Social media is now an instrumental tool in branding, as well as becoming increasingly connected and interdependent with Search Engine Optimization (SEO). By utilizing appropriate social media platforms, you can strengthen your brand’s image while reaping many SEO benefits. Many people mistakenly believe that social media directly affects your search rankings, when in actuality social media can only indirectly influence your search rankings. From the social media experts at Premiere Creative, here are 4 tips to use social media to help improve your SEO.
1). Grow Your Fan-Base
Improving your social media presence can have a positive effect on your SEO. Social signals are a very telling factor when it comes to SEO; for example, you may notice that social media pages with many high-quality followers tend to rank better in search results. The keyword here is “high-quality,” rather than large number of followers, which means that your followers are interacting with the content you are posting on various social channels. Also it is best to avoid purchasing proxy accounts on Twitter and Facebook because Google can immediately detect the low quality of your followers. In the same manner as link building, you should focus on building your following organically.
2). Increase Your Credibility
Web pages are far more likely to link a page if the site is authentic and trustworthy. Thus, having an active social media presence creates a source of credibility for your brand. Many businesses utilize social media to not only distribute content that provides answers to customers’ problems, but also as customer service manage system to directly interact with any unsatisfied customers.
Furthermore, if many of your followers are retweeting, commenting, pinning or sharing your content, Google will take that as an indication that your business is valuable. As a result, there is a chance that Google will reward you with a high search rank. In addition, the more replies, retweets and favorites you get on posts, the more your brand is placed in front of people and increases the possibility of getting links.
3). Keywords are Key
Keywords are fundamental to SEO as it is just one way that a webpage can gain a high ranking on Google. As a result, SEO strategists constantly interweave important keywords throughout websites, blogs and PPC campaigns; therefore, integrating keywords throughout your social content is vital.
The key takeaway is that you need to treat social media like search engines. A “Search Engine” is not limited to only Google and Bing; social sites like Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and Instagram have the same functions of Google and Bing and are thus considered search engines. After all, social sites categorize and group relevant content and information together through Pins and Hashtags so that you can find information that you find relevant. Therefore, you should handle these sites the same way you would handle Google or Bing. As you create your social profiles, be sure to identify and include SEO keywords and integrate them through your profile, tags, images, videos and posts.
4). Claim Your Local Listing
Google My Business yields some benefits for local SEO. By claiming your local listing, you will show up on Google map, which allows customers to easily find you. Once you have claimed your listing, be sure to include a correct address, hours of operation and other important information as well as high quality images. Also, your brand should strive to obtain quality customer reviews because Google is more likely to recommend and give rank to businesses with the highest reviews.
Climbing The Social Ranks
Using social media as a marketing tool is highly valuable in its own right to attract people to your website. However, it can offer even more value when you properly leverage it to strengthen your SEO. The most effective way to ensure maximum SEO value is to establish strong relationships with followers and brand advocates, remain active and continue to provide high-quality content for your followers.
Consider integrating both social media and SEO to bring your brand success! Contact the experts at Premiere Creative today or give us a call at (973) 346-8100 to start climbing to the top!
