We compiled a practical guide to merge your SEO and social media strategy and bridge the digital marketing schism.
For the uninitiated, digital marketing is a unified toolset that can be applied similarly across every project to improve results and profits for a customer. However, a division in digital marketing between SEO and social media has been shaping the industry for years.
On the one hand, we have a camp of SEO enthusiasts. Using optimised links, page rankings, and clever tactics, they can improve every piece of content on a website. On the other hand, we have social media savants. This group has a keen eye for developing viral content with engagement, sharing, and likes as their primary directive.
The dispute has its roots in a fundamental concept for marketing websites, as according to Google specialists, social media content does not interfere with SEO rankings. With that in mind, each tool is entirely independent of the other. Furthermore, the success of SEO strategies might not even mean anything for your social media presence, and vice-versa.
However, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. So, to unify all marketing camps, we have compiled a guide about this. With it, we hope it helps you see how SEO and social media can work together to boost your online success.
1. The Difference Between Strategies.
For years, there was a cold war in marketing, with each side claiming to be the best for results. Whenever social media developed a new tool, SEO responded with another process to improve their optimisation.
Social media strategies are based on providing organic validation to your content by linking across multiple platforms. The primary goal is to raise awareness through viral content, engagement and sharing. In this way, social media focuses on long-term solutions via growing an audience of supporters for a brand, company or product. It is a continuous process that improves and evolves whenever the audiences migrate to different social media providers.
As the name says, a Search Engine Optimisation Strategy is developed around search platforms. By now, we know that 99.9% of the time, this means Google. So, by focusing on improving your content, SEO strategists can ensure better rankings on a website. As there are multiple long-term solutions for SEO, teams test numerous combinations of tags and keywords in a short-term capacity.
When talking about sharing online content, there is no singular solution to each different issue. Some businesses prefer a social media-focused strategy, and others prefer SEO. Both have their strong suits to be highlighted and flaws to be fixed.
2. How Social Media Affects SEO.
What is the desired result when we combine an optimised website with an engaging social media strategy? For a long time, marketers thought the two were mutually exclusive. For starters, one deals with proprietary websites, while the other is gated on social networks that do not rank well on Google.
Specialists constantly question the so-called facts of the day-to-day results of SEO and social media. These questions and misconceptions lasted until 2018, when a study by Hootsuite tested the validity of SEO’s lack of connection with social media. The results changed the way we would look at both marketing tools forever.
According to the research, a well-planned social media post can increase the effectiveness of SEO strategies by up to 22% compared to posts that don’t rely on this tactic. This edge for your business is incredible in a world of ever-increasing content.
3. How to Implement a Social SEO Strategy.
The findings of Hootsuite’s research showed that social media, while not directly impacting page rankings, is a perfect support tool for your content. Sure, the connection between the two is indirect. But the benefits of developing a joint plan are fundamental to long-term success.
Social media is pivotal in brand recognition, visibility, geographic SEO and content lifespan. Therefore, better results on those factors will always be helpful to an overall strategy.
An improved social media presence increases your company’s chances of being queried on Google. Which, in turn, will strengthen its overall page ranking. The shorter copy utilised on social media ensures that your original content can be divided and developed towards multiple posts. By linking these to your website, you’ll generate a longer lifespan for your content and boost organic traffic and visibility.
Webbiz is here to help.
With specialists on both sides of the house, our team at Webbiz is the perfect one to tailor-make a social SEO strategy for your business. So get in touch, and together we can make your project successful.