Like many businesses, you may realise the value of having a social media presence and you possibly have accounts on a number of the major social networks through which you promote your content for improved search engine rankings.
But, did you realise that social media can also have a positive impact on your website rankings? Once you understand the connection between the two, you can leverage it to put your business on the coveted #1 spot.
One way to boost your rankings through social media is to create engaging and shareable content that gets people talking. Websites with a large social media following usually have a favourable search engine ranking as well. So, there’s a definite connection between social and getting good rankings, even if it’s indirect.
Is Social Media a Ranking Factor?
Not exactly. While there is a correlation between social media success and getting high rankings, social media isn’t considered by Google to be a direct SEO ranking factor.
But, this gets interesting. According to recent data, there’s an observable relationship between the “likes and shares” that you get on your social media pages and your website’s ranking. As we mentioned, websites with a noticeable social presence tend to have higher rankings on Google than websites with little to no social following.
If you’re looking to replicate these results, here’s how social media practices can help you improve your website’s SEO rankings.
Content from Social Media Gets Indexed
We’ve heard it preached many times before that when it comes to social media content, quality is more important than quantity. But, if you can consistently post high-quality content on your social media pages, you can increase your chances of getting found by search engine indexing spiders.
Of course, not every post or tweet you make is going to end up on Google Index due to vast number of them on the internet. The key is to create content that’s unique yet relevant enough to attract the attention of people who’re looking for your product or service.
The great thing about social media is that it can accelerate the process of indexing your website’s content. If you share a blog post from your website through Facebook or Twitter and it gets a lot of attention, chances are Google will index it faster than content that’s just sitting there waiting for indexing spiders.
The social capital garnered by popular and relevant content makes it easier for these spiders to find it, which means it’s worth spending time and money to create good quality content which has the potential to go viral.
There’s a Lot of Potential for Link Juice
When people share the content on your social media pages, this improves your chances of getting more eyeballs to your website and offerings, thus affecting your rankings. But it’s not just about Twitter, Instagram and Facebook shares. It’s about how far you can go with quality content.
In most cases, it’s possible to get links from other websites too when posting viral or highly shareable content on your social media pages. That can really help you push your rankings sky-high.
Social Media Helps You Build an Audience
The whole “build it and they will come” philosophy no longer works for modern-day businesses because consumers have a lot of options to choose from. The best way to get your product or service noticed is to let people know about it.
You owe it to the people who can benefit from your product or service to get it out there and the best place to start is through social media sites. Why? Because that’s where a majority of the population spends their time, as evidenced by Facebook’s two billion users.
Sharing the message about your brand through Facebook and other social networks is a great way to get local, national and even global exposure. Plus, marketing your business through Facebook is often the best way to build a lasting audience and a noticeable web presence.
Keep in mind that there are millions of websites from different businesses around the world and one of the best ways to get noticed out of that crowd is through social media. Also, whilst social media channels are websites in their own right, it’s about getting into your target community’s newsfeeds, not just replicating your website on your social media pages.
It’s well-known secret among SEO community that click-through rates have an influence on a site’s search engine rankings. Social media marketing can help to increase the number of people that click through your website by helping you to build an engaged audience.
It’s also a great way to increase brand awareness and build trust with an engaged audience. When people trust your business brand, they are more likely to share your content, thus increasing your click-through rates and search engine rankings.
In that sense, social media marketing can make it significantly easier for people to find you.
Social Media Helps with Promotion
In addition to Facebook and Twitter, YouTube is one of the most impactful platforms through which you can share content and increase brand awareness.
After Google, YouTube is the most trusted search engine in the world, and we usually use it to find information on certain subjects when we are lazy to read. That’s why social media marketing gurus have been stressing the importance of creating video content for the past few years.
YouTube is the next big thing for businesses because it can have a positive impact on your SEO rankings. The best part is that you can create all sorts of content on YouTube that will send traffic to your website. Plus, your videos can also rank in the SERPs, granted that you’re using an organic reach strategy.
Keep in mind that the best way to hook people’s attention nowadays is to use humour or add an entertainment factor to your content. This works well because when people visit social media, they do so to unwind or get away from work, which means they want something fresh and interesting to look at. If you can create content that resonates with people on that level, then you will increase your chances of getting more views and engagement.
Conclusion
Google doesn’t clearly say that social media signals are part of their ranking algorithm. However, it’s important for business owners to leverage the long-term benefits of social media to improve their SEO rankings. It’s a great way to promote your online content, bring traffic, and potential sales to your website.
The article above was written with the input from Steve Hubbard from DIFY Social
