How SEO and Social Media Work Together

Updated March 15, 2023

With today's emphasis on digital marketing, it's become necessary for all types of businesses to have some kind of online presence. However, there's usually a lot of confusion regarding which platform to focus digital marketing efforts on; search engines or social media platforms. 

In most cases, search engine results outperform the gains of social platforms, but what if we tell you that your social media performance can directly impact your SEO (search engine optimization)? This guide will walk you through the importance of SEO and how SEO and social media can improve your website's performance on search engine platforms.

Why Is SEO Important?

"Search" is the most effective marketing tool available to any business with an online presence today. For instance, users visit Google 89.3 billion times in one month alone.

However, to make the most of the power of search engines and get discovered on the most prominent search platforms, such as Google, your company must have an SEO (search engine optimization) strategy underpinning all of your digital marketing efforts. 

Help Customers Find Your Website

When trying to understand the importance of visitors to your website, you can compare it to the amount of foot traffic in a shopping center — the more, the better. So, how do you ensure customers can find your website? Through search engine rankings! A

According to AHREFs, the top-ranking pages on search engine results get the most traffic 49% of the time. However, while achieving higher rankings is important to generate traffic, being "Number 1" isn't the only place where you'll get the traffic you need.

If you can secure higher rankings (specifically, land within the Top 10 for your optimal keywords), you benefit from more traffic to your company and content, where a prospect can move through their buyer journey and make a choice or purchase.

Beat Your Competitors 

A majority of organizations actively invest in SEO. To put it another way, most of your competitors are already optimizing for search engines.

Therefore, if you want to grow your business and be found by search engines, you must also invest in SEO tactics. Well-executed SEO strategies are the only long-term strategy to compete unless people stop using the internet to search, which we doubt will happen anytime soon!

Improve Your Brand Awareness

Thinking like a buyer, who would you rather do business with? Would you prefer someone you've never heard of vs. someone who has previously assisted you and answered a slew of questions?

The majority of us would prefer the latter: someone who has already proven to be an expert and helpful. Using advanced SEO techniques as part of your inbound marketing strategies puts your material in front of potential clients looking for solutions. The more valuable you can be, the more probable it is that someone will remember you and contact you when they are ready to buy.

You may also increase brand awareness and trust by appearing in search results — even if visitors don't click through to your website. This is known as the "familiarity principle" in psychology. People, in general, prefer things they have seen or heard of before. So simply appearing in search results or (even better) having your material displayed in a featured snippet can put your name in front of potential customers and begin to develop a positive impression. 

What Are Good SEO Tactics?

Good SEO includes on-page and off-page tactics that help Google and other search engines recognize your content as quality and helpful. However, it's important to remember that the "right" SEO implementation isn't the same combination of strategies for every piece of content.

When you create content, make sure it includes researched and related keywords and internal links to other relevant blog posts on your website. Also, optimize your site speed, apply alt text appropriately, keep an eye out for broken links, and make sure every page has a meta description.

To increase SERP rankings for your website, apply different combinations of SEO strategies, then monitor results.

How Does Social Media Help Your SEO Strategy?

You may not realize that social media profiles are not limited to their respective platforms. They are also shown in branded search results. Moreover, they are frequently highly visible, high up in the list, and generally on the first page.

What does that mean? Your social platforms cans show up in Google search results (with the right advanced SEO techniques). Taking advantage of this search engine presence by developing and enhancing your social media profiles helps more people find your business!

Extend the Reach of Your Content 

Social networking is a great way to get your material in front of more people, but many people don't take advantage of it. Sharing your company's content on social media is critical to its success! 

However, unless you take the additional steps of distributing your content through social channels, it might never get past simply sitting on your website indefinitely.

A lot of time and effort must have gone into creating your content. It's a waste not to share it!

You can connect with more people than you could on your own website by utilizing social media to get your content out to more audiences. Furthermore, the more traffic and engagement your site receives, the better your search rankings will be. 

Social Shares Help With Rankings

In addition to appearing in social network feeds, search engine results often include your social media profiles. In addition, branded search results are frequently placed near the top of the page. As a result, improving your social media profiles is one of the best SEO tactics to help your company gain greater visibility in search results and, ultimately, more sales.

For example, you might have noticed that in most cases, a company's Facebook or LinkedIn page is placed directly below its sitemap in a branded keyword search. This is because search engines like Google understand that visiting a company's Facebook page, for instance, gives customers a feel of the company's qualities and leads them to useful information.

Social Media Posts Raise Brand Awareness

With the help of social media, you can reach a whole new audience with your content. When many users share your website content or social media updates with their own networks of friends and followers, it may increase your rankings. Moreover, people who see your material will be more likely to visit your website in the future.

Of course, you must keep in mind that just any old material will not do. Therefore, it's crucial to make social media posts as visually appealing and engaging as possible to maximize their value.

Social media platforms are also excellent places to repurpose your best content and get it in front of new audiences. If you feel like keeping up with social posts is just "too much content," a well-planned repurposing strategy can help you extend the use of quality content and reach more potential customers.

Social Media Sites Also Act as Search Engines

Search engines are used for more than just finding information. As prominent social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have powerful search functionalities, they prove to be nothing short of search engines themselves. Social media searches may lead some individuals to find your profile, page, or content.

Therefore, to increase your online visibility, optimizing your social media pages and posts with relevant keywords is critical.

One approach to that strategy is to conduct keyword research, including long-tail keywords. Find out what keywords your competitors are ranking for and what keywords generate traffic, then include them in your strategy. By doing this, your content will be more visible in social media search results, increasing the number of people who will visit your site. 

Work With an Expert to Optimize SEO and Social Media Marketing

Although SEO and social media are technically two different digital marketing tactics, they work hand in hand to create an effective digital marketing plan. To unlock your brand's full potential, it's essential to understand how to maximize both together.

If this seems like a lot to handle, click the "Speak to a Geek" button below! We're here to help with your social media and SEO tactics, whether we point you in the right direction or manage your strategies and execution to help you find more qualified leads.