18 Dec 5 Ways Social Media Helps Gain Higher Positions In Search Engines

While Google may not count the number of followers you have as an indicator of reliability, there are many different ways social media can help you gain higher positions in search engines. Try directing your community to your website to boost traffic, tweak your profiles to be SEO friendly, get on board with hashtags and don’t forget that there’s more than one way to search for your product. Let’s take a look:

1. Harness the power of community

If you have content on your website that you want your followers to see, share it on social media and use a call to action to encourage them to click through. Literally asking your followers to visit your website should see an increase in traffic. Keep your social media posts short and enticing to pique interest. If you can sum up the reason users should click through in 40 words or less, all the better.

You can also state a common problem and let users know the solution is on your site. This style provides value to your users, which helps to promote a more positive association with your brand. If the content is particularly useful, relevant or timely they are more likely to share it, too. As search engine bots crawl the web, they look for engagement figures and use them as an indicator of authenticity and value.

2. Optimize your profiles for SEO

Help search engines find you by optimizing your social media profiles. Use SEO principles to help direct traffic and communicate your value. Include accurate keywords prominently in your bios, usernames and about sections. These sections are almost always publicly available and can be crawled by bots. Also, do this with any links and image files you include. Combine this optimization with a regular posting schedule to indicate relevance.

3. Optimize posts with hashtags and keywords

Watch trending hashtags. If one is relevant to your brand, act quickly to post and include the hashtag. Posts that include the hashtag are searchable by users. If someone finds a single post of yours through a trending hashtag search, they may be funneled and directed through to your other content and even your website. This is a great way to capture new users. It may seem like an unlikely strategy, but placing your content in front of people who are interested in that topic really can convert well.

4. The other global search engine

Bing works differently from Google. While it’s understandable that you’d concentrate your strategy on how Google determines rankings, Bing is a valuable traffic source, too. They do count follows and likes as endorsement, while Google doesn’t. Bing is said to judge authenticity and value by a combination of followers, content share counts, and perceived poster authority.

5. Social media channels can function like search engines

Don’t forget that social media channels have their own search bars. Often, users will turn to a specific social network to seek out a brand or answer to a question. Each platform has its own algorithm to determine search rankings, but typical SEO strategies should apply here, too. Likes, followers, and shares are all likely to carry more weight within the social ecosystem.