Social media have been a part of our society for a long time but have never stayed the same. It has been constantly changing at a fast pace.
What is it that comes to your mind when you think of social media?
Was it Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or maybe I should have mentioned twitter first, considering the kind of attention this social media has grabbed in recent times?
Mentioned above are a few of those major social media platforms that have been consistently changing and have become a key factor for all businesses to utilise these platforms effectively to grow their brands by focusing on their targeted audience.
If you ask if social media directly impacts SEO, then the simple answer would be no, they do not at the moment.
Nevertheless, both social media marketing and SEO are interlaced in many ways. In the end, both focus on targeting the necessary audience that is required by the respective business.
Here are a few ways social media impact SEO
Social media can drive a notable amount of traffic to websites, which can end up helping in improving search engine rankings. Whenever a company or a business posts on social media, they can include their website links, which will help in increasing the website’s visibility on search engines.
Social media is a platform that helps increase brand awareness by reaching a huge number of audiences. This will result in more people searching for the company’s website, which will lead to increased visibility on search engines.
Social media can also be used as a tool for link-building. So, when a company is sharing their content on social media, it can lead to external links back to the company’s website, which in return can help improve its search engine rankings.
- Engagement and sharing:
Social media can lead to increased engagement and sharing of a website’s content, which can also improve its search engine rankings. Because search engines take into consideration the engagement and sharing of a website’s content as a sign of popularity and relevance.
Social media signals are being considered as a factor for ranking by search engines. Signals could be likes, shares, retweets etc. This can be used as a way to measure the popularity and relevance of a website's content.
Maintaining an active and well-organised social media profile will also have a positive impact on SEO. Whenever search engines crawl websites, they also browse through social media profiles associated with them. In a situation where a website has an active and well-optimised social media profile, it can signal to search engines that the website is reputable and active which will help to improve its search engine rankings.
- User-generated content:
It could be reviews, comments, or mentions of a product or a service that can also be used to improve SEO. Here positive reviews and comments can help to improve a website’s visibility on search engines by increasing its popularity.
This marketing type can be positive for SEO. If the website joins forces that means collaborating with an influencer on social media, this will help increase visibility and a huge audience, which can help improve the rankings on search engines.
Social media can also play a role in real-time search, which are search results that are generated in real-time based on the latest content available. So, when a company posts on social media, it can help to increase the visibility of its website on real-time search results, which helps in ranking higher.
Social media can also play a role in local SEO by helping local businesses to increase their visibility in local search results. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram allow businesses to create and optimise their profiles with information like location, hours of operation, and contact information. This information can be used by search engines to display accurate and relevant local search results to users.
With the growing popularity of voice assistants like Alexa and Google Home, voice search is becoming increasingly important. Social media can help to improve visibility for voice search by providing more information about a business or website through their social media profiles and posts. This information can help search engines provide more accurate and relevant voice search results.
Video content is becoming increasingly popular on social media, and search engines are taking notice. Video content can help to improve visibility on search engines by providing useful and informative content to users. Additionally, video content can also be shared on social media platforms, which can help to increase engagement and drive more traffic to a website.
Monitoring and tracking social media activity can also have an impact on SEO. By tracking metrics like shares, likes, and mentions, businesses can gauge the popularity and relevance of their content, which can help to improve their search engine rankings.
In summary, social media can play a significant role in SEO by driving traffic, increasing brand awareness, building links, and improving engagement and sharing of a website's content. However, it is important to use social media as part of a comprehensive SEO strategy and to avoid using black hat techniques. Additionally, it's important to note that having a strong presence on social media is not a guarantee of better SEO, other factors such as relevance, quality and credibility of websites are also considered by search engines. Only thing that needs to be kept in mind is that both social media marketing and SEO helps in reaching the target audience.