Search engine optimization (SEO) and social media marketing (SEM) may seem like two separate entities with regards to digital marketing. Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms to raise online visibility and promote products or services. Search engine optimization is the collection of strategies used to improve search engine rankings.
For the perceptive online marketers, social media marketing and SEO are intertwined strategies that serve to create value and offer relevance to the target audience. Below is a comprehensive overview of the ways that social marketing can boost your search engine rankings.
Optimizing Your Social Media Marketing Efforts
First, let’s talk about social media for content marketing. One of the most important ways that social media can help with search engine rankings is with content promotion. Content marketing is not simply a trend. It is the backbone of SEO. Ever heard the saying, “content is king”? Any website administrator knows that relevant and quality content is pivotal to the success of the site.
However, you may generate high quality content but it will be useless if no one is consuming it. Enter social media marketing. Social media platforms allow you to promote your content across multiple channels. It is arguably the simplest and potentially most effective way to broadcast your SEO-based content. While inbound links from social media shares may not be as effective as links from authority sites, they can greatly influence your time-on-site and bounce rates.
Search engines such as Google and Bing place user experience above everything else. In other words, the amount of time your visitors stay on your website is used as a ranking factor. Social promotions coupled with consistent and relevant content will keep your audience engaged. This will communicate to search engines that your site is a high-value site thus enabling a higher overall ranking.
Additionally, social media is great for link building. Quality link building has been a foundational aspect of SEO for the past two decades. Quality links have the ability to survive just about all search engine algorithm alterations. Influencer marketing has proven to be pivotal in the rise of link importance. If you produce quality content that serves to catch the eyes of relevant influencers they may link it to their blogs or website, generating hundreds of thousands of new traffic visits soaring your way. Without social media, landing high-value links from influencers is near impossible.
Moreover, social media facilitates more external links to your content. Search engines, like Google, favor sites that have more diverse external links. It is worth noting that for this strategy to be effective, you must have high-quality content that provides value to readers. You must give the influencer a valid reason to link back to your content.
Social media also helps with branded searches: Social media contributes to SEO by effectively increasing brand awareness. Increased brand awareness has significant benefits for SEO in the form of brand searches. For instance, if a user searches “Nike” on Google, they will find Nike’s social media accounts on the first result page. This is an excellent way for Nike to occupy the first page for branded searches. After all, the ultimate goal of SEO is to increase organic online visibility, aligning the marketability of social media platforms perfectly with this goal. The impact of branded searches may seem small, but all leads are directed to a page or asset that the brand owns and controls.
Finally, social Media leads to increased engagement. A good social media marketing strategy encourages more user engagement. While the sharing of useful content within social media platforms is not a ranking factor for the major search engines, user engagement is. When it comes to SEO, conversations, conversions, and interaction matters. Digital marketers should make full use of social media to promote quality content.
Aside from improving brand reputation, engagement makes connections and generates leads. If your content gets a lot of engagement on social media, you will rank higher for the topics you cover. Increased engagement is an indicator that the algorithm is displaying the right content. If otherwise, the algorithms will audition your competitors’ content to find those that peak interest.
Maintaining a strong social media presence offers peripheral, yet powerful benefits for search engine optimization. Advertising and promoting on social media outlets is directly connected to SEO and provides more search engine listings while simultaneously offering users more options. An effective digital marketing strategy is one where these two concepts complement one another.
Social media marketing in Chicago is no easy feat. Are you asking yourself the following questions:
- How do I market my business?
- How can I increase my brand awareness?
If so, reach out to us today for marketing strategy guidance.