Many business owners see social media and search engine optimization (SEO) as two separate entities, when in fact, they work together in powerful ways to boost your online visibility. While social media itself doesn’t directly impact your SEO ranking on Google or Bing, the actions you take on social platforms can significantly influence your site’s traffic, backlink profile, and overall brand awareness—all of which contribute to better SEO performance. Google provides a useful SEO Starter Guide that can help you understand the basic concepts if you’re unfamiliar.
Social Media Drives Website Traffic
One of the most direct ways social media impacts SEO is through increased website traffic. When you share high-quality, engaging content on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Twitter, you’re encouraging users to visit your website for more information, whether it’s a blog post, product page, or lead magnet.
- How This Helps SEO: Search engines value websites that get consistent, high-quality traffic. While traffic alone won’t boost your ranking, it’s an essential signal to search engines that your content is valuable and worth promoting.
- What You Can Do: Share your website’s content on social media regularly and use compelling calls to action to drive users back to your site. For example, if you’ve just published a blog post about the benefits of your services, promote it across your social channels to increase visibility and clicks.
Social Media Content Can Generate Backlinks
Backlinks are one of the top factors influencing SEO. A backlink is when another website links to your content, signaling to search engines that your site is authoritative and trustworthy. While backlinks are usually earned organically through content syndication and partnerships, social media can accelerate this process.
- How Social Media Boosts Backlinks: When your content gets shared widely on social media, it increases the chances that bloggers, journalists, or other content creators will link to it. This is especially true if your content is educational, unique, or newsworthy.
- What You Can Do: Focus on creating shareable content. This includes infographics, studies, blog posts, and how-to guides. Then, actively promote that content on social media platforms. The more people who see and share your content, the more likely it will earn backlinks. Learn more about how backlinks work in SEO to understand how traffic and authority-building connect.
Social Signals Improve Brand Awareness
Though search engines don’t directly count social signals (likes, shares, comments) in their ranking algorithms, an active social presence can still impact your SEO by increasing brand awareness and encouraging searches for your brand.
- Why This Matters: When more people are aware of your brand and search for it directly, search engines take note. This increase in branded searches can contribute to your overall SEO ranking as it signals to Google and Bing that your brand is trusted and well-known.
What You Can Do: Stay active on social media, engage with followers, and make your brand a regular part of users’ feeds. The more you’re seen, the more likely users will search for your brand when they need your products or services.
Need help optimizing your social media efforts to boost your SEO and online visibility? Contact us at Biondo Creative to get started! We can guide you through the process of integrating social media with SEO strategies to grow your brand and drive results.