3 Social Media SEO Tactics To Maximize Search Rankings

Social media is tethered to search engine optimization (SEO). They may not have a direct relationship, but make no mistake, social media marketing combined with SEO can have a positive impact on your business’ search rankings.

Case in point, the use of hashtags to get featured in Google search results. If you Google search #blogging, a number of Twitter posts will be served up in the coveted position zero spot.

This is just one example of how Google and other search engines are using social media mentions and hashtags to deliver the best search results to users. 

Marketers that focus on connecting optimization tactics with social media efforts may find a boost in search rankings. Afterall, greater online presence equals increased rankings, regardless of where that online presence comes from.

And social media continues to be a go to marketing channel for marketers. According to a 2019 Buffer survey, over 58 percent of marketers agreed that social media is important to their overall marketing strategy.

Ready to take your business’ social media SEO game to the next level? The following 3 social media SEO tactics to maximize search rankings proved successful for my clients. 

Let’s put them to work for your business!

1. First, Examine The Current State Of Your Social Media Efforts

Not having a clear picture of your social media efforts could be reducing your business’ ability to grow. You can be sure that the most successful competitors in your industry are tracking social closely.

Having a good idea of your current social efforts is also important for defining social media SEO goals and processes. Here are a few key questions to ask when examining your current social media efforts:

• How much revenue is your social activities making your company?
• Are your social activities producing reliable ROI?
• Are there any social campaigns losing money?
• What social media channels and campaigns work the best?
• Are you utilizing SEO in any current social activities?

Measuring ROI is one of the most important metrics to look at concerning your current social media efforts. One study found that 58.7 percent of brands and agencies found it challenging to measure social media campaign ROI.

When you have a clear picture of ROI, you can begin integrating SEO tactics into social media activities for greater search rankings. This is because you can stretch your social media marketing budget farther.

2. Implement SEO For Social Profiles

A business profile on social media is more than just a business name and generic marketing message. This is where social media SEO begins, and in some cases ends, when it comes to business growth and success online.

Why is a business social profile so important? In the age social media, consumers and clients will do their due diligence before reaching out to you. Where do they often do this research? Social media.

This is why your social media business profile is critical to netting more customers and/or clients. And it is important to Google when it comes to social media SEO too. Here are a few questions to ask about your business’ social profile:

• Does the business’ social profile entice users to learn more about the business?
• Will the profile attract the target audience my business needs?
• When a business name search is done via Google, does my business appear?

These questions can help you develop an optimized business profile on social media. This can help search engines define your social business profile and deliver it to meet a searcher’s intent.

Here’s an example Instagram business profile that has social media SEO elements:

It has brand name, location, branded hashtag, and website URL. And guess what happens when you search for “Nick’s Plumbing & Sewer” on Google? The Instagram business page comes up.

3. Optimize Social Media Images For Powerful Image Search

Visual content is absolutely important for marketing communications. Visuals like images can help your business develop the marketing message further within a social media post, as well as conveying a brand tone.

This makes adding images to social media posts essential. This is a no brainer. However, optimizing those images via social media SEO is often overlooked. And it definitely shouldn’t be if you want to grow your business. 

Did you know that 90 percent of information sent to the human brain is visual? Optimized images can be even more effective. Here’s how to do it:

• Have an optimized image file name (i.e. best-plumbing-services-houston)
• Make the images responsive to multiple devices
• Ensure the image format is fast loading (.png, .jpg, .tiff, etc.)
• Reduce the image file size as much as possible for better loading speed
• Utilize keywords in the image file title and caption
• Alt text is very important to fill in
• Structured data can be very helpful for image optimization

Making the most of images in your social media posts can make a big time impact on your business goals, whether it is more leads or greater brand awareness.

Here’s an example from Lego on Instagram:

Are You Optimizing Your Business’ Social Media To Maximize Search Rankings?

The above social media SEO tactics can have a profound effect on your search rankings when done right. Google and other search engines are using social signals more and more to fulfill searcher intent, delivering the best content for each search query.

Social media plays a role, even though it may not be a direct role, it is an essential factor for increasing online visibility and driving more traffic to your social media channels, website, and landing pages.

What’s your social media SEO strategy for 2021? I’m interested in knowing how I can help reach your goals. Let’s get social!