Posting on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram can indirectly help SEO. If used consistently and you post regularly, social media has been found to influence the rankings of a website through ‘Social Signals’
So, let’s take a look at how this works. In this post we’ll explore the following:
- Does Social Media affect search engine ranking?
- How does social media help SEO?
- Is social media an important part of your SEO strategy?
- Is social media a better investment than SEO?
Does Social Media affect search engine ranking?
As mentioned, social media has been found to indirectly influence the search engine rankings of a website, therefore contributing to SEO.
Social media is everywhere and it would be safe to say that it now forms and affects a substantial proportion of our everyday lives.
In fact, I bet you’ve posted or looked at a social media platform today haven’t you – actually forget that, I bet you have in the last ten minutes – am I right?
We’re all guilty of it, just scrolling endlessly through our feeds for no apparent reason. However, we will on occasion, some more than others, interact on a post.
Whether that’s a ‘Like’, a ‘Share’ or a ‘Comment’, we feel some form of emotion that makes us react to it. What was the last post you interacted with?
Now have a think about why you did this. We’re not talking about liking a friend’s post here, I’m talking about a post from a brand, business, or influencer.
It’s likely that we’ve engaged with the post because we either agree with it if it’s a statement, support it if it’s a cause, or are interested in it if it’s a topic that resonates with us.
Either way, we can summarise that we found value from the content and feel other people will benefit from seeing it. This action on the post is a bit like a vote of trust or popularity towards the author.
If you see a post with 1 like as opposed to a post with 500 likes, you would probably come to the conclusion (whether rightly or wrongly) that the one with more likes is ‘better’ and more trustworthy, because it’s popular with others.
So, if you have come to this conclusion, why wouldn’t a search engine?
Well, due to ‘Social Signals‘ they do!
How does social media help SEO?
So, does posting on social media help SEO? Yes, it does. Posting regularly and consistently across all your linked channels has a positive effect on SEO.
As we mentioned above, we see the popularity of a post as a form of trust and loyalty towards the author of the content. Search engines are no different.
If set up correctly, our social media channels and website are all connected when you input information to set up the accounts. This connection creates a ‘signal’ between the two and allows search engines to understand any interactions that take place.
So, if we use the example above, the search engine knows (via a social signal) that the post with 500 likes has gained a lot of interest and can assume that the website it’s connected to must be of value to its customers.
And, as a search engine’s main interest is to provide its customers with the most relevant and best content, it’s likely that this content will be pushed up the rankings as an indirect effect of the social media post.
Now, we’re not saying it’s as simple as one popular post will get you to the top, far from it. However, a well-constructed social media strategy that is active, offers great content, and is consistently updated can have a great effect on your search engine optimisation.
Is social media an important part of your SEO strategy?
A well-rounded, structured social media campaign is an important factor that can contribute to a successful SEO strategy.
A good strategy will convey the value of what you offer and distribute it to customers and search engines in a way that is clear consistent and technically correct.
Social media is an integral part of communicating your brand to others (in some cases is the only way) and should be included within your strategy.
Combining this alongside your technical SEO, On-Page and Off-Page SEO will take your SEO Strategy to another level.
Is social media a better investment than SEO?
SEO still remains a better long-term investment than social media with a higher Return On Investment (ROI), however, a well-thought-out social media campaign can provide a boost in results over a shorter period.
Using both channels together as part of a well-rounded SEO strategy is a recipe for success.
As part of our Social Media Marketing Services, we can manage multiple social media accounts for you, optimise your profile pages and provide a regular schedule for posting your content. What’s more, depending on the package you chose, we can also write the content for you ensuring you create the most engaging posts.
Contact us today for a friendly chat or email us for more information. Why not take advantage of our FREE Website Audit to see how your website is currently functioning!
