Many traditional marketers see search engine optimization (SEO) and social media as trying to do the same thing, but approaching it in different ways. The crucial point to remember is that they both have the same goal in mind — marketing the business to the consumer. Search engines have already started indexing public social media posts, meaning that SEO could very well apply on social media as well.
Strategies for combining social media with SEO can leverage the power of both systems to achieve the business’s aims. Below, 15 professionals from Forbes Agency Council look at several methods for combining SEO with social media to produce a seamless marketing campaign that leverages the benefits of both systems.
Members explain how to combine your SEO and social media efforts for maximum effectiveness.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.
1. Make Sure Their Goals Align
Both SEO and social media (through organic reach) aim to improve a business’s online presence, thus their goals should be aligned. A good strategy could be with content that requires amplification for SEO. It should also be boosted through social media in order to generate buzz and indirectly improve the business’s online reputation. – JC Hite, Hite Digital
2. Embrace SEO Strategies For All Content
Getting found through search is a top goal of every brand, service or product offering on the web. Every good SEO program is made up of strategies and tactics to rank for desired keyword phrases. It only makes sense to develop content marketing programming across all platforms — including social media — that integrate consistent, strategic use of keyword phrases that sync up with your SEO program. – Patrick Nycz, NewPoint Marketing
3. Align Your Content And Messaging
Your social media and SEO strategy should always work in tandem. First, make sure your messaging is engaging your target audience on your website and your social accounts. Second, ensure the content you are posting on social is leveraging the keywords that you are trying to rank for on your website. Remember: Social profiles rank in search results, so these two channels are always interconnected. – Elyse Flynn Meyer, Prism Global Marketing Solutions
4. Talk To People In Their Language
Identify the target profile, not the target audience, as it is way too broad. Example: If the product is jeans for women, you can’t sell the same to all women. If the product is for millennials who work out, you need to create the ideal image for those and market on Instagram and Facebook targeting women who work out. Then, link to the website for more details, creating a social signal that’s the best SEO ever. – Qamar Zaman, KISS PR
5. Use The Same Keywords
One thing that you need to know is that you and your SEO team are using the same keywords. Knowing that you are designing the campaigns around the same strategies will help you be successful now and in the future with the same search results. – Jon James, Ignited Results
6. Focus On Quality, Not Quantity
Social media can boost brand SEO in lots of ways beyond increased traffic. Driving shares and subsequent links should be a goal, but the best way to impact SEO is with top-quality content. By getting interesting, engaging, relevant content brand content in front of influential creators, you have a much better chance of improving search engine rankings over time. – Danielle Wiley, Sway Group
7. Ensure Good Content Curation
It is crucial for a company to curate its social media profiles properly, especially when it ranks well on Google. If not, a user could think that the company is not spending enough time and effort in updating its social channels and its online reputation could hurt the overall customer’s perception about the company. – Alessandro Bogliari, The Influencer Marketing Factory
8. Share, Share, Share
Remember site owners and content strategists can’t share what they don’t know about! Sharing content through social media can lead to obtaining links from high domain authority sites, and encourages other sites to link to your content. The more external links you gain from authoritative sites, the higher you’ll rank in Google’s organic search. – Kathleen Lucente, Red Fan Communications
9. Focus On What Customers Are Searching For
While it is tempting to do a “spaghetti against the wall” approach on both social media and SEO, the best thing to do is to figure out the specific things customers are searching for that the brand can deliver on and then create content about those specific things. Break down the silos and align all of the marketing to focus on this effort. – Stefan Pollack, The Pollack PR Marketing Group
10. Train Your Social Media Team On SEO
As much as you like the creativity of your social media team and their hashtags, they may lack the knowledge on SEO. Train and keep them up to date with new trends and changes in the SEO field. Have the content manager oversee the social campaigns and make sure SEO principles are followed. Have SEO goals that are shared with each department. – Ally Spinu, USA Link System
11. Focus On Timeless Content
In professional services, SEO and social have become nearly indistinguishable. Today’s social post produces tomorrow’s search result. So make sure your content — on social, your website, SEO paid ads and anywhere else you put it — speaks to what matters to ideal clients. Don’t try to be timely. Try to be timeless and your content will pay you dividends years down the road. – Randy Shattuck, The Shattuck Group
12. Influence Your Way Out Of The SEO Silo
A favorite tactic for SEO optimization? Influencers. Provide influencers with search terms to use in their blog copy and social posts. You’ll net SEO amplification when influencers use targeted keywords in their blog title tags, as well as Pinterest pins. Blogs and Pinterest work symbiotically, as both are evergreen and both are indexed by Google. – Danica Kombol, Everywhere Agency
13. Link User-Generated Social Content To Website
One strategy to ensure SEO and social media campaigns work well together is to link user-generated social media content onto the main website (i.e. in the form of a blog). Additionally, connecting social media content to targeted SEO keywords can help with building relevance. – Jordan Edelson, Appetizer Mobile LLC
14. Build Your Social Campaigns On Search Data
The beauty of search data is that it conveys user intent. This makes it fundamentally useful for any social media campaign. Your content plan should therefore begin with an SEO strategy that identifies long-tail keyword phrases your target audience is entering. Use that strategy to craft relevant content that intersects your audience on their active social channels. – Mary Ann O’Brien, OBI Creative
15. Focus On Reach, Readership And Engagement
SEO is not just about search rank. Social media is not just posting content. Rank and postings are tactics in reaching an audience. Engage that audience on social media and post content, but keep your focus on meeting the needs of the reader (follower). – Jim Caruso, M1PR, Inc. d/b/a MediaFirst PR – Atlanta