Social media is becoming more and more a necessary value instead of a commodity. But still, many people question its necessity and validity.
Some think that it can work well for certain businesses but that it might not be a tool that other businesses, including their own, will need. However, social media can be a great way to drive website traffic bring in more clients, and create long-lasting relationships with customers.
One of the main questions that people bring up when asking about social media for their company is if it has any impact whatsoever on their SEO and just how much of an impact it might have.
How Does Social Media Impact Your SEO?
When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), we are all looking for new and improved ways to help get our content noticed. I’ve talked about the many different changes to SEO over the last few months, especially Google changes and the one thing many people wonder about is if social media has any impact. It might not seem like it has much of an impact, but you might be surprised when you get into the nitty-gritty of new SEO tactics.
According to a Business 2 Community author, the reality is that social media does impact SEO and it helps to bring out great success for your website, content, and products. I am going to reference this article throughout this blog to give you some great reasons on how social media can and will impact your SEO.
Does This Mean You Really Need Social Media?
If you haven’t jumped on the social media bandwagon, now is the best time to do so. Many people wonder if they really need social media for their business because it seems like such a “young person club.” Many businesses that don’t reach out to younger demographics often question its validity, but it should be noted that many younger people started out with social media because their parents were on there, too. This means there is a wide age demographic throughout social channels, which can help you reach out to any age, not just young to older Millennials or even younger generations growing up.
Which Social Sites are the Best to Boost SEO?
There isn’t one specific site that truly boosts SEO the best. Google Plus is a great option to get ranked on Google, but again, it is not the only one that can do so.
What you need to do is play around with social media and try the holy trinity of Facebook, Twitter, and G+ in the beginning. You can branch out from there at a later time, but get your feet wet first before diving fully into social media. Once you’re more established or understand a bit of the social media game, then it is time to get working on other channels if they will benefit your company.
12 Ways Social Media Actually Really Does Impact Your SEO
Now that I have looked at why you need social media and that it can impact your SEO, you are probably wondering just how it does. I am also going to take a look at how you can use it to further your web content and business.
1. Social Media Profiles Rank on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP).
In the Business 2 Community article I shared earlier, the writer mentions that social media profiles do rank on the SERP. When someone searches for a product or service, your social channels have a high likelihood of ranking in those search results, which can lead people to your business. This is why it is important to optimize your profiles fully before it is too late.
2. Social Shares Can Give Your Webpage More Inbound Links.
While you don’t always want to focus on inbound links, the Business 2 Community article points out that it does create great, organic inbound linking. These links will help to validate your website and can help you become an authority with Google. When this happens, your website is more likely to be ranked higher than ever before, which is exactly what you are aiming for if you’re reading this blog. In short, your social channels and links will help create more visibility for your web page, which is a tremendous help to bring in new customers and more revenue.
3. Mixing Social Media and SEO Increases Your Online Presence.
Just like with blogs, social media, combined with SEO, can help increase your online presence, making it larger and more accessible. A larger Internet presence might seem daunting, but this is something you should be aiming for. If you do not have a larger presence, you are less likely to be found organically, which means more money is being spent on advertisements to gain new clients.
4. Traffic From Social Media is Organic Traffic.
According to the Business 2 Community article, about 95 per cent of all links created in traditional link-building techniques aren’t very effective. They don’t bring in organic traffic nor do they bring in enough of your targeted audience to bring about the revenue and success you want to see. However, by using social media, you are much more likely to drive organic traffic from your links because it will come from your followers. This will bring in great quality visitors who are likely to turn into customers and they in turn can share your information bringing in even more customers.
5. Social Media is the Best Way to Bring in Mobile Users.
April 21st has come and gone, which means that Google’s latest, and largest, update has been in effect for a few days. This update makes it vital for all businesses to have a website that is mobile-friendly, and what is the best way to bring in mobile users to your new, or freshened-up mobile-friendly site? Using social media. You need to have a social media presence to bring in your mobile clients, and as we can all see, mobile users are a large demographic. Social media can drive people to your site, which will help benefit your SEO and improve your overall reach.
6. Combining Social Media and SEO Can Boost Engagement for Your Brand.
Engagement is a vital part of any online presence, which means that you need to make sure you are making it possible for your clients to engage. They can engage on your blog, but they are more likely to engage with you on social platforms. There are many things you can do to drive this engagement, and it gives you the chance to boost your SEO by way of organic link building and more.
Just how does engagement help with SEO? The Business 2 Community article says it is because engagement means happier clients who won’t just be one-time customers. They are likely to become long-term customers and visit your site regularly. These repeat visits are great for your metrics and help boost your rankings significantly.
7. Each social channel should be considered a search engine As Well.
Remember that while you want to bring in ranks and views from Google or even Bing, the social channels act as search engines themselves. This gives your business more coverage and helps more people find what they are looking for. If someone is looking for a certain keyword, product, or service, they are likely to search Google or Bing, but they are also likely to search social media channels. Many times, people will look for certain trigger keywords to get find products, which is why you should use your keywords as your hashtags, as well. I’ll take a look at this a little later in the blog.
8. Google does use Twitter to look for new Content.
While there isn’t a central system to file all web content, Google does use Twitter to locate new content to add to an index. If your content gains a lot of notice and traffic on Twitter, it is easier for Google to find your content and list it on the SERP. Different ranking factors that help Google discover include re-tweets, the amount of time people link to and tweet your content, and how quickly it was shared over a certain time. While you might not think that Twitter is a great resource for your business, it might just be a bigger help than you initially realized.
9. You can use your SEO keywords as hashtags on social Media.
Optimizing your social media posts will be a great way to help Google notice your content and bring your blog or web content to the SERP. A great way to optimize your social media posts is to utilize your keywords as hashtags to bring in more views, clicks, retweets, and more. Make sure you choose the top keywords that help bring traffic from Google to your site to make sure you are reaching the right audience. You should also make sure you are playing around with different keywords to see if any others will bring in more and different clients.
10. Google Plus is still vital to SEO and Ranks.
When you create social media platforms, you always want to make sure you are utilizing Google Plus for your content. One of the biggest, and most obvious, reasons for this is Google Plus is a social media channel created by Google. This means that Google makes sure it is as important to ranking as possible. Sure, they’ve made a few changes to the importance of Google Plus and how it helps with rankings, but it is still a vital platform. It can help your content rank higher and establish you as an authority in your industry.
Being set apart as an authority is a great way to gain trust from your followers and customers, helping create long relationships and convert new visitors into clients. You can also optimize your Google Plus profile perfectly to drive ranks on the SERP and raise your position on the SERP to a higher, more effective, one.
11. Social media lets you use viral content to drive engagement and Clicks.
One of the great things about social media is access to viral content. There are two ways you can use viral content to bring in engagement. One is using and sharing viral content to drive people to your account to then see your social posts and links to your website. Viral content is a great advertising tool that also promotes more engagement and social shares from your followers. Another way is creating your viral content that will encourage people to share your content to drive social shares. These can be in the form of infographics, videos, or other images.
12. Build a Following on Twitter to Maintain Customers.
As I mentioned earlier, social media is a great way to engage with your existing clients, creating repeat clicks on your links by those individuals. This looks excellent on social media and to Google and is why social media is vital to your SEO campaign. Use your social accounts to build a great following of loyal clients who will not only click on your site links regularly and make purchases but also help bring in new clients. If your existing ones are happy and feel you are engaging well with them, they are very likely to share your social posts, driving more organic clicks and traffic.
Drive Your SEO by Becoming a Social Butterfly
Don’t shy away from social media simply because you think that it isn’t for your business. As you can see, it will be incredibly helpful when you are trying to boost your SEO and gain new, long-lasting clients, as well as boosting organic traffic and link building.
