Social Media Marketing and Search Engine Optimization work best when synergized. Businesses that employ an integrated search and social media strategy achieve greater web-success at lower cost because they amplify their message manifold simply by combining the power of organic search and viral media. When you search-optimize and add relevant social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn (etc) to your media mix the result is far greater than if you had used them as un-optimized channels, independently at different times! Similarly using SEO without social media substantially limits the potential of organic search. Synergy is the essential ingredient in achieving high ROI and maximizing the impact of your online media plan. Here are some tips on optimizing one with the other.
SEO for Social Media
- URL: Include keywords in the URL you pick for your social media page. If you have an established brand then the brand name should be in the URL . When creating a URL based on a brand, use the brand name as one word without dashes and periods if available
- Profile: Make sure you have identified effective keywords (3 word phrases) and use them in your profile and information page. Also include website address/URL where allowed. Make sure your profile is public and available to search engines
- Description: Pay special attention to sites like Facebook that allow you to include a URL in this section
- Localize: Include location for improved local visibility
- Anchor Text: Some social media networks like LinkedIn provide a specific section for adding related websites. Make sure that you use keywords for anchor text (the text that is hyper-liked) instead of “My website”, “My Twitter” or “My Company” etc
- Updates: Continually monitor trending topics in your industry and include the hot keywords in related status updates and posts
- Tags and Custom Meta: When publishing blog posts you must include keywords within the post and ideally in the title. Before publishing add custom meta tags that include title and keywords. Optimize your post for sharing on social networks by including a meta description
- Links: Include relevant links from your website for status updates and also within posts.
Social Media for SEO:
We all know that backlinks are the backbone of your webpage. Google and other search engines consider your page authoritative if other websites cite your website and point to it with a link. The link is even more valuable if the anchor text is a relevant keyword! A great way to create backlinks is by creating social media accounts for your business.
- Create social media accounts on popular platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, FourSquare etc, grow your accounts with engaging content. These profiles are all great for SEO by providing backlinks and for visibility in organic search
- Each time you add content on your website you should submit the link to Twitter; this is almost like submitting your URL to search engines for indexing. Google crawls and indexes Twitter ferociously and will discover your new content quickly
- Facebook “Likes”, Twitter RTs and YouTube “shares” are all votes of confidence as far as search engines are concerned. Not only will these bring more traffic but will also add authority to your website
- The keywords and anchor texts in your social media profiles will increase your visibility in organic search and improve your authority (page rank)
- Bookmarking sites are another great tool for adding backlinks and building theme-based digital footprints. Submit your link to Delicoius, Stumble, Digg and Reddit etc
- Create content spin-offs on tertiary social media networks like SlideShare and Yelp to add to the valuable in- coming links
- Crowd-source content and create an ongoing source of providing valuable, fresh content for your website which is a key factor by which search engines rate website authority
Social Media Marketing and Search Engine Optimization are a power-house for website promotion when used in conjunction. They provide such great value and return on your investment that it is often said that social media and SEO together can level the playing field for businesses of all sizes!
