The debate that’s plagued SEOs for years goes as follows: social media is not a crucial factor in SEO. According to whom?
Well, Google.
In 2014, Google’s Matt Cutts released a video saying that Google does not rank for things like Facebook likes, Twitter retweets, and Instagram followers. The social signals that for years marketers took very seriously were now being left high and dry. So SEOs should just ignore popular social media influencers to focus on more important strategies, right?
Wrong.
When talking about SEO, I like to go back to a “website is a ship” analogy. It can be a daunting task sailing around the wide expanse of the internet ocean, trying to find somewhere to dock and get recognized. You could spend hours going in circles. Or you can get a compass. Think of social media as tools on your ship to steer yourself in the right direction. Even if Google does not rank for specific things in social media, that doesn’t mean that it won’t push it to auspicious places.
Here are four major ways social media can help you get ranked.
1. Increased visibility and online traffic.
Some say it’s better to catch flies with honey rather than vinegar. I say save the food for a dinner party and get a larger net. When it comes to online marketing – there’s no such thing as too big of a branding net. You want people from all over to flock to your social media sites. What’s the harm in that? The more people that click your site the more chances you have of getting ranked.
I would suggest building at least three social media sites for your business. The first two are mandatory for any business and the 3rd should
Google+ As it’s a great way to network with businesses like yours. And let's be real here, Google will always be privy to its own.
Facebook because well everyone uses Facebook. And it’s the best place to start building a clientele and figuring out the steps you need to build a brand.
And with Facebook, you can open an Instagram account which is the 3rd most downloaded app as of 2018.
For any business, Google+, Facebook, and Instagram are crucial. Twitter, Pinterest, and other social media sites are great for your online brand as well. But instead of getting bogged down by a large quantity of social media profiles, instead, consider what type of demographic your company is for. Once you figure that out tailor any other social media sites to that. But not only will you dominate social media but you will dominate the SERPS which is my next main point.
2. Better visibility on Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs)
When someone types in National Geographic, not only do they see the main site, but also their social media pages.
To have such a wide net on a search page means that more flies and be collected. Which means a higher conversion rate if your social media is linked to your site. Another way to improve your traffic is through backlinking. With social media, you are able to completely control the pages that are being linked to your site by sharing what is on your site. If you have an article that is buzzworthy then share it with your friends. Don’t hide under a rock with this stuff. No matter where your site is in its development, It is better to be seen than not seen at all.
So social media does show up on SERPs. And having more social media on the SERP means a bigger net to not only get your traffic increased but also your brand recognition.
3. Building Brand Recognition and Stories
Think of your favourite brands, or any popular brands for that matter. What pops up first for you? Is it their logos, colours, mottos, manifestos, signals, and *ahem* stories? Ladies and gentle tech people let’s take a break from SEO for a moment and just consider how important storytelling is for branding.
As human beings, we are empathetic to stories. Stories are how we communicate our experiences and see ourselves in the world. They are naturally hardwired into our psyches. Research has shown that a customer’s emotional response to a profile or pitch has a far greater influence on their intent, than the content of the ad itself.
So how can this be related to SEO?
The more you highlight the heart of your product the more people seem to care. And yet pathos can be a challenging thing to measure so many people forgo it for cold data. But the amount you engage in real human stories, the more real humans will come bustling to you. Consider these questions to engage your audience better:
What makes you unique?
What makes you interactive?
What makes you personal?
The more engaged your audience feels the more likely they will stay for the show. After that make sure to help them voice their opinions and give them the platform to do that. Showing interactive social media profiles that are full of reviews will dramatically improve your local SEO.
And what about local SEO?
4. Increased local SEO
As discussed before social media ranks in search engines. The wider the net, the more fish you will catch.
But have you considered other ways social media can boost rankings locally? Local SEO is dependent on social media. 80 percent of smartphone users use their phones to find local businesses near them. If you're not utilizing that then that’s a whole chunk out of your SEO pie.
Because social media sites are geographic, the more reviews that are made on a site, the better chances of being crawled. You have a far better chance of getting noticed by a search engine through social media than you do if you only used reviews on your website.
TIP: Ensure the geographic information for your business matches across all platforms and websites. Differences in address, phone number or other information could lead to a lower SERP ranking.
In Conclusion
So after considering all the things that social media can do to boost SEO, is there even a debate? Unfortunately, many businesses see it that way as only 45% of content marketing is highly integrated into their SEO strategy. But that can change. Bing certainly checks for social signals and it is the second most used search engine out there. As mentioned before, Google will always be partial to Google+.
So don’t let the fears of not being ranked on social media stop you. The pros are virtually inconsequential. You only have to gain in getting your story out there. Make your social media story shiny, make it funny, and make it full of dog photos if that’s what it takes to get people to get to your site. But most importantly, make it personal and make it uniquely you.
In the comments let us know how you blend your social strategy with SEO.
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