Rashida
For 61% of marketers, improving their SEO strategy and growing their organic search presence is the top priority.
While pay-per-click methods can generate a temporary uptick in website traffic, a sound search engine optimization SEO strategy is an invaluable tool for a small business.
As more and more businesses tune into the importance of SEO, they tend to focus on strategies like content marketing and link building. Undoubtedly, those are critical parts of SEO.
However, one highly underestimated strategy for SEO is social media marketing.
That’s right, you can leverage your social media site to bolster your SEO strategy and organic traffic.
What does social media have to do with SEO?
Let’s break it down.
The Wild West of SEO
A great SEO strategy helps you improve your online search visibility on top search engines like Google. After all, 80% of major purchases begin with online research, regardless of where the final purchase takes place.
But the hype over SEO isn’t new. Businesses in all industries, of all sizes, have tuned into the value of it. Larger, more established businesses often have more resources to pour into SEO, and unsurprisingly they tend to show up first for a lot of searches. Yet, 75% of people don’t scroll past the first page of search results. Ultimately, SEO can be a hard battle for a small business to win.
If you only focus on blog posts and website content, you’re fighting an uphill SEO battle. The best content strategy must include social media marketing. Yes, social media does impact SEO!
How Social Media Helps SEO
The link between social media and SEO is a bit complex but very important. No, social media marketing won’t directly improve your SEO ranking, it’s not an SEO ranking factor. That means that Google does not look at your social media to determine the relevance of your content.
However, sharing links on social media increases the exposure of your brand. When used wisely, your social media account can help to influence your SEO.
Essentially, social media is a vessel to distribute content, which can breathe longer life into it. You can leverage social media to attract organic traffic and boost your brand recognition and reputation. Over time, proper social media marketing generates powerful social signals and helps you get your content to your target market.
Interestingly enough, social media sites are their own form of search engines. When posts generate more engagement on social media, the more it tells Google to rank your site. While links on social media aren’t equal to backlinks from authority sites, they can still help you improve your SEO indirectly.
Build Brand Advocates
The monthly active users on your social media account are incredibly valuable. When you share content on social media that your target audience enjoys and appreciates, they’re more likely to share it with others. Social media followers can be powerful advocates for your brand, helping you grow your circle.
What to Post on Social Media
Building a loyal social media audience is incredibly helpful for your brand image and even your SEO. Your audience will amplify the reach of the content you share on social media, as long as it provides value to them.
So, what should you share on social media? The possibilities are endless, but here are some ideas:
- Blog posts (especially a snippet of a blog post from your website with a link directing people to the original post)
- Videos
- How to
- Reviews/testimonials
- Turn blogs into simple videos
- Infographics
- Listicles
- Checklists
- Tips and tricks
- Quotes
- Statistics
Social Media Marketing Tips
Making the most of your social media site will help your brand in several ways, but it can be hard to know where to start. Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind:
- Social media links help Google index your content, which can indirectly improve your rankings.
- Always post content that is valuable to your target audience. They will be most likely to engage with useful material.
- Quality is paramount. To build your brand on social media, you must post quality content. Quality includes aesthetic and informational qualities.
- Generating buzz on your content via social media may also help you attract backlinks.
- You should also optimize your content for “social media SEO”. Users search for the content while on social media sites, so you want to ensure that your content will come up for relevant searches from within the platform.
Get Quality Content
Both SEO and social media marketing start with excellent content. To get the best results, you need content that’s valuable, readable, and well-written. For help with all of your content needs, Content Cucumber is here to help. Get access to a team of professional writers who can transform your ideas into quality content. Request your free sample article today!
