Who would have thought back in 1997, when the first social network SixDegrees went online, that one day those social media platforms would be used as search engines in order to gather information and find new products, shops or places to go? Especially Gen Z uses social media channels like Instagram or TikTok to do their research, Google only comes in third place, according to a report from SOCi. Older Generations still rely on classic search engines, but platforms like YouTube, and since last year probably also ChatGPT, increasingly threaten their popularity.
Even though Google tries to innovate their services by integrating artificial intelligence in the form of its Gemini model to Google Ads and a new algorithm to improve quality ranking in search results through improved spam policies, there’s no way to deny the increasing trend of social media platforms turning into search engines. That’s why it’s more important than ever for your marketing strategy to optimize your social media efforts which is what we call Social Media SEO.
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What is Social SEO?
Short question, short answer. Social Media SEO, or social SEO, basically describes the combination of your social media efforts and search engine optimization within your digital marketing strategy. The idea ultimately is to attract your target and keep users engaged, ideally on your website, so that eventually they turn into customers.
But what does that mean? Basically with the traffic and engagement you achieve through social media channels you can improve the performance of your website and strengthen your SEO strategy. In order to do so, you have to work out a proper social media strategy and apply all the necessary criteria for each platform to improve your reach within the social media channels you chose your brand to be present in.
So when it comes to social SEO, there are different layers to work on. That’s because as mentioned initially more and more people use social media platforms instead of search engines to get their desired information. So on one hand there are social media best practices to follow in order to improve your visibility within each platform and on the other hand doing so you can build a bridge to your SEO strategy and improve the organic overall visibility of your brand.
YouTube for example is a very popular search engine, as a lot of people prefer to watch tutorials, product reviews or news in the form of videos instead of reading long instructions. And as mentioned initially, younger generations use platforms like TikTok, Instagram or Pinterest in order to inform themselves about products to buy or places to go. While YouTube and Pinterest are in fact considered to be more of a search engine as a social media channel, Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook, Twitter (now X) essentially have been developed to interact with people more than to provide information. As that has changed significantly during the last years, it’s worth it to combine these two marketing pillars in order to ultimately, either way or the other, attract your buyer persona and persuade them to convert.
How does Social Media SEO affect my Google ranking?
So far so good. But if we’re talking about SEO, what about my Google ranking? Yes and no. Just posting on social media does not necessarily and directly affect your Google ranking but there is a connection. If your social media content is engaging and reaches a target that turns into loyal followers who look out for your news, share your posts or even link back to your website, over all, this activity will have a positive impact on your ranking in search engines. In the end it’s all about visibility, engagement and authority. See the example below of a hairdresser whose Instagram profile appears among the very first results when looking for hairdressers in Madrid.
The real questions are: Do you manage to reach your target audience with your publications on social media? Do they interact with your content and continue their journey to your website? That will be a plus for you. Also you can benefit from channels like YouTube to appear at the top of the search results where relevant videos are displayed (example below). As YouTube belongs to Google, usually videos uploaded on this platform have preference.
So no, it’s not that Google’s algorithm crawls your social media profiles. But the type of content you publish and the way you publish it can make a difference, awaken the interest of your buyer persona, influence the loyalty of your customers and bring you to the top of the list. How do we do that? Let ‘s have a look!
Social SEO best practices to improve your companys’ digital presence
To optimize your online presence on social media platforms there are a few musts to follow. No worries, you don’t need a degree for each single platform, as the way they work is very similar. So in the following we sum up the basics on how to optimize your social media appearance and content so you can apply them to the channels you present your brand on – which is another important aspect: No need to get into the game on each social media platform! Choose the ones that your target audience uses and focus your efforts on those.
- Profile optimization
Starting with the basics: your profile. The way you structure it influences if your target finds you or not. The account name should ideally be the name of your company/brand and if possible any reference to the product or service you are selling. For example XX photography or YY consultant. That’s because your account name in a way works as a keyword as well, so you might appear among the results of any person who looks for photography or consultant on a social network even though they don’t know your brand’s name. Also it’s easier to remember and you make sure you stay in people’s mind.
Do the same optimization for the description of your profile. Completing all the details in the about section, adding a link to your website etc. All that creates trust and you avoid that your profile looks like a scam. On some platforms, like Linkedin or Facebook you can even personalize your url and use your profile account instead of a generic extension of the domain like in the example below.
- Keywords
Use keywords as mentioned above in your description but also in your captions, in form of the text itself but also as hashtags. Don’t forget the golden SEO-rules though: no keyword stuffing. Same goes for hashtags. Do some research and choose only the most relevant to your industry, that describe your product or service and reflect the information you’re posting. Only this way you attract the audience you want and increase the chances of engagement, new quality followers and ultimately convert them into customers.
- Optimization of your publications
On most of the social networks by now you can add an alternative text for your images (see image below).They make your social media posts accessible, as screen readers can read them out loud to users with disabilities. That’s why it’s recommended to describe the image as detailed as possible. At the same time this description favors your search engine optimization. But not only that, when you post videos on YouTube or TikTok for example, make sure you optimize the title and description as well. Just apply the same steps you would use when optimizing your website according to your SEO strategy. Give the files a relevant name, use keywords in the title of your video and the description and use a thumbnail for your video that reflects the content users see after they click play.
- Quality content
Talking about images and videos. It’s important to make an effort to create quality content so that the posts you share are more likely to attract people and especially to make them engage and share it. That also increases the probability that people enter your website, which is what in the end turns out to give your site more authority and improves your ranking in search engines. Take advantage of your website content and share in the form of shorter versions on social media. You should have a balance of posts that talk about your product/service and information that can be useful or entertaining for your buyer persona without any direct selling purpose.
- GEOtagging
Especially if your product or service has a physical location, make use of it! Tagging the location in your posts allows you to reach a local target audience. As mentioned at the beginning, people use Instagram and other social media platforms to look out for restaurants or shops near them for example. Also it’s useful to get included in search results on Google that include a specific location.
- Get involved
Social Media is called “social” for a reason. Even though nowadays it’s being used for several other purposes, the main idea behind all those platforms is to interact with people. That means, you shouldn’t just post your content and see what happens. When people comment on your posts, answer; when people mention you, get back to them; share other people’s content if you find it valuable… that helps to create a loyal follower base that trusts in your brand. In the end, when your audience trusts you, they’re more likely to share and recommend your content, which – yes, you got it – supports your SEO strategy. Other than answering and engaging with your own followers, you can also be proactive and interact in relevant discussions on social media, reply to posts of industry experts or join communities for example on LinkedIn or Facebook to share valuable information for the members. All that increases the visibility of your brand and the chances to get backlinks, which, again, improves your search engine optimization.
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Conclusion
As you can see, social SEO is no rocket science. With a few simple steps, that are also quite similar to the ones you probably have been following for years within your strategy of search engine optimization, you can maximize the outcome of your social media efforts. The important thing is to post regularly for your target audience relevant content and to do so with a little attention to the details. By following these tips you will not only improve the performance of your content on social media, but also of your overall marketing strategy as in the end, it’s all connected.
