Things You Need to Know About Social Media and SEO

social media and seo

The field of SEO writing has evolved over the past few years and many companies and agencies have placed a great importance on SEO strategies. As a small business owner, you need to use social media and SEO to attract customers to your company. Here are some things you need to know about social media and SEO as tactics you can use.

Social media is also a major tool in business marketing in the world today and when paired with SEO strategies make up the best marketing mix strategy. Both social media and SEO are important for you.

A research recently carried out by Quicksprout (see photo below) concerning Google’s game-changing algorithm update indicated that 74% of companies depended on social signals metric for ranking. The signals will be coded in the algorithm and used to influence the search ranks.

These companies believed that social signal metrics such as Twitter followers and Facebook likes determined and influenced the ranking and indicated their trustworthiness. This was however not the case. According to a video released by Google’s Matt Cutts, social signal metric do not influence search ranking. This statement sparked the reaction from marketers who operated on the assumption that social signal influenced ranking. This was annoying seen Cutts himself a few years back said that the social signals did influence ranking.

So, the importance of the combination of social media and SEO rise over time.

research social signal metrics

Neil Patel, Quicksprout founder, and SEO expert believe that social media and social signal have a large impact on the ranking and position of a firm. He urges marketers not to be too quick to dismiss social media as a tool for marketing. After intensive research, I found five points that supported Patel’s notion.

research social signal

Picture a scenario where a company posts something on social media and it goes viral, does this affect the post’s search ranking? Many marketers who depend on social marketing believe that creating links to your website via social platforms greatly impact ranking. Links containing original content that are shared across social media help search engines such as Google understand what website are credible and what keyword phrases should be used to rank them.

2. Social media profiles rank in search engines.

A company’s social profile definitely influences the search ranking. Social pages are more personal and help the client relate more closely to the company and understand the company’s personality.

Google and other search engines view social profiles as an important tool in ranking. Having a few social platforms makes it easier for someone who is looking for you online and is an added advantage to the company.

research social media profile

3. Social media channel are considered search engines too.

People nowadays use social media to find what they are looking for, unlike the olden days when we only relied on search engines. It is thus very important that companies should expand their concept of SEO and they should ensure that it’s easy for their clients to find them on social media.

social media profile

4. The Google situation may not last forever.

Just because Google does not use social signals in their ranking does not mean that this will always be the case. It’s good to always keep an open mind because it’s clear that social media will in the future affect ranking. It is thus smart to continue building on the social channels and to continuously implement SEO strategies.

5. Other search engines.

Just because Google said they don’t use the social signal as a factor in ranking does make it the end of the world. They are many other search engines such as Bing that does consider social signal in their ranking of social searches. Marketers should be smart and include Bing in their marketing SEO since they made it clear that their algorithm includes social signals while ranking and it’s the second most used search engine.

It is thus important not to dismiss the impact of social media on SEO marketing. Instead, marketers should expand their concept taking into account the various ways people find content on the web. The internet is all about creating relationships, sharing ideas and expressing identities. Once you have discovered how to do this SEO marketing will be enjoyable and easy.