There is no doubt that social media is a must-have component of an effective SEO strategy. After all, it is a place in the web where people gather, talk, engage and share materials on a daily basis.
Over the years, it has been confusing whether social media has an impact on a site’s rankings or not. In 2010, Google stated that Facebook and Twitter pages were used as ranking signals. However, Matt Cutts released a video in 2014 stating that Google treats Facebook and Twitter posts as any other page on the web.
Even though Google no longer treats these Social Media sites as a direct ranking factor, it can still enhance your SEO efforts when used right. Below are the reasons why investing time and effort in social media is not a waste.
It Builds Your Brand
People conduct some research before availing or purchasing a product. Social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are websites where people mainly express their own opinion about a variety of things. These include good and bad products and services. Tapping into these communities is an ideal platform for building a reputation.
By establishing a presence on these social media sites, you create an identity that could potentially stand out. When you improve your brand in these social channels, there is a great chance that your SEO will develop as well. You can do so by sharing aesthetically pleasing photos of your products and services, constantly engaging with your audience, and continuously publishing relevant and valuable content about your product or service.
Once your social media profile is trusted by the audience, they will start looking forward to your posts and would gladly visit any link you share if they think they are relevant to them. It increases the number of your visitors per day – which will unquestionably send an improvement in your site traffic.
It Also Acts As A Search Engine
One of the features of Social Media sites is their own search engines. People do social network searches as well. One superb example would be the site LinkedIn. Most members of this site are professionals in their own field. Companies use the search tool to look for potential employees with the required qualifications.
You optimize your LinkedIn profile by constantly updating your experiences, skills and other details. When a person’s LinkedIn profile is optimized, his or her profile becomes more visible compared to others with incomplete information. The more visible your profile is, the more people are likely to visit the blog or website linked to your account.
The same goes for Facebook Pages. For example, when a person searches for resorts in Facebook, pages with multiple reviews will usually come up on the top results. If they see good reviews, they are more likely to visit the linked website to view the resort’s accommodation and room rates.
It Leads To Quality Backlinks
A strong backlink profile is an essential ranking factor. The more quality backlinks, the better chances of gaining one of the positions on the first page of the SERPs. The logic here is that the more you share your best content, the more you foster engagement.
When you publish engaging articles, people will be compelled to share your work. Social media is another place for your blog posts to be disseminated. Even though you are using Facebook, Twitter and other social channels as a promotional platform, it is a place where you can stimulate discussions.
This opens up tons of opportunities for people to join and even link back to your content. Social media is one of the most valuable staging ground for enticing people to link back to your work, so take advantage of this.
Businesses today with an online presence only want one thing, that is to gain if not the top spot of the search engine results page, at least belong in the top ten. However, it usually takes a time and money to achieve this.
There are still many other ways to develop a site’s organic search and eventually reach the top of the SERPs without paying for it, and that is using Social Media Sites to your advantage.
