Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a critical tool for any business as it can ensure you stand out in a very crowded online environment.

But did you know that social media also has a part to play in your SEO plans? How? By tying into what Google looks for – original, high-quality content and relevant links to and from authority websites – that what will ensure you rank higher in search results.

How can social media help boost our SEO rankings?

Ok so we know SEO is a bit of a dark art, and we don’t profess to be experts at all (there are specific SEO agencies out there who do the job very well). However, knowing how social media can support SEO efforts will ultimately help you deliver the results you want.

Let’s start with two words: content promotion.

Content promotion and SEO

There are times where you could be posting high quality content but you are not getting enough traffic to your website. Social media is one platform you could use to increase the traffic to your website by providing your website’s link is in the post.

As much as links on social media are not as effective as SEO backlinks, they trigger an onsite engagement (via driving traffic to the website) that will send positive signals to search engines and will result in increased rankings.

And what about brand awareness?

Direct traffic to your website is one of the actions that can ensure higher SEO rankings. But to achieve direct traffic, brand awareness is key so your customers know your brand by name to do this. And we know that one of the most effective tools when it comes to promoting brand awareness is social media with its access to thousands of potential customers.

So social media can actively contribute to your SEO efforts simply by establishing your brand presence for people to seek you out. Just think yourself, how many times have you visited a website based on seeing a brand’s social media ad or post?

And finally…

Don’t forget that You Tube videos are often the first to show up for certain searches!

In reality, we know that social media doesn’t directly affect your SEO. However, it does have an impact on the factors that do affect rankings via driving traffic, content promotion and counting your social media profiles in search results too.