Affected by global shifts specifically in consumer behavior, businesses now more than ever need to be acutely aware of how the public sees their content.
Social proofs became a make-or-break factor for many consumers to trust a local business. Over 51% of consumers heavily relied on recommendations of other people to decide if they wanted to purchase from a local business.
Additionally, the first thing that a consumer would do before interacting with the customer service of a business would be to look up the business in a Yellow-pages or visit their physical office. But now, this has been changed. Instead, they would look for the business’s Facebook page or Yelp page and check out other users’ mentions, reviews, and comments before reaching out to the business.
This is why it is very important for businesses to understand the local 3-dimensional aspects of social media strategy. And in order to do that, they must be integrated with social media. The more exposure a business can offer on social media and search engines, the more exposure, trust, and confidence of the people who will visit the business.
Social media offers a double-edged sword. It’s a free way to promote your business and engage with your customers. But on the other hand, it is also a way for customers to leave negative feedback about products or services.
But is it enough to have an active social presence? Are there tangible benefits to having a solid online presence on these sites and others?
Many of the world’s top brands have made it clear that they’re not just dipping their fingers in the waters of social media but diving in headfirst by using social media to build their brand. To create a customized digital connection with your target persona, you need to integrate SEO and social media efforts.
If you have to choose one, which should you focus on, SEO or social media? It’s a common question our clients ask when we present them with the options. The answer depends on what your business goals are.
Let’s do some groundwork first and look at both channels individually before diving into how they might work together. Social media sites, including blogs, Facebook, and Twitter, focus on engagement and interaction. This is your opportunity to build a rapport with your target audience by boosting comments about your brand in their social circles.
What is Social SEO?
Due to the perceived lack of clear boundaries between the two channels, many businesses hesitate before integrating them. They fear that social media will undo work previously completed in SEO. Don’t be fooled by this misconception: you can use both channels to your advantage.
Hence, social SEO becomes a way to work both channels simultaneously and improve your digital visibility. Social media sites, especially Facebook and Twitter, can help us find potential prospects and customers. Despite their instant, conversational nature, they’re ideal for building trust and relationships with customers. The success of an online presence is based specifically on how well these two channels work together.
Why Is Social Media Important for SEO?
Let us reminisce a little about how their ‘relationship’ started.
Nobody outside Google can tell you exactly what its search algorithm is all about. No one knows how it crawls, ranks, and delivers the results. And they will never tell you the exact formula.
Most updates came from public announcements.
But way back in 2010, Danny Sullivan said that Google had these so-called social signals. These signals help “ensure their relevance for a topic or entity,” even if the most popular sites are not the most important.
This means that Google is looking for relevant backlinks to your page and the popularity of a specific topic. The more people tweet or post about it, the better you rank in social media search engines with the help of social media agencies.
Matt Cutts, Google’s Team Webspam Supervising Leader, has supported this report. Social pages with a large number of links from other sites also rank higher. They are referred to as reciprocal links, which means “a link from one site is more powerful than a link from another site.”
In 2014, he further elaborated that Google did not consider calling social media pages as ranking signals. Instead, they produce their own organic search results. Then came 2016, Gary Illyes, Google Webmaster Trends analyst, proved Cutts’ statement.
Although there is no direct link between these two, social media dramatically helps with search engine optimization by:
1. Amplifying content performance
Your blogs posted on your website will lose tons of traffic if you do not share them on social media platforms. In fact, this is one of the biggest mistakes most marketers commit. Not sharing your content on social platforms means you ignore that ‘extra step’ to promote it.
With socials, you are getting a bigger chance of reaching more audiences. Thus, the more traffic you generate, the higher positive user signals you get.
2. Influencing content visibility
In this age where everyone wants to be found on the first page of the SERPs, visibility plays a big part. You can’t go around content distribution and doing nothing to promote it. As I’ve said earlier, social media is your free channel to do so.
Rarely are marketers successful in sharing their content with their followers or fans in a convincing way. This happens because they only use it as an information tool for themselves. They do not consider it a valuable tool for others.
But all of this will change if you use social media to generate traffic and start conversations. Then, your visitors or fans can share your content with friends, family, or followers.
In fact, even without relying on your hard-earned links from other sites, you still have a chance to rank high in the SERPs. This happens when your social media pages become popular among your niche audience.
3. Increasing authority
Social media is a direct language to your target audience. Therefore, it is easier to properly present your business, product, or service on social sites than with press releases and traditional forms of marketing.
It’s easy to distribute content across different platforms and lighten up on the costs you would have spent in traditional methods.
In addition, you also get to be updated with your audience’s feedback and responses. This will increase your authority in your niche.
4. Higher chance to acquire backlinks
It is not just about traffic generation. The more your content gets attention, the more opportunities you can get more backlinks. Word of mouth is a powerful force in the world. If you are active on social media, your followers will tell other people about you. This will increase your chances of backlinks.
Whether it’s a user-generated backlink or a press release, social media helps get backlinks to your page.
However, don’t go wild in posting everywhere in content marketing. Always place the focus on your keywords and business goals.
5. Social profiles can increase your ranking for branded search term
A branded search term is a generic but related keyword you have a higher preference for. For example, if your company named “Taguig SEO company” is doing SEO services, the branded search term would be “Taguig SEO.” Make sure your social media profiles are active, informative and have links to your website.
The more social signals you get from different links, the better it is to rank high. In fact, social media plays a significant role in branded search term rankings.
6. Increased likelihood of getting organic traffic from localized searches
In the recent Google MUM update, local SEO for small businesses became more relevant. This makes sense because most consumers are searching for local companies in the local area.
With the help of social media, you can rank your business on the top of local search results. You get to be featured on Google Maps and mobile devices.
7. Credible social profiles enhance your Trust factor
People today are more suspicious in what they see and read. For instance, a new SEO company in the Philippines has been launched, but it was not registered and verified. So, how can the consumers trust that they are a legitimate business?
The answer would be social media profiles. If you have a strong presence on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, there’s a big chance for your audience to recognize you. These social platforms are suitable mediums to feature your credibility (as well as your business).
Actually, social media is good not just for promoting your business. You can also find customers here to buy your products. Today, customers have more choices in markets. They can choose from dozens of online stores and do shopping online.
8. Social sharing
When you publish a new blog post, it’s quite tricky to get noticed. The chances of getting visitors from search engines are only limited.
However, social media platforms are different. It will make your content visible to hundreds and thousands of people! If they like it, they will share it with their circle of people and get more exposure in the SERPs.
If you have a large number of followers, this can become a big boost for your SEO rankings.
9. Reach a wider mobile audience
According to Global Web Index, 99% of social media users access these platforms thru their mobile phones. Roughly 80% of Facebook users utilize only their phones to enjoy the app. Meanwhile, almost 70% of YouTube watch time is via mobile devices.
These statistics demonstrate the importance of putting your content on social media in mobile apps. In addition, it’s easier to browse and share your content using mobile devices than desktop computers.
10. Build a relationship
Your social media posts are not about your hunger for likes anymore. Instead, it is your shot to build rapport and tell your target that you are a genuine and approachable brand.
When you add people to your Facebook or Twitter, consider them as someone who shares their opinion. Be a helpful brand in social media, and many people will become your followers.
Building a relationship is not something that can happen overnight. It will take time for you to be recognized by others. That’s why you must be consistent in publishing quality content on social media.
f Social media is no longer a branch of customer service but an effective part. The customer will still expect you to be transparent and show your knowledge when they engage with you on social platforms.
SEO Strategy: How To Integrate Social Media Into Your Digital Marketing Plan
It would be safe to say that, as a business owner, there is no better time than today to build a company brand. Marketers have more financial leverage today and can leverage social media sites as a tool to promote their products.
However, most marketers don’t take advantage of the power of social media for their brand development. They only use it for ad distribution. They are not playing at their full potential.
As per Social Media Examiner, 9 in 10 marketers believe that their web traffic came from social media marketing efforts. Thus, how will you be able to effectively integrate social media into your business?
1. Align your content and social media campaigns before you start.
A lot of marketers tend to launch a social media campaign and then start posting once they have enough content. This is not an excellent way to do it. Instead, you need to look into which platforms can help your company develop a good social media presence.
For instance, if you want to build your brand awareness, you should first check Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other online platforms. Ask yourself:
Who is your target audience? What are the brands that are already doing well on social media? What do they have in common? What can you learn from them? And, what is the first impression you want to leave with your audience?
Spend time analyzing these questions before you start planning for a social media campaign. It will help you develop a better strategy and increase your brand awareness.
2. Share your high-quality content on social media.
Obviously, you want people to like you on social media. But this is not the main reason you should update your social media profiles. Instead, share your high-quality content and your best updates in every post.
Social media is not just about advertising. More than anything else, it’s about sharing your valuable content with the world. So, how will you be able to practice this?
To squeeze in more traffic, try to use teasers or excerpts along with a link. By doing so, the viewers will incentivize them to click on the links. And this will naturally lead them to your website.
In fact, people only read 10 percent of the content on their social media feeds. So, it’s your chance to cut through the noise and give them something interesting to read.
3. Fully optimize your social profiles.
Most of the time, people quickly turn to your bio to understand better the business you are promoting. Thus, it is vital that you optimize your social media profiles accordingly.
Your bio should contain an enticing elevator pitch. An elevator pitch is the most compelling sales or marketing pitch. It’s like a message box that companies sell their products and services. It must convey your brand value proposition effectively.
Do not make novel-like bios. The ideal length for your bio is 100 to 150 characters on Twitter and Facebook, and about a paragraph or two on LinkedIn.
In your bio, highlight the value that you can offer to your customers. List out the services you provide, and don’t be afraid to mention the technologies you use. Avoid hard selling here. Instead, sell benefits.
Include social sharing buttons on your bio page to make it easier for people to share it later on their profiles. Connect your landing page to your social profile.
4. Take advantage of two-way retargeting.
When we say two-way retargeting, we are referring to the process of targeting potential customers who have already seen your brand. This is a good way to get more foot traffic on your landing page.
For your social media campaign, you should first use the inherent features in your social platforms. For instance, if you are on Facebook or LinkedIn, you can leverage their native retargeting capabilities. Features like Facebook’s “Custom Audiences” and LinkedIn’s “Lookalike Audience” will help you reach people who are not yet customers but are engaged with your brand.
LinkedIn is the best service to use this strategy. It has a feature called “interest-based targeting.” You can target your audience based on their professions, organizations, companies, and other interests.
Even if a user hasn’t visited your business page yet, you can still reach them through work-related ads. All you have to do is create an ad that resonates with their interests and deliver it to them.
For Twitter, you can still use their retargeting option called Promoted Tweets. The retargeting campaign will be displayed on your posts where people are most likely to see them.
Whether you create new content or promote an existing one, you should include “related terms” in your tweets with a high click-through rate. This is to ensure that you are reaching the right audience.
5. Cross-promote your content.
Use cross-promotion as a tool for scaling your content. It’s an effective way to engage your followers and drive traffic to one place. With the help of cross-promotion, you can create material that other businesses will want to share on their social media pages.
Cross-promotion is also a good idea to put your product/service in front of new audiences. It becomes even more effective if the business has similar topics or interests to yours.
But here’s the part that you need to be careful — every social platform has its own rules on engagement. For instance, Pinterest has a limit of 3 pins per day for one pin. For Twitter, a tweet cannot be longer than 280 characters. And for Facebook, you can’t promote more than three posts to the same audience in a day.
So, you still have to be creative here when making cross-promotion plans.
Your Social Media SEO Success Will Only Work with a Highly-Shareable Content
Always put this in mind as a digital marketer – you cannot offer a product if you do not know how not to sell it.
In other words, you need to know the art of salesmanship and copywriting. This powerful duo is your starting line to convert your prospects into loyal customers. Depending on the nature of your business and unique selling proposition, you need to determine the right social content.
Hard selling during the first impression does not always work. You need the right words at the right time. This requires tremendous knowledge of your industry, customers’ needs, and how you can help them.
Don’t be hesitant to ask for their help. In fact, you should show them how they can help you. This can give the prospect an idea that they are part of your business. In this way, they will become your brand advocates or loyalists.
If you need help creating a social media plan to promote your business, get in touch with us now.
Many marketers do not get this right. They let their prospects become comfortable with the sales pitch. Thus, they end up getting them interested in your product or service. If you have to sell something – you should do it in a tasteful way.
Our team can present the content to win them over. Contact us now to get your business’ digital marketing done the right way.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. Is social media an SEO ranking factor?
One of the most common misconceptions is that social media is an SEO ranking factor, but this is not true. Social media, or any external content for that matter, has no direct effect on your rank in Google’s search results.
The best way to make sure you are optimizing your website for organic search is by checking your website’s crawl errors and moving them to the top of the page before they have a chance to ruin your site with penalties.
2. How to create highly shareable content?
To craft a piece of content for maximum virality, the goal is to solve a problem and help people. Hence, you need to know who your audience is and what they want. Then, find their pain points, needs, and wants and write an answer accordingly.
This may sound easy, but there’s an art to it. Before you launch into a piece of writing, take a step back and ask yourself these four questions:
#1 How does my audience feel about a certain topic?
#2 What are the major triggers that might make my audience share the content?
What are the things that might make them change their behavior? What type of content works best for them? How do they react to something you write and what would trigger them to distribute it further?
#3 In what way does my content help them?
Provide the solution. Make it easy to digest and write in an authoritative tone.
#4 Why should my audience trust me, and what will make them share it further?
Be honest, be direct, don’t play games or hide your own interests. Be real, and above all – make sure you provide value. Make people feel that they’re making a difference by reading your content and sharing it further.
3. How to build a social media presence?
Social media is not a full-time job. It’s not about getting friends and fans to like you. You have to be very strategic in order to have any kind of success.
Social media is about being proactive and generating traffic from these platforms instead of just reacting to people posting on your profiles. If you find an article, link back, retweet, or comment on it and return the engagement that way – your profile will look active, and more importantly, authentic.
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