Does SoMe have an impact on your SEO?
For several years, it has been debated whether your social media has a real impact on your SEO work. The arguments for and against are many, but no matter where you stand in the debate, the reality is inescapable; your social media has a indirectly effect on your SEO results.
Social media thus do not have a directly influence SEO, and is not a ranking factor, but we can't get around the fact that they indirectly influence each other. Against this background, the term 'social SEO' has emerged, referring to the use of social media as an indirect tool to increase your visibility and ranking on Google.
It is therefore essential to consider how you can leverage your social media, as this can generate a lot of traffic to your website. You should also reflect on how your social media activity can be incorporated into your company's SEO strategy to achieve positive results for your business - if vice versa; you should also think about how your SEO strategy can complement your SoMe strategy.
SEO and SoMe: How to combine them
- And here are the benefits
As SEO and social media have an indirect positive influence on each other, there can be several advantages to combining the two in your strategy:
Increased traffic to your website
When you use social media, it is possible to increase traffic to your website and generate results much faster than by using SEO alone. For example, if you're new to the market and your website doesn't rank high on Google, it's a good idea to be active on social media (which of course it always is). This way you can expose your audience to a lot of different posts and messages, and combined with sharing etc., this is an effective way to attract more visitors to your website.
When you get more traffic to your website, it's a positive signal to Google, as Google measures user behaviour, including click-through rates in search results. Increased traffic can therefore in some cases have a positive impact on your page's ranking on Google.
If your content is seen by a lot of people, it can also result in backlinks to your website. However, it is important to point out that it can be difficult to get these backlinks, so great exposure does not necessarily equal backlinks. But if you're lucky enough to get backlinks, and you get high-quality backlinks, then in the best case scenario this can result in your site ranking higher on Google, as it improves your authority - and a higher ranking means more traffic to your website, possibly more followers on social media etc (well, then the snowball is rolling).
Tip 1:
When creating content, it creates value to adapt it to SoMe while taking SEO into account. You adapt the SoMe by creating content based on trends, while being relevant and interesting content for the target audience. In addition, you adapt the content in terms of. SEO by preparing texts containing the keywordsassociated with the subject. That way, the content will be easier to find on SoMe (if you search there), but might also be visible on Google.
New and more ideas for your content
When you need to create new content for both your website and your social media, there's a lot of help to be found in the opposite discipline. When creating social media posts, it can sometimes be useful to start with your keyword analysis (analysing what your target audience is searching for), as this will give you an indication of what kind of content your audience will find interesting and relevant. Similarly, it can be a good idea to gather knowledge about what your social media followers find interesting, as this can give you an indication of what articles to write for your blog on your website, for example.
By delivering content that your audience wants, you increase the likelihood that your content will be shared and you can increase traffic to your website.
Tip 2:
You can also find inspiration and trends in various groups on social platforms. In addition, Hashtags (#) can also be used to research different topics.
Increased confidence
Consumers today are overwhelmed by information, so it's important to build trust so you make it 'easy' for the consumer to make the right decision. Through SEO, high rankings on Google can give the impression of trust, as it gives the consumer an indication that it is a good website. In addition, your social media can also help build trust, as it allows you to have a different kind of interaction with the user.
It is essential that you stand out from the crowd to avoid falling behind your competitors. Therefore, make sure that all communication on your social media is at eye level with the target audience, while also showing interest in the users who want to interact with your business. This way, each user will have an easier time building trust in your brand.
The so-called 'social signals' (likes, shares and comments) on social media can also help build trust between the user and your brand. Although social signals don't currently affect your Google ranking, that doesn't necessarily mean they never will in the future.
Tip 3:
It's important to invest in your social media so users feel there's a human behind it. In addition, it is important to invest time and resources in users who show interest or have questions, for example, so that they receive a response to their enquiry or question within a reasonable time.
Your SoMe profiles can rank on Google
With good and relevant content on your social media, there is a chance that your social media business profiles will be at the top of Google's search results. The benefit is that seeing your company's presence on different platforms (e.g. LinkedIn and Facebook) builds credibility with users. In addition, your presence and activity on other channels can also contribute to 'social proof'.
There is therefore no doubt that it pays to keep your social channels updated with information and engaging content, as through your social media you can attract a number of users who search for you online.
In addition, it is important that you create content on your social media channels that is relevant to your followers, because then they are more likely to spend more time on your website - and the longer users are on your website, the more likely your website will rank higher on Google. In addition, Google values "relevance", and if recipients find your content relevant (when they come from Google), specific topics will also rank on Google.
Tip 4:
To make users stay longer on your website, you can (besides creating good content) set up conversions, pop-ups, make video, podcast or help the user to some other relevant content.
Is it a match made in heaven?
SEO and SoMe support each other really well - so they're a pretty good match! Although working on both SEO and social media requires a lot of resources, hopefully this blog post has given you some insight into how you can gain a lot of benefits from working in both areas and letting them complement each other. In addition, users will also be exposed to your content much more when you are on both Google and social media, and the more times they see your brand, meaning the more 'touch points' you have, the better they will remember your brand.
While Google is (and probably will remain) the predominant search engine, it is important not to forget that social media is also a highly relevant search engine. So remember that even if your social media activity doesn't rank on Google's search engine, it's still a crucial factor for your business, as it has an indirect impact.
In addition, it can be argued that a user who has visited your social media has interacted with your brand just as much as a visitor to your website. Here, the trick may just be sometimes also to get the user over to your website, as in this way you 'nurture' the user by having the right CTAs that lead the user to some of your other pages on the website.
If you want to learn even more about SEO, we've created an SEO book that takes you through the key elements of an effective SEO strategy. You can download the SEO book here.
You may also find the following interesting:
