The Intersection of Social Media and SEO: Harnessing the Power of Social Platforms to Boost Search Engine Visibility

In assessing your digital marketing strategy, social media and SEO (search engine optimization) are each critically important in the current marketplace.  Social media encompasses content and two-way communication and strategies across platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and more.  SEO is a program whereby you optimize content on your website and in its code in hopes of showing prominently in Google search results for terms relevant to your company or services.   

Social media can also be an extremely important aspect of SEO. There are several ways in which social media can help to improve a website's search engine rankings, which in turn can lead to more visibility and credibility for the website. 

How Social Media Helps SEO

One of the main ways that social media can help with SEO is by driving more traffic to a website. According to a study by Social Media Examiner, 97% of marketers use social media to promote their business, and 78% of those surveyed said that social media has helped to increase website traffic. When a website is actively promoted on social media, it can reach a much larger audience than it would be able to through traditional SEO methods alone. This increased traffic can help to improve the search engine rankings of a website, as search engines consider the amount of traffic a website receives when determining its rankings.   

Users also increasingly search for content, ideas, services, and more within social networks.  The more content you contribute to social networks, the more likely you are to appear in searches made on those platforms. 

Another way that social media can help with SEO is by building backlinks to a website. Backlinks are links from other websites that point to a specific website. According to a study by Ahrefs, the number of backlinks is one of the most important ranking factors for Google. When a website has a lot of high-quality backlinks, it can improve its search engine rankings, as search engines view backlinks as a sign of a website's credibility and authority. Social media can be used to build backlinks by promoting a website's content on social media and encouraging others to share and link to the content. 

A Konabos SEO Example

For example, when you search “Konabos” on Google, you will notice that the first page results are filled with links to Konabos profiles on Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.  These sites, which all vie as authoritative platforms on the web, will always show prominently for your company name.  As someone who has reviewed and reported on analytics for countless customers and projects, you would be surprised how many searches to a website contain the name of the company in the search phrase.   It is this reason that reputation management firms will often immediately develop social media profiles for a client who might eschew social media otherwise.  The reputation management firms know that these profiles will quickly take over on Page 1 of Google and potentially elbow out less flattering results. 

It is also important to nurture social media profiles with regular content for this reason, as prospective customers and job applicants may use Google to research your company.  If they click on one of those links in Google, does your company have its best foot forward?  You can think of your profiles on social media sites as landing pages for your company culture, mission, philosophy, offerings, and more. 

Social Media Improves Online Presence

Social media can also help to improve the overall online presence of a website. According to a study by Social Media Today, 70% of consumers use social media to research products and services before making a purchase. When a website is active on social media, it can be found by people searching for relevant keywords, even if they are not specifically looking for the website. This can help to increase the visibility of a website and make it more likely to be found by people who are searching for the products or services that the website offers. 

Virtuous Circle That Serves The Customer

In addition to all the above, social media can also provide a way to gather information about customer preferences, behavior and demographics. This can in a virtuous circle help to improve the website's content, making it more relevant to the target audience, which can help to improve the search engine rankings. 

Social media is an important aspect of modern marketing and can play a significant role in improving a website's search engine rankings. By driving more traffic to a website, building backlinks, and improving a website's online presence, social media can help to increase the visibility and credibility of a website, making it more likely to be found by people searching for relevant keywords.