How Does Social Media Affect Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?

Social media has an indirect, rather than a direct impact on search engine optimisation and its affects are seen in a few different ways:

• Increased online visibility and traffic
• Increased brand awareness
• Improving local SEO
• Longer lifespan of content

SEO isn’t just about implementing best-practise on-page elements, it’s important to understand that off-page methods can impact the visibility of your site too. Social media provides the opportunity for you to increase visitors while helping to maintaining returning visitor numbers. To build up a base of loyal customers, you need to make your content as engaging as possible. Your social media must work in conjunction with your content to raise your site traffic and visibility, as well as your SEO of course.

Google have confirmed that social media pages are now considered like any other page on the web. Even tweets are now indexed by Google, this can increase your brands visibility, impacting brand awareness and searches.

Increased Online Visibility and Traffic

Online advertising and marketing’s main purpose is to generate traffic and leads which will, all things being equal, increase sales. When you search for a company on Google, it often also displays their social media pages somewhere underneath their website results. By having your social media pages appearing in SERP’s it gives you additional traffic opportunities via organic search whilst giving your audience a chance to regularly keep up to date.

Increased Brand Awareness

Brand recognition is where your audience and the general public recognise your brand, usually by a logo or slogan. When people come across something on social media, they tend to share the link. This will increase the number of inbound links and your credibility. It also shows how popular your content is too. Your rankings will also improve, and social profiles will also move up in branded searches.

Improving Local SEO

How your business is listed on the web is essential for local SEO, and this is extended to social media. For local SEO, you need to optimise your profiles, including a key-word description and a clear description of your services, opening hours and other important business data.

Longer Lifespan of Content

Advertising your content on more than one platform keeps your content relevant for longer. This is due to people talking about it for longer on one platform than another. When people see intriguing content on social media platforms, they’re more likely to visit your website which increases your credibility, visibility and clicks. By increasing website clicks it’s helping boost your position in SERP’s.

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