Social Media SEO: How To Rank On Google (And Beyond)

By now, you’ve probably realized how important social media is for your business. This can help increase customer engagement, generate high-quality content, and drive online sales. However, what are the surprising benefits to having a social media presence?

Believe it or not, social media is becoming an increasingly important tool for SEO, and if you’re not taking advantage, you could be missing out. Here’s what you need to know about social media SEO and how to make it work for you.

1) Google places social profiles at the top of search results

You can search for your brand, store or favorite restaurant by going online. There’s a good chance that you will find one of the top Google Local pages, a Facebook or Twitter page, Yelp review, Yelp rating, and so on. This isn’t an exception —these days, it’s the norm. Google crawls social pages in order to index them and make it easier for businesses to locate.

What does all this mean? Optimizing your social media profiles is essential if you wish people to discover your company online. This is done by making sure your social profiles have the right brand name and URL, as well as a rich bio that contains keywords. Do this and you’ll be on your way to landing solid social rankings.

2) Google’s live Twitter results

Google now includes live tweets as part of its search results. It makes it easy for users to search relevant information about an event or hashtag. You can make the most of the feature by participating in conversations about trending topics or your industry and making sure you use the hashtags to tag your tweets.

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SEO White Paper

These tips can help improve the SEO of your online shop.

3. Social media can be used as a search engine

Social SEO isn’t just about listing on Google. Social media is a popular way for customers to look up information. Whether they’re looking for news on Twitter or locations on Facebook, social media is becoming a major source of information, which is why it’s important that your brand be visible on it.

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To ensure maximum visibility, it’s important that you post often and with relevant keywords. Social media has a short shelf life, so if your content isn’t recent, it might not be considered relevant. Your profile is more likely to be discovered if you are more specific with your keywords. Finally, make sure your followers leave reviews if you have an address page. Positive reviews are more likely to bring your site up on a search.

4) Social doesn’t just mean Facebook and Twitter

For maximum exposure, it’s important that you build out all of your profiles. While Twitter and Facebook are the obvious options, have you optimised your Yelp or Google Local pages as well? What about Instagram or Pinterest? You have a better chance of being discovered if you have more profiles. Each profile links to your main site, improving your SEO.

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5) Search for subjects + social media websites by customers

Imagine that you’re looking for a new pair of sneakers. You google “new shoes,” and get bombarded with ads and company pages,so you try again and type “new shoes Pinterest.” Instantly, you’re presented with links to all the inspiration you could ever imagine.
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But none of these links are what you’re looking for, so you click the image tab. Suddenly, you’re presented with everything you had in mind. It’s not hard to see that the better your social content, the higher up your images are placed and the more likely that they’ll be seen.

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Customers are changing the way they search for products and that’s why you need to be everywhere. But by maintaining a strong social media presence and ensuring that your profiles stay up to date, you’ll be in the perfect position to take advantage. 

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Cyndy Lane
 

Cyndy is business journalist with a focus on entrepreneurship and small business. With over a decade of experience covering the startup and small business landscape, Cyndy has a reputation for being a knowledgeable, insightful and approachable journalist. She has a keen understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing small business owners and is able to explain them in a way that is relatable and actionable for her readers.