How does Social Media Impact on SEO?
Gabrielle Pickard - Info
The relationship between SEO and social media isn’t clear cut. Although Matt Cutts of Google has clearly stated that social media doesn’t have a direct impact on your search engine ranking with them, there are still clear correlations that show the efficacy of social media for boosting your SEO. We are often asked the exact question – How does Social Media Impact on SEO? And of course we recognise the importance of social media in any online marketing campaign. Here’s a brief explanation of how social media impacts SEO, and what you should be doing to take advantage of this relationship.
Link building
Links shared through social media have weight just like links posted anywhere, and they’re related to the authority of the poster. Having an active social media presence with regular links to your website, which are consequently shared in proportion to the size of your following, can boost your website’s SEO.
Content sharing
Posting content on your social media sites helps increase its reach, growing your readership and directing people to your website; the more viewed and shared your content is, the higher you rank in search engines. Journalists, blog editors, researchers, and voices of authority in your field can link to your website as a result of your social media presence, boosting the authority of your site.
Increasing brand visibility
The number of people that recognise and engage with your brand is a direct consequence of the efficacy of your social media presence. The more people that know your brand and search for it, the more people visit your website and engage with it, and the higher your search engine ranking. Another indirect relationship, but a strong and valuable one.
Social media platforms are search engines too
Don’t forget that Google isn’t the only search engine out there. Simply increasing your ranking within the social media sites themselves will increase engagement with your business, leading to conversions and sales. Perhaps the biggest social media impact on SEO is the relationship between the user and how they search, or more importantly where they search and what platform they use…
…For more online strategies that increase audience engagement and improve your SEO, visit our SEO page here.