Many people are not familiar with how marketing in social media networks works with SEO. There is even some discussion that social signals are not important to Google rankings. Quite often, they are separated into two different entities but as vocal, as they might be, it seems that only a few SEO experts agree.
A survey was taken in 2017 to show how link building was being done by SEO experts. As it turns out, many were using social media regularly. This includes:
88% of SEO executives were using social media profiles for linking, 81% were sharing social media content and 53% have used viral campaigns.
Because of how the SEO experts use social media, we now know it is a tactic that is well worth considering. If you are someone who wants to take advantage of this method, you are going to get an overview of it in this article.
Table of Contents
Use Your Social Profiles For Linking
One reason why many people don’t use links in social media for SEO is that they are not followed. This includes many of the popular social media platforms, such as YouTube, Google Plus, LinkedIn and Tumbler. Even those that seemed to be SEO friendly at one time have followed suit.
Reddit is the exception to the rule but you will struggle to use that platform for marketing purposes. Before you can include a link on any subcommunity, you need to be very relevant to the discussion.
Although it is true that social media is to follow, you really can’t ignore what it brings to the table. It isn’t only social signals, you are likely to get a lot of direct traffic from those links. According to Matthew Woodward, you can use social media for SEO if you go about it in the right way.
Add this on Facebook:
A link to your website in the about tab under both basic and contact info
A link to your website when you post to your wall
Your website link when a post is pinned
You should do something similar on other social media pages. Links can be included in images, bios, descriptions and the list goes on and on. It doesn’t matter if you are keeping up with those pages, you are just increasing your odds of getting traffic with those links.
You Want People To Read Your Content – Be Seen
Getting people to actually view your content has always been a difficult part of content marketing. After all, there is so much content being put online on any given day that it can be hard to find a willing audience. When you use the following promotional tips, however, you will see success:
Use Readable Text
It is important that your content engages the reader and doesn’t turn them off with bad grammar, spelling or just plain bad content. Even if you are only putting up a piece for SEO, make it readable.
Do Your Research
Take some time to look at the link profiles of your competitors. You will often find areas that you have missed for promoting your content. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel, just use the work they put into it for your own content.
Go Evergreen
Although you could write on any subject, it is always best if your content is always relevant. This type of evergreen content will always be in season, and you can attract new readers to it all year long.
Do You Translate?
If you are working with an international audience, you are leaving a lot of traffic untouched by only using one language. Take a lesson from the big boys and translate your content.
Use Niche Communities and New Sites
Most niches will have news and community websites that can be used for marketing your content. Look for the leaders in your industry and if they are keeping up on the latest, make sure you are included in the mix.
Use Social Network Communities
It is also important to use those niche communities on social networks. This could include groups on LinkedIn and Facebook or communities on Google+. Marketing to relevant groups is a great way to get the ball rolling.
Niche platforms may also be available on local social networks and these should not be ignored. They may be covering a very narrow niche but the chance to build your readership and share your content is amazing.
Don’t simply throw out your content to these groups. they are going to recognize a marketing ploy from a mile away. Become a part of the community and get involved. Take part in the conversation and offer something of value to the group. It will work well for you in the end and they will reward you with links.
Go Viral
If there is one thing that can really put people to your content, it is creating something that goes viral. This is often seen on social media and once the ball gets rolling, it is amazing what it can do. You can also provide viral content on news websites as well.
It can be somewhat risky to try to jump into the middle of a social media fire and try to end up on a large news website but it is a dream for many marketing pros. In fact, many of them try to create something viral on a regular basis and when it works, it can really pay off.
