Need to boost your SEO rankings?
Social media is one of the key factors in getting the SEO you want. The best social media campaigns don’t just help your following on social media platforms – they boost your overall SEO.
Of course, using social media for SEO means having the right approach. With a great social media campaign, you can hit all the SEO marks you want to gain new customers and raise profits.
This essential guide walks you through how the best social media campaigns work, and what you can do to build one of your own. Read on to learn more.
How SEO Is Improved by the Best Social Media Campaigns
The surprising truth is that social media doesn’t count as a direct ranking factor for Google.
This means that Google doesn’t take the existence of social media sites into account when ranking a website on search listings. However, this doesn’t mean that social media does not, at least directly, affect SEO. In fact, the opposite is true.
Social media has indirect effects on your SEO rankings in a number of different ways. As long as your approach your social strategy the right way, all of those effects are positive. Here are six different ways social media can boost your SEO today.
1. Gets You More Links
When a post is shared on social media, more people will see and interact with it. This means greater opportunities to have external sites link to yours.
When you have more external links to your site, you have more credibility in the eyes of Google. If other sites want to link to your site, this signals to Google that you have high-quality content. It’s a win-win situation.
On social media, you have added opportunities to get your content out to more people, so that increases your odds of getting links. You can maximize this potential with strategies like using industry-specific hashtags, or posting content on relevant groups and message boards.
2. Gets You in More Search Results
Google will sometimes put popular posts from social media channels high up on its SERPs. The best social media campaigns take advantage of this opportunity to have more posts ranked highly by Google.
Of course, those top search result positions tend to be temporary for social media posts, as they can quickly get knocked down by other, newer posts. Still, it’s a potential opportunity for exposure that you don’t want to miss out on.
You can help get your posts ranked higher in SERPs by optimizing for queries and keywords, just as you would with any post on your site.
3. Optimizes Locally
Google today is all about optimization by location. If you need to get your brand involved with your local community, social media is a great way to get started.
Anytime your company is represented at a local event, a quick social media post can signal your local authority to Google. This way, if someone makes a local search for something in your niche, your business will come up.
You can also use social media to connect with local influencers. Although this can take a bit more effort, the payoff can be huge. You can start by sharing one of their posts, or starting a discussion with them on their page. If you show genuine interest in influencers and what they do, they are more likely to support your brand in turn.
4. Increases Awareness
Getting your brand in front of more potential customers or clients is one of the best benefits of social media, which can indirectly translate to better SEO.
When you have a good presence and reputation on social media, you have a better overall online brand presence. This allows your brand to receive more branded searches on Google.
Although the way branded searches impact your SEO is complex, the increased brand presence is ultimately a good thing in every way. Give your customers a positive experience with your brand on social media, and the impacts will ripple.
5. Grows Your Following
The simplest way social media boosts your SEO is also one of the most important. Simply put, having your business or brand on social media builds your following. And the more connections or followers you have, the better you rank on Google.
Even though social media isn’t considered a direct factor in SEO rankings, Google does take note when businesses have vast online connections. One caveat: they have to be real followers. Buying mass amounts of proxy followers will have the opposite effect from what you want.
Gaining followers is all about providing people with useful content. Get to know your target audience and what is helpful to them. Whether it’s how-to articles, funny videos, or discussion posts, give them content they will want to interact with.
Direct engagement with customers on social media can also be a huge help to your brand. Touching base with customers directly lets them know they’re valued, which will make them want to stick around and help attract others to your brand.
Build Your Social Media SEO Strategy Now
Even if you don’t think about SEO while you’re building your brand’s reputation on social media, your SEO will be positively affected in the long run.
The best social media campaigns will impact your SEO naturally. Giving customers a good experience on their favorite social media channels will always be a benefit to your brand.
In fact, most SEO strategies follow the same common-sense formula. Give users what they want to find, and your search rankings will improve organically.
The days when brands could trick Google by buying backlinks and followers are over. Instead, companies must provide useful content and real value to people conducting searches.
The same principles apply to social media, so don’t spend money buying followers or waste time posting useless content. The best social media strategies focus on fostering real connections, offering real value, and interacting with real customers.
Ready to get your social media campaign off the ground and reap the SEO benefits? We can help you get started.