How Can Social Media Boost Your Rankings?
Nov 21, 2018
Written by Casey Bjorkdahl
Casey Bjorkdahl is one of the pioneering thought leaders in the SEO community. In 2010, Casey co-founded Vazoola after working for a Digital Marketing Agency for five years in New York City. Vazoola is now one of the fastest growing and most widely recognized SEO marketing firms in the country.
As a business owner trying to reach as wide of an audience as possible, you’ve probably come across what’s known as SEO, or search engine optimization.
There are several strategies you can put into place to increase your rank on search engines, but utilizing the power of social media is chief among them.
Learn just how your social media business profiles can help your company skyrocket in search engine results.
Boosted Brand Recognition
With social media, you have direct access to the type of consumer for which your products or services are designed.
Rather than relying on your logo, the name of your business and the look of your products or services, take things a step further.
For instance, post useful content and news rather than strict advertising or marketing material.
You should also respond to any questions or concerns followers post on your social media pages or their own profiles where they may tag your company.
Participating in online discussions also helps consumers create positive connotations with your brand.
More Traffic to Your Site
It’s best to think of your commercial site as a destination that has several access streets for travelers coming from various directions.
Social media is just another way for your target audience to reach you, and you’d do well to clear the path and make it easy for them to find your central hub.
With social media, you can provide people of a taste of what’s new on your site and what they can expect to find.
Specifically, you can post images of your products or services on a social media profile and encourage your followers to visit your online home to see and learn more. You can also inform users of upcoming specials, sales or discounts on your site.
Encouraging Other Sites To Link to Your Content
When influencers in your niche share your content on social media, your brand gets a boost in the rankings.
The way you make it easy for influencers to share what you post is to offer up useful information.
For instance, if you’ve stumbled across news in your industry, share it on your social media profiles.
You can also share your thoughts on where you see your industry going, trends you’ve noticed and any professional insights you may have.
Whatever material or content you share, be sure it’s well-written, factual and well-researched.
When influencers do share what you have on your profile, you want it to be for all the right reasons.
Engage With Local Customers
Does your company have a brick-and-mortar location? If so, you likely want to attract local consumers just as much as you do online customers who may live thousands of miles from your geographic location.
One way to engage with local customers is to seek out local brands that complement yours.
For instance, if you sell cars, you can follow and share content from a car washing company in your community.
See if those companies would be willing to follow you back and share content you post. Additionally, you can have a discussion with complementary company leaders and share it on social media.
Another way to engage with your nearby physical community is to attend local events relevant to your industry, like festivals or trade shows.
Let your audience know you plan on attending and see if anyone else is going whom you may want to join.
Be sure to take images while at the event and post them on your profile. No matter how far-reaching you hope your company will become, don’t forget to tap into local resources whenever possible.
Use Social Media Platforms the Right Way
Rather than feel overwhelmed by the number of social media platforms currently available, see how you can use them to their maximum effect.
For instance, share images and short videos on platforms focused on images and videos over written content.
When you have a relevant article to share, post it on a social media platform that makes your words pop and provides a bit of a preview of the content you’re sharing.
Using platforms in ways in which they aren’t really intended can make you look inept and like you’re spamming people.
As you can see, social media is a great way to inch your way up in search engine rankings. That said, you’ve got to have a strategy for how you’ll accomplish that task.
As you’re laying out that plan, be sure you focus just as much on getting the most out of social media as you do on increasing your rankings. You’re sure to see that both goals easily complement each other.
Want to learn other ways to increase your rankings? Download our FREE Ultimate Link Building Guide.