When it comes to digital marketing, most business owners know that they need to be active on social media. However, many don’t realize the full impact that social media can have on their overall efforts – including SEO. In this blog post, we will discuss how social media can help your SEO efforts and provide some tips on how to make the most of this powerful relationship.
History of Social Media & SEO
It’s important to understand the history of social media and SEO to see how they are connected. In the early days of SEO, the focus was largely on optimizing website content for search engines. This meant using keywords throughout your site and in your metatags. While this is still an important part of SEO, the landscape has changed significantly in recent years.
With the rise of social media, the way that people discover and share content has changed dramatically. Search engines are now taking social signals into account when ranking websites. This means that if your site is being shared a lot on social media, it is more likely to rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs).
How to Use Social Media to Help Your SEO Efforts
Now that we’ve discussed the history of social media and SEO, let’s take a look at how you can use social media to help your SEO efforts.
The first step is to make sure that you are active on the right social media platforms. There are a lot of social media platforms out there, and it can be tempting to try to be active on all of them. However, this is not realistic or sustainable for most businesses. It’s better to focus your efforts on a few key platforms where your target audience is active.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that not all social media platforms are equal when it comes to SEO. Some platforms, like Twitter and LinkedIn, are great for helping your website rank higher on SERPs. Other platforms, like Instagram and Snapchat, are less directly connected to SEO but can still be useful for driving traffic to your site.
Once you’ve identified the social media platforms that you want to focus on, it’s time to start creating and sharing content. As we mentioned before, social signals are a major factor in how search engines rank websites. This means that the more engagement your content gets on social media, the better it will perform in search results.
To get the most out of your social media efforts, it’s important to create high-quality content that is interesting and relevant to your target audience. This content should be shareable and engaging, and it should include links back to your website.
1- You can gain more Backlinks:
One of the most important ranking factors for SEO is backlinks. Backlinks are links from other websites to your website. Google sees these links as a vote of confidence in your content. The more backlinks you have, the higher your website will rank on SERPs.
Social media is a great way to build up your backlink profile. Every time you share content on social media, you have the opportunity to include a link back to your website. If this content is shared by other people, you will also get credit for any links that they include.
In addition to sharing your own content, you can also use social media to find and share high-quality content from other sources. When you share this content, be sure to include a link back to the original source. This is a great way to build relationships with other influencers in your industry while also getting some valuable backlinks.
Remember, not all backlinks are created equal. Google puts more weight on links from high-quality websites that are relevant to your industry. So, when you’re looking for content to share, make sure to choose sources that fit these criteria.
2- You can rank for a search term without even optimizing for them:
In the past, if you wanted to rank for a certain keyword, you would need to optimize your website and content for that keyword. This process generally involved using the keyword throughout your site and in your metatags.
Now, with the rise of social media, it’s possible to rank for keywords without even optimizing for them. This is because Google now takes social signals into account when ranking websites.
If your website and content are being shared a lot on social media, it’s likely that you will rank higher for relevant keywords, even if you haven’t specifically optimized for them. Of course, this does not mean that you should completely abandon keyword optimization. But it does mean that you can get some extra SEO benefits from social media without a lot of extra effort.
3- You can bring more traffic to your website:
One of the most obvious benefits of social media is that it can help you drive more traffic to your website. Every time you share a piece of content on social media, you’re giving people a reason to click through to your website.
If you want even more traffic from social media, consider using paid advertising. Paid ads on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter can be a great way to get your content in front of more people.
Check this blog out to understand why you should pay for advertising on social media.
In addition to driving traffic to your website, social media can also help you increase the amount of time that people spend on your site. This is important because Google uses “dwell time” as a ranking factor. If people spend a lot of time on your site after clicking through from social media, it will signal to Google that your content is relevant and interesting.
4- You can build trust with your customers:
In the past, businesses could only build trust with their customers by creating high-quality content and providing excellent customer service. However, social media has changed all that.
Now, businesses can use social media to directly interact with their customers and create a relationship of trust. This is important because trust is one of the main factors that determine whether someone will do business with you.
If you want to build trust with your customers, make sure to respond to any comments or questions that they leave on your social media pages. This shows that you care about your customers and are willing to engage with them. You can also use social media to provide valuable content and resources that will help your customers in their business.
Conclusion
Social media provides a lot of benefits on its own, but it can also be a great tool for helping
your SEO efforts. By being active on the right social media platforms and creating shareable content, you can increase your website’s visibility and rank on SERPs.
Do you want to learn more about how social media can help your business? Contact us today to speak with one of our digital marketing experts!
