Did you know that the likes, comments and shares on your social media posts can contribute to better performance in search engines?
A study by Cognitive SEO found that there is a direct link between the “presence” of a brand on social networks and its site ranking. Those with a higher average of shares and likes are more likely to secure one of the top positions in SERPs.
While content published on social sites does not have a direct impact in the same way that the page speed or mobile-readiness of webpages does, social posts do increase brand exposure and recognition. This leads to a higher number of shares and greater visibility.
Google’s Gary Illyes says that the company monitors brand mentions and other important metrics that can be aided by an excellent social strategy. He notes: “The context in which you engage online, and how people talk about you online, actually can impact what you rank for.”
This means that social media posts will have a positive influence on search ranking signals. Some of the ways that social can help SEO include:
- Increasing the scope of your content distribution channels
- Increasing the longevity of your posts
- Increasing brand recognition
- Making your posts more visible
- Driving larger portions of organic traffic
- Enhancing your local SEO
In addition to driving better SEO in many ways, social posts also lead to a higher number of click-throughs to your website, which can increase sales and revenue. Social posts put in work immediately and then continue to be beneficial by amplifying the power of your brand over time.
Publish excellent content
Social media management is an extension of content marketing, but the latter will still be the foundation for your strategies. Everything starts with high-quality content. This can come in a range of different formats, but among the best for driving traffic and shares are short-form articles, blog posts, infographics and videos.
The trade-off between quality and quantity is something that every brand contends with and a delicate balance between the two is the best tactic to pursue. Even the highest-quality blogs will struggle to support consistent results if they are only published monthly. This does not mean that you have to post two articles daily, but you need to reach a happy medium.
You are likely to have some content at your disposal already. Older blogs or underperforming articles can be given a new lease of life through the addition of new data or information and then shared on social.
Skyscraper technique
If you are finding it difficult to come up with new ideas, you could deploy a marketing technique known as the ‘skyscraper’. This involves searching for a blog that is already a high performer in SERPs with the view to creating something similar but more in-depth. You could, for example, increase your word count, make it more relevant to the publication date, and add more stats and data.
Content that is already performing well will have a higher number of backlinks, making it eminently shareable, so your blog or article is also likely to move the needle. Just make sure to optimise for your keywords and to make it valuable for the reader. All of these factors support your social media SEO. You can communicate topics and keywords to your agency if you are currently working with a partner to create content campaigns.
Help people to share
You will be providing links to your blog or video in social media posts, but you need to do more than copy and paste something to grab the attention of users on social media. You need to make it as easy as possible for users to engage with your posts and share them with others. This is arguably the most important part as sharing is the action that will contribute to the SEO benefits outlined earlier. You can increase shareability by:
- Including calls to action
- Using an eye-catching image
- Crafting a headline that communicates what the post is about
- Including captions and relevant hashtags
- Posting at a time when your audience will be the most receptive
- Ensuring that content will help your audience in some way
Build relationships with conversations
After posting content, you can start nurturing relationships with followers by striking up active conversations with them. This is another great way to address pain points outside of informative blogs and articles. Taking the initiative and interacting with audiences on social media can actually drive engagement with posts, as more people will be drawn to posts with a higher number of replies on Facebook and Twitter.
You can reach out and start conversations by asking people about their thoughts on the latest blog post you have published and whether there is any additional information they need. You should also look to respond to any relevant comments that users have made. This is a useful way to make your brand appear more relatable and grounded.
All of this grows your customer base, increases engagement, and signal boosts all of the right metrics that will help Google to rank your site.
Optimise profiles
Profile optimisation is another factor that can support social media for SEO as it will make it easier for clients and customers to find you after they have entered a search query for your company name. Before deciding to work with your business, would-be connections often browse profile pages to get information they need quickly and to make sure that you have a trustworthy, professional enterprise.
Your social media accounts will also work best if they dovetail with the branding on your website and blog, so try to create a symmetry between your general brand messages and storytelling and what you do on social media. This seamless cross-platform outlook will also help marketing efforts outside of SEO.
Key takeaway
Social media supports SEO from the moment you start publishing creative and inspiring content. These posts will receive likes and shares, which will help to grow a community and then amplify your brand reputation and visibility. This leads to search engines indexing your website higher in rankings.
