Originally published January 25, 2022

The relationship between search engine optimization and social media marketing is confusing to many people, even those of us in the biz. Social SEO can seem oxymoronic. After all, SEO is all about getting a search engine to direct traffic to your website. Not getting people to your Facebook page.

And to get this out of the way, success on a social media platform does not directly translate to your business website ranking higher. At least, according to Google.

But that doesn’t mean focusing on social media marketing is bad for SEO. In fact, a well-rounded SEO strategy should always include social media marketing.

How Does Social Media Help Your Google Ranking?

Each search engine handles social media differently. For example, Bing tends to consider your social media pages when ranking your content more than Google does. But that doesn’t mean Google doesn’t care at all. So here are some ways that having a vibrant social media presence can help you rank on Google.

• Social media pages can rank organically: Yes, your Facebook page can rank as a search result if it sends out signals and gets crawled by search engines. If your social media pages rank along with your website, you can own the first page of Google. Facebook marketing can increase your reach and help you rank higher in SERPs.

• Social shares increase the number of people who see your content: Sharing your content on social media makes it more likely that your content will continue to get shared, leading to more traffic and, sometimes, a higher ranking on Google.

• Social media allows you to build relationships: Building authentic relationships with your customers, fans, and other brands is a powerful way to increase your website’s authority, leading to an improved ranking on Google. The more link-building you do, the better your chances of ranking!

Social Signals and SEO

Social signals refer to people’s reactions and interactions with content on social media platforms. This includes likes, shares, comments, and retweets. 

Social signals are a vital indicator of how popular or engaging a piece of content is. They can also be used to measure the success of marketing campaigns and help businesses better understand their target audience.

But more importantly, for our purposes, they play a crucial role in social media SEO. 

While search engines don’t explicitly factor social signals into your ranking, having your content shared on social media indirectly helps your domain authority. 

Google Analytics tracks traffic from social media shares, which already indicates the value of that metric.

If many people share links to content you’ve shared, and their social media profile is reputable, search engines will take notice.

Social Media and Local SEO

Local SEO is a type of search engine optimization (SEO) that helps businesses achieve higher rankings in local search results. It involves optimizing a website for local searches and targeting local customers using keywords related to their location. 

Businesses targeting an audience nearby—such as restaurants or other services—should pay special attention to social media content.

This is for a couple of reasons. One, as we mentioned earlier, social media pages can rank highly. Two, as a local business, your target audience is probably connected to your existing customers on one social network or another. So seeing photos or reviews from people they trust will be worth more than other forms of marketing.

This way, ensuring your social presence is ranking is almost as important as your actual website.

How To Optimize Your Social Profiles for SEO

Much of the traditional digital marketing advice for SEO holds true for your social profiles: using relevant keywords and posting engaging content will always help you rank higher. 

But the content you want to be shared on social channels follows different guidelines. Our blogging for SEO calculator generally suggests shorter blogs to account for lowered attention spans. You should also lean into the clickbaity (though not misleading) titles to attract attention and shares.

Takeaway

Social media is still necessary for digital marketing, even if it doesn’t directly increase organic traffic. The relationships you build and the added visibility your website can receive, thanks to the ease of social sharing, make creating an effective social media strategy worthwhile.

If you don’t have the time to keep up with your business’s social media strategy, let’s talk! We can help you with social media SEO or work with you to implement a strategy you have. Check out our social media cost calculator to start reaping the benefits of social SEO.

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