Off-page optimization: Social media ins & outs
Social media contributes, indirectly, to off-page SEO optimization. Whether it be content sharing or influencer marketing, various aspects of social media can help with your website's SEO strategy. Somewhat recent research shows that a correlation between the number of social shares and its engagement rate leads to higher organic search rankings (Kim, 2016). Turns out that the content people engage with on social is the same content that makes them click on URLs in search engine results.
While the graphic above is relative, real examples show that when people search phrases like 'catchy email subject lines', the article gets 250K visits and a 8.5% engagement rate when it is shared on Facebook (Kim, 2016).
Overall Benefits of Using Social Media for SEO
While social media does not have a direct influence on SEO, it indirectly has a positive effect on your search ranking through correlation with other elements (Clement, 2020). The benefits of using social media to enhance your off-page SEO strategy include enhanced content distribution, online visibility and organic traffic, brand recognition, and a boost of local SEO (Clement, 2020). As more individuals and accounts share your content through social media, it generates signals that the posts are full of quality content and are important for your audience.
When you post content to your website or blog and re-share it on social media, your most loyal followers will become brand advocates when they share your content (Clement, 2020). As the sharing continues, more and more people will visit your site to read the full post and even look around at other sections of your website, thereby bringing in even more traffic. The short story is, your content is being amplified by your followers and in return increasing your visibility and (hopefully) generating more backlinks (Clement, 2020).
To improve your SEO, LinkedIn can be looked at like a search engine. With the staggering amount of people on the platform and the content, your opportunities for improving SEO are significant (Patel, 2018). LinkedIn has a very high domain authority from tons of user engagement and the fact that new content is being posted all the time. From simple posts to complex articles, LinkedIn is more than just a social platform. Thousands upon thousands of articles can be linked back to business pages/profiles and websites, therefore giving you trustworthy, quality backlinks. These articles can also be packed with high ranking keywords, further improving your SEO.
Google My Business
Since Google now views Google My Business as a social site, it is a platform that can be crawled and its elements attributed to search rankings (Reed College of Media, 2021). Google My Business allows businesses to stay up to date on Google and maps by updating info such as address, hours of operation, pictures and reviews. In terms of SEO, a typical business receives up to 59 actions per month through website clicks, request for directions or phone calls (Allworth, 2020). A verified GMB profile can lead to higher search rankings through website visits and the provision of social proof through reviews (Allworth, 2020). GMB can also be used to improve local SEO through the ranking factors of relevance (search intent), distance, and prominence (activity around listing) (Toonen, 2020).
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing through social media can also be beneficial for SEO purposes. By partnering with influencers, brands are taking advantage of the said influencer's following to further increase brand awareness. 57% of marketers say their content performs better than brand-created assets (Single Grain, n.d.). This large following gives brands even more opportunity to generate backlinks if the influencer is also a blogger or includes links in their bios or YouTube videos. One of the top kinds of post or video that can generate backlinks come from product reviews. When influencers review products or post sponsored videos, your brand's link is visible to their hundreds of thousands (or even millions) of followers, which drives a significant amount of traffic (Single Grain, n.d.).
Fabletics is one of the most well-known brands that runs a large influencer marketing campaign. Whether it be via Instagram or YouTube, Fabletics has developed a great program for influencers of all followings. Through a series of posts, influencers from all over the United States are showing off hauls, reviewing clothing or revealing where they wear their Fabletics. With each influencer, Fabletics is reaching a considerable number of potential customers and gaining valuable backlinks. By posting links to each product or the Fabletics homepage, Fabletics is improving its SEO strategy with each and every post, as well as increasing brand awareness.
Social Listening
Similar to the brand monitoring tool on SEMrush, social listening can be used to improve SEO. With the SEMrush tool or other social media listening tools, brands can discover mentions that aren't linked (Barysevich, n.d.). By reaching out and capitalizing on the discovery, brands can turn unlinked mentions into backlinks. Another social listening tactic that should be used is keeping an eye on your brand's reputation. Using tools like sentiment analysis can help your brand monitor negative sentiment and address it before it becomes a huge problem, which could potentially affect your search rankings (Barysevich, n.d.).
Social Media Advertising
According to a Forrester study, 35% of US adults say they use social media to find a brand's website, with 30% using Facebook specifically (Facebook, 2018). Facebook ads can also create cross channel impact. On average, Facebook ads lead to 18% of organic search-referred website visits and 10% for paid search visits (Facebook, 2018). In our multi-channel world, Facebook advertising is helping to drive consumer searches and relevant website visits. With both organic and paid search traffic, brands can determine which phrases or keywords are bringing in traffic and which words are related to the advertisements. Using this form of keyword research can help to improve a website's SEO strategy and (hopefully) overall ranking.
Pitfalls
The most obvious pitfall of using social media as an off-page SEO strategy is the fact that it does not directly affect your search engine rankings. Other pitfalls can come from having a bad social media strategy or non-optimized profile. Bad strategies include not posting enough content, not engaging with your followers, not using relevant keywords, and not including links to your website (Barker, 2018). If you're not posting regularly or engaging with your followers, no one will be sharing your content or will want to interact with your brand because they aren't having a great experience. As for your business profile, if your brand does not include a link to a website, then your followers will not have direct access to the rest of your content and provided value.
Conclusion
While it is apparent that social media does not directly influence search engine rankings, it does provide positive benefits for other marketing and SEO elements like brand awareness, increased website traffic, increased backlinks and keyword research. While I am unable to link social media accounts to my SEMrush project on Oglethorpe University's website, it has been interesting to find out what forms of social media can contribute to search engine optimization.
-Kendall
References
Allworth, S. (2020, June 15). How to use google my business to boost your content & seo. Search Engine Journal. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-my-business-content-seo/370717/#close
Barker, S. (2018, July 3). 7 ways your social media strategy might hurt your seo. Social Bakers. https://www.socialbakers.com/blog/7-ways-your-social-media-strategy-might-hurt-your-seo
Barysevich, A. (n.d.). 6 ways social listening can help your seo. Convince & Convert. https://www.convinceandconvert.com/digital-marketing/social-listening-seo/
Clement, M. (2020, July 24). Social media seo: 7 ways social media can improve your seo results. SEMrush. https://www.semrush.com/blog/social-media-seo/
Facebook. (2018, July 26). How facebook ads drive online search. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/business/news/insights/how-facebook-ads-drive-online-search
Kim, L. (2016, September 5). What's the real relationship between organic rankings & social shares? (hint: They're related, but not the way you think). Moz. https://moz.com/blog/relationship-between-organic-rankings-and-social-shares
Patel, J. (2018, November 15). How to use linkedin to improve seo results. WEBITMD. https://webitmd.com/blog/seo/use-linkedin-improve-seo-results/
Reed College of Media. (2021). Week 6 lesson: SEO / off-page optimization. West Virginia University.
Single Grain. (n.d.). The ultimate guide to growing your business with influencer marketing. Single Grain. https://www.singlegrain.com/content-marketing-strategy-2/guide-influencer-marketing/
Toonen, E. (2020, May 27). Improve local seo with google my business. Yoast. https://yoast.com/google-my-business/
Even though it is clear that social media has no direct effect on search engine results, it does have a good impact on other aspects of marketing and SEO, such as brand awareness, higher website traffic, more backlinks, and keyword research. Although I am unable to connect my social media accounts to my SEMrush project on the Oglethorpe University website, learning which social media platforms can aid in SEO has been interesting.
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