Despite the cloud of doubt hanging over social media’s direct influence on SEO, there is no way to deny that both SEO and social media are closely interwoven, sharing the same goal, which is attracting more traffic.
Though it is true that search engines like Bing and Google don’t allow social media signals to directly affect the search engine ranking, yet, there are several methodologies that digital marketers can put to use for leveraging SEO.
Explained below are some points that show how social media impacts the naturally generated organic visibility.
Sharing on Social Media Drives Website Traffic
Posting links to high-quality content on social media can help garner likes, shares, and comments. An engaging content can also inspire social media users to visit a company’s official website. By redirecting social media traffic to your business website, you are actually increasing the organic search ranking. Moreover, meaningful interactions on social media increase the engagement with customers, which keeps the brand on top of their mind.
Social Media Profiles Feature in Search Engines
Whenever you type in a business name on a search engine, most likely its social media profile will also pop up along with the company’s official website. This helps an organization to expand its real estate on search engine result pages, leading to increased visibility of the business profile.
Social Media makes it Easier to Capture External Links
According to Moz, external links, and the websites doing the linking, are perhaps the most crucial factors that aid in achieving high ranks on the Google search page. Social media is an extremely powerful tool to capture external links. When you share and promote content on social media, it increases the chances of other websites linking and referring it.
Local SEO Relies Heavily on Social Media
Google reported that more than 80 percent of the smart phone users make mobile searches to locate stores near them. Simply put, geographic plays a vital role in the life of a user, and search engines are paying close attention to this behavioral pattern.
There are many social media websites, for instance, Yelp, which offers businesses the opportunity to showcase their geographic placement. Some of these social websites also have a platform for customers to talk about a business. It is obvious when more people engage online with your business, its local search engine ranking will automatically improve.
Search Engines Are Often Partial to Particular Social Media Platforms
Google is definitely a game-changer, but it is not the only player in the game. According to Search Engine Watch, Google accounts for nearly 75 percent of the total search engine market share, followed by Bing, and other search engines.
When assigning weightage to search result pages, these search engines look closely at social authority of the users, including their followers, likes, and shares. Naturally, Google is partial to its own social media platform Google+, so posting on this podium improves the chances of Google+ profiles to show up on Google’s search page.
Even though social media isn’t directly connected to SEO, it surely affects an organization’s online marketing success. As social media users continue to grow at an exponential rate, social signals, in time to come, will increasingly become more relevant in search rankings.