The Impact of Social Media in SEO
The relationship between social media and SEO remains quite oblivious to this date. Although most business owners recognize the importance of being active on social media platforms, some often fail to acknowledge its impact on other digital marketing efforts. A strong social media presence can enhance the impact of other online marketing activities, SEO included.
Despite that, understanding this relationship can be quite difficult, which is why you should read on to understand the history between social media platforms and SEO. By the end of this article, you may also learn how it can affect your business’s SEO strategies.
The History Between Social Media and SEO
A website’s social media page may fail to have a direct impact on its search engine rankings. The situation can be more complicated. Essentially, nobody outside Google truly knows what the search algorithms can or can’t do. Most people often rely on public announcements for this information. In 2010, Danny Sullivan acknowledged that Google had social signals that help in ranking organic results. This theory was further confirmed by the former leader of Google’s webspam team, Matt Cutts. He modified his findings claiming that the search algorithm doesn’t treat social media profiles as ranking signals, but rather as independent organic search results.
Two years later, Google Webmaster Trends Analyst, Gary Illyes, agreed with Cutt’s point of view. In light of this information, it’s evident that social signals can impact organic search rankings, although not directly. However, websites that rank high organically most probably have a strong social media presence based on the content published across various platforms. Therefore, while Google will rank websites with impactful social media profiles, these profiles don’t directly affect how low or high they rank. As a general rule, the entire website should perform well for it to rank highly.
How Social Media Helps SEO
While it may not directly impact your website’s search engine rankings, you can use social media to improve your SEO.
- It Can Boost Content Performance
Social media platforms are a great way to share any content related to your business products. If you post content on your website without sharing it on any other platform, you may be wasting the resources you used to create the content in the first place. Social media sites provide a wider audience than you would have if you used your website alone to share content. Essentially, if you have more people viewing and engaging with your site’s content, you’re likely to obtain more positive user signals, which can benefit its search rankings.
- Social Media Profiles Can Rank for Search Terms
As a business owner, you’re probably more concerned with how your website ranks than how the social profiles rank. If potential customers search for your company using branded search terms, there’s a chance that your business’s social media accounts may rank alongside its webpage. Although the audience may be interested in learning about what your company offers through the website, many people may also want to see what you publish on social media. Social media accounts can provide a different perspective of your business alongside additional information about your products and services to clients that need it.
- It Can Attract More Traffic to Your Website
The ultimate goal of having an SEO strategy in place for your business is to increase its online visibility and attract more traffic to its website. However, focusing on improving the site’s search rankings may be the best, if not the only way, to attract more visitors. Staying active on social media and posting content relevant to your audience can also improve the traffic to your website. Social media helps tap into a wider audience, including customers who may not have discovered your company through an online search but require the products or services it offers.
If you’re using SEO for the first time, it can help you attract more visitors than search engines. SEO can take a long time before it starts bearing positive results. While the wait may prove worthwhile eventually, you may not get the traffic you need right at the beginning.
- A Good Social Profile Can Build Trust
Consumers today are overwhelmed with alternatives when it comes to making purchasing decisions. However, while having many businesses to choose from may be a great thing, it has also made it harder for customers to find a reliable service provider. Clients expect a legitimate business to have a social media presence and may label a company without one as untrustworthy. If you use SEO to boost your company’s online reputation and build trust with your potential customers, having a robust social media presence can be a powerful asset.
In a Nutshell
Every effort you make online to improve the presence of your business should work in tandem. Social media and SEO have individual benefits for businesses. However, when used together, they can prove to be more effective in helping you achieve your digital marketing objectives.
If you would like more information about how social media can help your SEO strategies, reach out to the online marketing experts at Virtual Surge.