Unleash the Power of Social SEO
The online space is extremely crowded. There’s a TON of information, hundreds of thousands of brands, and new competition showing up every day! That’s why it’s SO important that your SEO game is on point. When someone looks up “best law firm in SoCal” or “med spas near me”, you want to be sure your brand makes the results list and stands out in the crowd.
To make that happen, SEO (search engine optimization) MUST be a major part of your digital marketing toolkit. Well-crafted SEO puts more eyeballs on your awesome, attracts the right audience, and builds trust with both your target market and the search engines that hold your fate in their algorithms.
Right about now you’re probably thinking to yourself, “Duh, Bridget! SEO’s been around for a couple of decades now,” and you would be right! But just when you thought you had mastered this online marketing magic, recent digital marketing trends have changed the game!
The Rise of Social Media and Its Impact on SEO
Businesses exist online and are active on social media today—BECAUSE IT’S A MUST! 91% of companies in the U.S. view social media as a must-have marketing tool. Everyone, and we mean EVERYONE, is on social media. Even your neighbor’s dog has an Instagram account!
Social media is a “digital showcase” for your products and services in a space where people are looking for them. It’s where you introduce yourself to your potential clients and customers, and it’s been taking over traditional media options like magazines, TV, newspapers, and radio since the early 2010’s.
Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter may have begun as a place to share personal photos, videos, and thoughts, but they quickly became an exciting playground for brands to reach out to their clients. Social media ads started to pop up everywhere, brand communities were built, and relationships with ideal clients were established.
For the consumer, the appeal of interacting with brands on social media is the two-way street where they can immediately provide feedback and receive quick responses to their questions. I’m sure you understand what an invaluable resource that is when it comes to building your KLT (Know-Love-Trust) factor!
What you may NOT realize is that this increased engagement generates valuable ‘social signals’ such as likes, shares, and comments, which have a significant impact on search engine algorithms. And if you’re REAAALLLY good at this social media game, your profiles themselves may rank prominently in search engine results. That kind of additional visibility is nothing to sneeze at!
Search engine results are no longer just a long list of boring blue links. They now return a fascinating combination of articles, videos, and photos pulled from social media sites! What’s even more fascinating is that, often, people are skipping past search engines altogether. With social media’s established reliability for information about companies, people now tend to bypass the Google/Yahoo/Bing search bar journey and jump on social media to look up your biz!
Here’s a quick question for you:
What app does a Gen Z’er open up to search for restaurants?
You’re probably thinking…Google My Business? Yelp? TripAdvisor? Google Maps?
If your answer was any of the above, you’ll likely be shocked to learn the answer is…TikTok!
We used to think that searching “restaurants near me” or “lunch ideas near me” was so trendy and incredibly tech-savvy of us. But the rise of social media gives your potential clients a different kind of search result. One with videos of regular people giving their no-holds-barred reviews of places, events, experiences, and topics in less-than-60-second clips.
What does all of this mean?
It means you can’t just think about keywords on your website and hashtags on your IG. Now you need strategically placed keywords on your profiles, bio, posts, and even in your metadata! In today’s digital landscape, your social media pages must be optimized, engaging, and up-to-date, so you can GET FOUND and GET NOTICED.
Social SEO: Understanding, Exploring, and Best Practices
Social SEO is all about optimizing your social media game to level up your search engine rankings and ultimately get more eyes on your awesome! It combines the best of both worlds! (Or the worst, depending on how you feel about keyword research and content creation.) By creating awesome content that people want to share, engaging with your followers, and racking up those likes, shares, and comments, you can show Google and the other search engines that you’re a big deal.
Your social media profiles themselves can even show up in search results, giving you extra exposure. So, don’t forget to use social media to spread the word, drive traffic, and boost your SEO game. It’s like hitting a double whammy for online marketing success!
In the past, the way to rank up on Google was through time-consuming keyword research and the strategic placement of those keywords on your company’s website, coaching blog, or your online retail store. It was a long-term game plan that paid off in new traffic to your site, but took at least four months. (For most sites, measurable results take even longer.)
But pairing traditional SEO with social SEO yields better results in less time! So let’s take a look at the best social SEO practices for the top 6 social media platforms.
- Spruce up your Facebook Page: Pick a relevant business name, write an awesome Intro section, and make sure your URL rocks with relevant keywords.
- Share jaw-dropping content: Post content that’s so good, people can’t help but like, comment, and share it like crazy.
- Keep the conversation flowing: Social is about being SOCIAL! Respond quickly to comments and messages and have fun engaging with your audience.
- Use hashtags strategically: Toss in some trending hashtags to give your posts an extra boost and reach more peeps. We recommend up to 4 hashtags per post!
- Nurture in Groups: Create Facebook Groups that provide an exclusive area for your fans. Then, nourish them with valuable content that continues to grow their loyalty to your brand.
- Curate your profile: Choose a username that is consistent across all of your social media. Strategically place keywords that are related to your industry in your bio.
- #HashtagHunting: Research and add both popular hashtags AND content/brand-specific hashtags to your posts to get discovered by your Ideal Client Avatar (ICA).
- Show love to your fans: Reply to comments and DMs faster than a cheetah, and make your followers feel valued.
- Stories that WOW: Create killer Instagram Stories and Instagram Reels that disrupt your ICA’s mindless scrolling and have them dying to share them to their own stories.
- Polish up your profile: Craft a headline and summary that scream, “I’m a pro!” with keywords that make you stand out.
- Share wisdom nuggets: Post insightful articles and thought-provoking content that establish you as the go-to expert in your field.
- Network like a boss: Connect with industry peeps, engage with their content, and build an impressive network of strategic partners.
- Show off your endorsements: Ask colleagues and clients to give you props on LinkedIn to boost your credibility.
YouTube
- Lights, camera, action: Be your AH-MAZING self on camera and create videos that leave peeps wanting more.
- Title and thumbnail: Create click-worthy titles and thumbnails that scream, “Watch me now!”
- Tag, tag, and tag: Add relevant tags to your videos so they pop up when people are searching for awesome content.
- Make engagement your jam: Encourage likes, comments, and subscriptions whenever possible and build a community of engaged users.
- Spread the love: Share your YouTube videos on your other platforms as soon as they’re published to boost your watch hours.
- Pin like a pro: Create visually stunning pins with eye-catching images, clever text, and relevant keywords.
- Hashtag it up: Add some popular and niche-specific hashtags to your pin descriptions to boost your reach.
- Board games: Curate boards with killer titles and descriptions. Then be a pinner and have some fun saving, liking, and commenting on other peeps’ pins.
Twitter/X
- Supercharge your profile: Write a bio that screams personality and add keywords to your bio.
- Tweets that rock: Share value-packed content, sprinkle in visuals, and make people go wild with retweets and likes.
- #HashtagParty: Join the hashtag party and include popular and relevant hashtags to reach a wider audience.
- Engage like a champ: Be quick to respond to replies, retweets, and quote tweets!
Great Social SEO Starts with Great Keywords
Ready to elevate your social SEO game? It all starts with a killer set of well-researched keywords. But if you’re an entrepreneur with a jam-packed schedule, finding the time to do that research may feel daunting.
We can help!
Our team of research experts would be happy to compose a list of KILLER keywords and hashtags for your brand. Learn more HERE and take the first step to unleash the power of Social SEO!