Does social media help you rank higher on Google?

Does social media help you rank higher on Google?

The wide world of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can be daunting. One of the most common questions surrounding SEO is whether social media plays a part. But does having a good social media lead generation strategy mean your website will rank higher on Google and other search engines?

To put it simply, yes. But it’s more complicated than that, and it may not be in the way that you’re thinking. But if you’re interested in getting more customers to your website, it’s definitely worth exploring.

In this blog post, I’m going to explain why social media can help influence your Google rankings and how the process actually works.

First things first, let’s review what it takes to rank on Google.

What does it take to rank highly?

There are three main factors that influence your website’s ranking, or SEO, on Google or other search engines:

• Having a search engine-friendly website

There are several ways for a website to be more search-engine friendly, including good use of keywords, accurate titles and descriptions and making sure it’s responsive and mobile-friendly.

You can find an in-depth guide to this in our blog post, how your small business can rank higher on Google organically.

• Creating good quality content

Good content looks different for every business, but is an essential part of every good social media strategy. You can also find tips on maximising yours in our blog post, creating content successfully.

• Having other websites link back to yours

Think of this as a voting system: the more links to your website from other websites, the more votes you have. And, more links you have, the higher your website will rank when it comes to SEO.

It’s not just about the number of links, either. The quality of the links will affect your ranking, as well, so if a big authority website is posting your links, the higher your website will rank.

According to Google, social media is not a part of the ranking algorithm and doesn’t have a direct effect on your ranking. In other words, Google doesn’t treat a social media site differently to any other website.

However, studies have shown that companies with a higher social media presence tend to be first page ranking on Google. The websites on the first page tend to have a much stronger social media presence than the ones on the following pages.

This doesn’t mean a solid social media strategy is a guarantee for a higher ranking, but it definitely has a part to play. So how can we use this to our advantage?

Using your social media strategy wisely

It’s all about sharing

To get the best results, you need to make sure your content is getting out there in front of a wide audience. The best way to do this? Good social media.

1. Build your audience

By building up a targeted audience, more people will see, like and share your content. This won’t have an effect (yet) on your website ranking, but as more people share and you reach a wider audience, the chances become higher that one of these people will link to your content from their website. And just like that, your website has better SEO.

In fact, links are one of the biggest factors when it comes to ranking, and you can’t just go out and buy them. This is where good quality, organic content comes in.

2. Focus on quality content

What you have to say on your blog could be providing real value for people, and there are plenty of examples where this has created success for those with a savvy social media strategy.

If your content is well written and well researched, people will share it on social media, on their blogs and on their websites. Your outside links will improve organically, and your ranking on Google will start to climb.

What else can you do to boost your ranking?

There are other ways to get your content out there in front of more people, and more effectively. Social media is great for reaching people you’re already connected to, but if you want to get your content in front of more people, paid advertising is a great way to go. You can target a specific audience or go for a wide umbrella approach, increasing the chance you’ll get links back to your website, and increasing your Google ranking.

Social media provides many opportunities to boost your online presence and win more sales. But it’s important that you start with the right information from the get-go.

So where do you begin? Check out our free social media training video and find out how you can use start using social media strategically.