
LinkedIn might seem like Facebook for jobseekers, but recently, the platform has grown into something more. Afterall, Bill Gates is active on LinkedIn and he isn’t looking for a job. If you’re looking into driving awareness or information, LinkedIn is a good addition to your toolkit. Just like the rest, it’s important to make the most of your posts by making them descriptive and relevant. Utilize links, and cross post from site to Linkedin and vice versa. Don’t forget to post regularly here as well!
Finally, Pinterest! This social media platform may seem small compared to Instagram, but it’s worth noting that many individuals go on Pinterest with the purpose of purchasing something. Utilize this social platform to convert more leads. Another good thing about Pinterest? The pins are directly linked to your site, which means a potential lead is quite literally just a click away.
Optimize Your Social Media Accounts for SEO
SEO and social media aren’t separate entities. You can (and should!) approach your marketing strategy with both in mind rather than focusing on just one. Here are some ways you can optimize your social media to boost your SEO:
Publish Quality Content
As always, “content is king.”
Whatever platform you may be using, your audience will flock towards you if you give them something valuable. You must have read this advice on a thousand blogs already, but it remains because it is simply true. Creating high-quality, original content remains to be the most effective strategy for SEO ranking.
Share your content in your social media accounts. After all, this is what your social media accounts are for: a way to reach your audience. Be mindful of how you market the content! A Facebook post should be marketed differently from a Tweet.
That being said, there’s absolutely nothing stopping you from utilizing all your platforms to publish quality content. As long as you’re providing your audience with something valuable, it is more likely that they will enjoy your brand.
Utilize Keywords
Logically speaking, the keywords you use for your SEO campaign were chosen for a reason. Strengthen your campaign by utilizing these words in your social media posts as well, epecially on Youtube!
Connect with Your Audience
One of the benefits of social media is that it allows brands to be more authentic in the eyes of the
audience. Build strong connections with your audience. This involves being consistent with your branding, tone, and content throughout your platforms.
You should also engage with your audience. For those on Twitter, interact with your followers through replies and retweets. For Facebook, engage with your followers by creating more interactive posts and asking them questions involving your content. For Instagram, you can also engage with your followers through promos that involve following, liking, and sharing posts on their IG stories.
Build connections with your audience. That’s one of the main rules when using social media. The more connected you are to your audience, the more chances you have of converting leads.
Utilize Your Social Media
Social media is an essential part of any marketing strategy. While it may not directly influence your SEO rankings, it contributes greatly to the overall optimization of your brand. Thus, your SEO strategy and social media marketing strategy should be working hand in hand.
Optimize your social media to amplify your website. Social media is a great tool to reach out to your
audience, something that could be difficult to organically achieve with just your blog or page. Aside from expanding your reach, social media becomes a valuable tool to connect with your audience. Unlike your blogpost or webpage, social media seems more authentic and genuine. As long as you maintain a consistent tone or persona within your brand, utilize your platforms to genuinely connect to your audience.
It might be overwhelming to wrap your head around all these things. That’s totally fine and
understandable! That’s where an awesome social media agency comes in. A reputable agency can help you navigate through social media and SEO and can help you create the right social media strategy. If you’re still feeling overwhelmed and confused, then talking to experts is always in your best interest.
Author bio
Bernard San Juan III
A web professional of 20 years, Bernard is the General Manager of Truelogic, an SEO Company based in the Philippines. He is a strong advocate of creating a culture of leadership. He has launched 4 companies, over 300 websites, and more than 11,000 marketing campaigns.
