Hi there...I'm Evan, the founder of Ernst Media. Let me start by sharing why I wrote this article about how SEO and Social Media work together.
During the free consultations I do every week, a lot of small business owners still ask me...whether they should focus on search engine optimization or social media platforms.
While marketers used to talk about SEO Vs SMM for years, things have changed.
SMBs should utilize both types of digital marketing...they complement each other, allow you to communicate more effectively with your target audience, and make data-driven marketing decisions.
So, if you landed on this page from a Google search, you've asked the right questions.
I'll try to give you all the answers.
What's the Relationship Between SEO and Social Media
Optimizing for search engines and posting on social platforms are no longer separate marketing tactics. When SEO and social media efforts are in sync and aligned with your business goals, your consistent messaging results in better brand recognition and credibility.
To summarize the above in one sentence, I'll quote Jonah Sachs:
"Your brand is a story unfolding across all customer touchpoints"
Let's move on and see how social media impacts your website's search engine rankings.
Why is Social Media an Important Part of SEO?
First and foremost, social signals matter for SEO performance.
Although Google has been changing its stance on whether social media engagement is a ranking factor multiple times over the last decade...some of the important digital marketing KPIs we track prove my statement.
Now, let's look at the other reasons why a good social media presence impacts how search engines view your business.
Social Media Profiles Show Up in Search Results
This is huge for small businesses! When potential customers search for your brand online, they'll see your Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc. profiles on the first page of Google.
So, if interested in your offerings, potential customers can follow you on whatever social media platform they use and see important updates.
The goal? Seamlessly moving them down to the next stage of your digital marketing funnel.
That's why, at Ernst Media, we optimize each client's social media account with links and bios incorporating relevant keywords.
Social Media Platforms Are Now Search Engines
You probably know that YouTube has been the second-largest search engine for years. But now other social media networks like TikTok and Instagram are joining the party.
This trend is something to pay attention to...it opens up a whole new avenue for discovery.
I went in-depth in another blog post titled "Why SMBs Can't Ignore Social Media Marketing Importance." Curious about what this trend means for your SMM strategy - read the article.
Social Media Posts Generate Quality Backlinks
Most SEO gurus advise creating link-bait blog posts to generate backlinks and build your domain authority.
Sure, that works for some, but...I can tell you that this is close to impossible for a small business with a low domain rating website. In 9 out of 10 times, you won't rank on page 1.
No matter how great your content is, if people can't find it on Google, they won't link to it.
When you share SEO educational content on social media platforms...it is much easier to catch the eye of other bloggers and even journalists, who will naturally link back to your site.
My twin brother Nick and I have gained plenty of backlinks for our hobby site, "Classic Nation," just by sharing articles on our social media channels.
You can see the domain rating and number of links below.
Social Media Helps SEO with Keyword Research
The magic happens in the comments section when you post engaging content related to your business. Some folks ask questions, others answer those by sharing experiences, and you get new keyword ideas.
In my recent post focusing on Small Business Social Media Content Ideas, I talked about "How to Guides" and "DIY Hacks" for increasing a brand's visibility and trust.
These types of posts will always instigate discussions filled with specific questions like:
» How do you do this with, at, or in?
» What are the best tools to use?
» What are the expected results?
These are real user queries that can be the foundation for a startup SEO strategy or updating existing articles on a business blog. It's like getting a direct line to what your audience is searching for.
Something keyword research tools can't beat!
Your efforts on each social media platform will complement your SEO strategy in many more ways. These are self-explanatory, so I'll just list them:
- Social media helps with content distribution
- It accelerates indexing by search engines
- It drives more traffic (a positive ranking factor)
- It provides audience insights for SEO strategies
- It improves E-E-A-T signals important for rankings
And now, let's see how your SEO knowledge can benefit social media strategies.
How is SEO Used in Social Media Marketing?
I assume you've heard about the relatively new term...Social Media SEO.
The idea is to implement SEO tactics into your social media marketing in order to increase further online visibility and rankings in search engine results pages.
I already mentioned that the first thing we do for small businesses opting for our Social Media Services is optimize their social profile about sections with relevant keywords.
That's just the tip of the iceberg.
Let me share some more insights about the so-called social media SEO strategies and how these can be the fast track to your 5 key social media goals for growth.
Optimizing Social Media Posts for Search Engines
Do you have a YouTube channel for your small business?
If your industry is suitable, you better do...YouTube is one of the best social platforms for SMBs. To make it work, you must maximize SEO efforts for your video content.
And to be honest, it's no rocket science.
All you need to do is discover specific keywords that searchers use on both YouTube and Google and then create catchy titles and keyword-rich descriptions.
If you want to take it a step further, add closed captions.
That's how my brother Nick and I generated over 3.1M views (and counting) for our Classic Nation YouTube video "Acid Dipping My 1967 Mustang Fastback: Acid Dip Process Explained"
Additionally, over the last ten months, we've gotten many Ernst Media clients' social media posts in Google search results. I'm talking about LinkedIn and Pinterest posts specifically.
Here is what you can do if you're using these social media sites:
We always write keyword-based titles and add alt text to images using relevant keywords for both platforms. Like website content, this helps search engines understand and potentially rank your social media posts.
For LinkedIn articles, treat the first 100 characters like a punchy meta description.
On Pinterest, go all out with SEO-friendly pin descriptions, using long-tail keywords.
Don't forget to use relevant hashtags on both platforms...they're searchable, too.
Incorporating Location-Based SEO Tactics in Social Media
As I noted earlier, many now use social media platforms as search engines.
So, that's a great opportunity to make your content discoverable for folks looking for your small business services in the area.
We tackle this task by using geo-tagging features on platforms like Instagram and Facebook, and we sprinkle location-specific keywords throughout the posts.
For optimal results, get specific with neighborhood names and local landmarks.
Here is what we did for a South Hill Spokane, WA, dental office that signed up for our Small Business SEO Services.
We posted things like:
"Get your smile ready for summer fun at Manito Park!" and "Your friendly neighborhood dentist, just minutes from Downtown Spokane."
We also used local hashtags like:
#SpokaneSmiles and #InlandNorthwestDentist, and always geo-tagged the office location.
Adding Keywords and Links to Content Author's Social Profiles
You can see at the bottom of this article that I'm the author as well as the founder of Ernst Media. If you click on my name, you'll be taken to our About page, where you can see links to my social media accounts. Each of my accounts also displays me as the founder.
For our site, that's enough in terms of E-E-A-T.
Many small businesses use freelancer content writers with experience in their industry and add short author bios below the articles for the same reason. These freelancers will also request links to their sites and social media profiles, which benefits both sides.
Similarly, you can ask them to include short info and a link to your site in their social profiles.
If we were using a freelancer, we would ask them to include a text that reads like our home page SEO meta description in their about sections on social media.
For example:
I'm a content writer for Ernst Media - a Boutique Digital Marketing Agency with more than 15 years of experience across PPC, SEO, and SMM.
We would also ask them to share each piece of content or tag them when we share it on our profiles.
This will allow you to show up more often for search queries related to your business on social media... and give Google a reason to put more weight on your content in search engine rankings.
There are other ways to make SEO and social media work together, but again...I believe those don't require additional clarification.
- Writing SEO-friendly captions and post descriptions
- Optimizing for platform-specific search algorithms
- Optimizing social media ads with SEO-friendly copy
It's Time to Wrap It Up
I hope my article helped you realize that SEO and social media aren't rivals but partners.
Implement these tricks, see what works for your business, and go hard on it. If you're patient and consistent, this will be the secret sauce for getting ahead of your competition.
Besides Social Media and SEO services for small businesses, we also offer Affordable PPC Management...So, don't hesitate to ask for any assistance with your digital marketing.
