Importance Of Social Media In SEO
Marketers know how quickly buzz can shift from one type of advertising or marketing strategy to another, and it was once hard to believe that anything would be able to compete with search engine optimisation (SEO) for the most attention online. However social media marketing has done just that, and while it is an important process, any company that keeps it separate from actual SEO work is hurting their business. These two types of marketing should absolutely go hand in hand.
Social Media Backlinks
One of the major benefits of social media is the fact that they are about the only type of linking or backlink that are pretty much safe. Shares on Facebook, Google+ posts from live accounts, and links from Twitter Tweets (and re-tweets) can really add up quickly. While these aren’t great links for pushing your content up the rankings of competitive keywords (although with a huge number this can actually take place).
These backlinks count as up-votes in the SEO world, and they serve a variety of other functions, as well.
Building Trust Vs Losing It
Another major role social media backlinks play involves being a part of that “Trust Factor” that Google talks about. If a website is getting a ton of backlinks and is truly providing great information, would it make sense that they had no shares on social media? Or only one or two mentions and that’s it? No – that wouldn’t make any sense at all.
When search engines are looking for the absolute best websites to offer to customers in the SERPs, finding a website that is getting hundreds or thousands of backlinks from social media is a clear sign that they might be a great source. As long as these accounts are active and not spam, this will be a huge trust builder. On the other hand, having virtually no traffic despite many other backlinks will be a huge red flag and hurt the trust factor.
Building & Confirming Authority
Authority is another one of those factors that has become a huge deal with Google. Some things can’t be rushed such as the age of the domain or the age of the hosted URL. However, there are some things that can be affected such as having a large number of backlinks, backlinks from authority websites, or having a large social media footprint.
Search engines aren’t stupid: they know how important social media is going to continue to be extremely important going forward and they’re figuring out better and better ways to measure how an active social media presence translates into being an authority for various keywords online.
Tying Social Media Marketing & SEO Together
The most effective online campaigns are going to be ones that help tie social media marketing and SEO efforts together. If there’s a heavy push to double, triple, or even quadruple the number of Facebook fans and visitors or the thousands of people who see you on Twitter, then why not have new blog posts and content coming out at the same time? That makes it much more likely for people finding you socially to share, further expanding your outreach and giving you more social media links, as well.
Understanding how social media does affect SEO can make sure you use both hand in hand in a way that multiples your results for the better.
Iman Bahrani
Founder & Director
- Award-Winning SEO & Digital Marketing Specialist
- Local Business Growth Expert
- E-commerce Specialist
- World’s 1st Crypto SEO
With well over a decade of experience as a Digital Marketing, SEO, and business consulting veteran, Iman Bahrani has kept his finger on a deep pulse of what it means to achieve maximum brand awareness and online impact, with experiences ranging from successful search engine optimization to effective social media campaigns. With clients that included ASX listed companies and some of the most recognized brand names as well as small-to-medium businesses across Australia, US, Canada, and UK, it was only a matter of time before Iman founded Searchical, Australia’s premier SEO company.
