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Social media search engine optimization (SEO) can mean a few different things. Social media SEO can be leveraged as a traffic source in getting attention back to your site. Likewise, social media pages themselves can be optimized according to some of the same SEO standards that apply on your self-hosted website. In this article, you will see a bit from both angles and learn how you can apply them to your own SEO strategy. In this article, you’ll learn about:
- Social signals
- Why you should update your social profile regularly
- How social media SEO is like regular SEO
- Other improvements you can make to your site
SEO experts agree that a sufficient level of social media grooming will result in a boost of activity. How significant that boost turns out to be depends on many factors. But using the tips below, you will place your website in an advantageous state to start ranking.
Social Signals
The best way to grow your online presence is to engage visitors with high value content. That might be in the form of a blog post or a video or some other form. There are so many social media platforms out there these days that you can bet there’s people talking all day long.
The idea behind using social media for your marketing efforts is to catch the right person having the right conversation at the right time. Search engine optimization goes a long way to helping your site rank in search engines, but search results (after the initial discovery) are likely to be discussed on social platforms. And for many marketers this type of accidental discovery discussion has become the preferred way to promote your content.
Any link you get from social media can add value, but it’s not the same as a link from a unique domain. Some SEOs refer to these links as social signals. Yes, it counts as a backlink, but it doesn’t carry the same weight. Basically, you may get a bunch of links from Twitter or Facebook, but they all count as one domain and do not contribute to the overall strength of your domain.
Nevertheless, links and engagement with social media that end up on your page are what is meant by “social signals.”
They may not contribute a great deal to your domain authority, but the consensus says there’s enough of a boost to warrant your social media efforts.
Updating Your Profile
Remember that your social profile itself is likely to rank alongside your listing in Google.
For example, if someone does a search for your business they will see your website, and likely an info box containing your social media pages.
Likewise, the content of your social postings are searchable, which means they are indexed in search engines. If your content contains a valid and relevant search term, it’s likely to rank for it.
Whether it ranks near the top or somewhere toward the bottom, however, depends on various other SEO factors that apply to your pages.
- Are you reputable?
- Is your information considered trustworthy?
- Is your content unique?
- Is the content original or derivative?
- Is the search term being actively searched by your ideal customer?
All of the standard SEO jujitsu still applies.
This is why it’s important to have your profiles updated and active–so that the search engines can clearly identify and link your website with your various social profiles.
Social Media SEO Is Basically SEO
YouTube is second only to Google itself when it comes to the world’s largest search engines.
Some people don’t even bother going to a search engine. They will just pull up their favorite social media channel and search for information.
Want to know how to do some kind of home improvement project? It’s likely you popped up YouTube and looked for a demonstration video.
So it will benefit you long term to invest in some plain and simple social media SEO. Each platform will be a little different.
YouTube, for example, gives you some instant optimization opportunities. The description box under your video is a great place to use your focus keyword; likewise, make sure your focus keyword is in the title of the video, and the tags too. Artificial intelligence algorithms will scan your video and convert audio into text, so why not verbally say your focus keyword in the video itself.
Every platform will have some similar and divergent strategies that you, or your social media team, can use to make a difference.
Other Improvements You Can Make to Your Site
For more information about improving your site, check out our full guide adding social media widgets to your WordPress site. Likewise, to best stay on top of your posting you can schedule social media posts using Buffer Social Media Manager.
And remember that, long term, the benefits of your social media and site optimizations will have a delayed maturity. Like any investment, you don’t get instant payoffs. But with time and patience and consistency you are sure to start seeing results.
