Social media and SEO are far too often seen as distinct entities – each hermetically sealed off from the other. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Much better to see them as tag-team buddies in a wrestling match, working cooperatively to achieve a mutual aim. The burning question then: does social media improve SEO?
Let’s take a look at:
- how social media impacts SEO
- the effect it has on your rankings
Do you know about off-page SEO?
Writing insightful blogs, persuasive landing pages, and ensuring your website is technically optimised will send positive signals to Google’s meta bots: blocks of code that act as digital health and safety inspectors – assessing every website and ranking it according to over 200 separate criteria.
But activities outside your website matter too. Does social media improve SEO when you start stepping up your content game – sharing your blog posts, videos, running polls, or providing insight into your company’s culture? Yes, it does.
Regular social activity increases not just the visibility of your content but your brand. So post often and engage with your followers to drive more digital footfall to your website.
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Social media content ranks too
Think of your social profile as a website. Then start optimising it. Do this well and your channel will start to rank in the search results.
How can you do this?
- On LinkedIn you can customise your URL – meaning you could add a specific keyword to attract the attention of idle scrollers
- Intersperse well-researched keywords and content into your social profiles to capture passing traffic and match user intent
- Backlink to your website wherever possible – not just in posts but in the body copy of your Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn profile pages too
Does social media improve SEO if you follow these simple steps? Yes – if you optimise your profiles website traffic will increase. But you’ll also acquire more followers who you can target with tailored content: on-site and off-site.
Remember: a social channel is also a search engine
Provided you’ve peppered your profiles with targeted keywords that match user intent you’ll improve your ‘findability.’ That way, when speculative searchers are looking for a business like yours, their chances of stumbling upon your profile will increase several fold .
Optimising your profile won’t take long. Especially if you already conducted keyword research when building your website. Simply reuse those terms and phrases in your social profiles (provided they’ve produced strong results) to improve your visibility.
Conclusion: does social media improve SEO?
How social media impacts SEO is now clearer. Posting regularly on LinkedIn, Facebook, and other channels will improve engagement, attract more followers, and drive more footfall to your website.
Is directing prospects to your website essential? Absolutely not; if you can shorten the buying journey by converting followers into leads on your social channels then that’s better for everyone.
One thing is for certain: social media improves SEO and it costs nothing other than your time.
Ready to outrank your competitors?
Then contact one of our SEO and social media experts and let’s talk.
