How to Successfully Integrate SEO And SMM And Make Them Work For Each Other

According to a former Google employee who led the company’s Webspam team, search engines do use information from social media platforms when ranking sites. How that works exactly has long been a matter of controversy. One thing for certain is that sentiment analysis is definitely being employed.

This means that even if your social and SEO strategies didn’t coexist before, they need to now. The relationship between SEO and SMM is likely to only increase as time passes and search engine algorithms change. In order to ensure that this happens, you can implement some of the techniques below.

Work to Earn Social Media Mentions

It isn’t just linked that you seek. Search engines also pay attention to mentions. That’s just what it sounds like. The more people talk about your brand, even tag you, the better your search engine rankings will be.

So, be present. Share great content. Engage with your followers. Build relationships with influencers. Work hard to become an influencer yourself. This is also something that even your offline reputation can impact. Whatever you do, ensure that your business is seen in a positive light and that others will feel comfortable dropping your name.

Make Use of Social Media For Topic And Keyword Research

Pay attention to trending topics on Twitter and Facebook. Keep tabs on your competitors to determine the content that they are sharing and promoting as well as what is bringing the most engagement. Pay attention to keywords and headlines.

Then, let your voice be heard. By creating and promoting content on topics that are trending on social media, you increase the likelihood that you will hit the most important social media ranking factors. Just be sure to add your own unique spin on trending content and keywords so that your posts don’t get lost in the shuffle.

Create And Share Great Content on Social Media For DoFollow Links

It isn’t as easy as it once was to earn links. Perhaps even more notably, content creators are even more stingy when it comes to DoFollow links. This is often because even though a creator may wish to share some information that is within a link, they don’t feel comfortable providing the full endorsement that a DoFollow link implies.

The solution is to consistently create, publish, and promote authoritative content that earns trust and establishes you as a thought leader. If you don’t have the time, skills, or other resources to do this reliably, it may be time to outsource. However, working with only the best writers is key. Take the time to read writing companies’ reviews to find the best writers available.

Pay Attention to Other Search Engines

There are multiple search engines, and not all of them walk in lockstep when it comes to what influences rankings. For one thing, Bing does use social signals in ranking. That’s just one example. There are other social engines as well.

This isn’t to say that Google isn’t the standard to follow. Just don’t assume that your SMM strategy doesn’t play a huge role in SEO simply because Google may or may not prioritize social signals at any given time.

Make Sure Your Social Profiles Rank

Take some time to Google the name of your company. Your website should rank at the top of the list. Your social media profiles should follow as well. This is because Google does crawl and rank social media profiles.

There are a few things that you can do in order to maximize the ranking of your social media profile. First, be thorough. Don’t simply fill out the minimum amount of information. When you write biographical or profile information about your company, link to your website. Include at least one quality image. Use relevant keywords to increase the likelihood of your social pages being followed. Do this for all of your social platforms. Finally, take some time to create and complete a Google + profile. You may not get much traction, but it can help your search rankings. Here are some other tips for optimizing your social media profiles to get the best search results.

Focus on Earning Engaged And Organic Followers

The more followers you have, the more likely people are to share and link your content. This can result in increased traffic and other factors that boost ranking. What many entrepreneurs fail to realize is that these things only happen with any real frequency if they have organic and engaged followers.

It is true. Large numbers of followers who were paid to connect with you, or who only followed you to receive some discount (for example) are unlikely to be enthusiastic enough about your brand to link, share, comment, or engage. Focus on growing a community of brand ambassadors instead.

Create Multiple Paths Between Your Social Sites And Website

Traffic to both your social and websites is going to get the attention of search engines. So do clicks, video watch times, shares, and backlinks. One thing that you can do is ensure that there are plenty of connections between your website and social. Make sure social share buttons are featured prominently on your website. Include your social media links on your company profile page and contact information on your website.

There are things you can do on the social side as well. Link your website frequently. Don’t just do this in your original posts. Link your site in the comments as well. Your goal is to draw as much traffic and attention to both your social media sites as well as your company website.

Conclusion

Search engines may play a bit coy about the relationship between SEO and SMM. In spite of this, there is enough evidence to assume that a relationship does indeed exist and that one impacts the other. It’s unlikely to be a coincidence that the highest-ranking companies often boost a powerful social media presence. To maximize both, try to apply the techniques here.

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This was a guest post by Jessica Fender.

Jessica Fender is a professional writer and independent blogger. She is passionate about wise team management and self-development as a leader. Featured on Freelancer.com and Addicted2Success.