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 you think. But if you’re interested in getting more customers to your website, it’s definitely worth exploring.
In this blog post, I’ll 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?
Three main factors influence your website’s ranking, or SEO, on Google or other search engines:
- Having a search engine-friendly website
A website can be more search-engine friendly in several ways, including good keyword use, accurate titles and descriptions, and responsive and mobile-friendly design.
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. Our blog post on creating content successfully offers tips on maximizing yours.
- 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 the more links you have, the higher your website will rank in 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 posts 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 guarantees 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 ensure that your content is reaching a wide audience. The best way to do this is through 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 will have better SEO.
In fact, links are one of the biggest factors in ranking, and you can’t just 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 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 you must 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.
Ashley Davis (or ‘Ash’ for short) is the CEO & Founder of Skyline Social. For over 15 years, Ash has been helping business owners with lead generation. Ash specializes in helping businesses get high-quality leads, appointments and clients each month with automated digital marketing strategies. Learn more about the author here.
