search engines Archives

15/12/21 Social Media # marketing, search engine ranking, search engines, social media strategy

How Does Social Media Affect SEO?

Is social media SEO really a component of effective digital marketing? We know that social media marketing is an effective way to boost the discoverability of your brand online, but do your tweets and infographic posts factor into search engine rankings? As it turns out, the answer to that question depends on which search engine optimization (SEO) expert you ask.

The truth is, social media profiles indeed show up in search results, but there’s much debate about how this form of digital content impacts your business website and how it ranks.

This blog post will help you better understand the connection between social media and SEO, whether it’s a true ranking factor, and how you can use both to give your business presence a significant boost in search algorithms.

Social Media’s Connection With SEO

First and foremost, what exactly is social media SEO? This term refers to how your social media activity influences your website’s organic rankings in search results. Because the relationship between social networks and SEO can be tricky, not everyone believes that the two are connected.

However, there’s no denying that social media signals play a role in boosting visibility, driving traffic, generating leads, and building relationships with people online. Those factors alone make social media marketing a profitable strategy.

With that said, here are a few other things to consider about social media SEO:

•Social Media Profiles Rank in Search Results: Since there’s a good chance your profiles will be popping up on the first page of Google, you’ll want to use them and ensure you’re giving visitors a great first impression of your brand and its content.

•Social Shares Build Backlinks: We all know that backlinks factor into how Google ranks a webpage, and links shared on social media channels could influence your rankings.

•Each Platform is its Own Search Engine: It’s safe to say we’ve all turned to social platforms to conduct searches (especially on Pinterest), making it a great place to create brand awareness.

Is Social Media SEO a Real Ranking Factor?

Back in 2014, Matt Cutts (a former Google team member) stated that social media didn’t have an impact on search rankings. Since then, they haven’t had much to say about the topic. However, research from two big names in the digital marketing world seems to disagree.

A 2018 Hootsuite study claimed social popularity played a role in boosting Google rankings, as did a 2019 study from OptinMonster. The reality is, social media isn’t directly influencing rankings, but rather doing so indirectly because it can impact the ranking factors that Google pays attention to.

It’s also worth mentioning that Google is often changing its algorithm, meaning it could put more weight on social media presence and content in the future. Better to be prepared now!

8 Ways Social Media Impacts a Website’s Rankings

To help you understand social media SEO and its impact on your overall marketing strategy, here are eight ways it can change your site’s rankings for the better.

1. Social Media Can Drive More Traffic to Your Website

There’s no need to rely solely on organic search traffic these days. With so many social media platforms at our disposal, we should be utilizing them as a traffic source. Share posts promoting the content you’ve published so you can drive more visitors back to your website. So, don’t be shy about letting people know what you’ve posted on your site. Someone out there needs what you’ve created.

Although this doesn’t directly impact where you rank in search results, it still tells Google that you’ve created a popular site people love. And at the end of the day, the whole point of social media SEO is to increase your visibility, which this certainly does.

2. More Shares Equal More Backlinks

One thing content marketers can agree on is that backlinks are essential for SEO. When quality sites link to your website, it helps build your backlink profile, which looks good in Google’s eyes. Social media can help generate backlinks if you use it to promote the content on your website. And of course, others sharing your content on social media helps to create more quality backlinks as well.

To encourage people to share your content, the first thing you need to do is create content that’s worth sharing. Cover topics your target audience will be interested in and will tell their friends and followers about. Then, make it easy to share by including social sharing buttons on your website. With a few clicks, they can help spread the word about your fantastic content.

3. Social Media Can Help Get Content Indexed Faster

Those backlinks aren’t just helpful for sending traffic to your website and telling Google that you’re an awesome content creator. Sharing your posts on social media can also help your content get indexed faster, especially if you’re launching a brand new website that doesn’t yet have traffic. Indexing is how a search engine adds web content to its index, allowing it to appear in search engine results. If your content isn’t indexed, no one will see it.

Set up social media accounts on the platforms you’re interested in using and that your target audience is most active on. Social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest are all worth considering. From there, you’ll be able to begin generating those backlinks and can accelerate the indexing process.

4. Your Content Will Have a Longer Lifespan

When you’ve worked hard to create an amazing piece of content, you want it to live on forever and continue to bring in traffic for many months (and even years). Luckily, social media sites can assist with this. With social sharing, your content can reach a much wider audience than those already visiting your website. Plus, people can share it with their followers long after publication.

Of course, this is particularly important for evergreen content. Evergreen content applies to blog posts, YouTube videos, and podcast episodes that don’t have expiration dates, and their message lives on and is still relevant for a long time after initial publication. The more evergreen content you can include in your archives, the better.

5. Keywords Your Target Audience is Searching Boosts Awareness

We typically focus on SEO writing when creating content for our blogs, though it doesn’t always come to mind when writing social media posts. It’s important to remember that social media profiles and the content we share can rank for various search terms. That’s why it’s wise to naturally incorporate them into your social media strategy as part of a complete SEO effort.

You can integrate keywords by first optimizing your profile with a bio that features keywords your target audience will likely be searching for. Those exact keywords can be included in individual posts when relevant. This way, your posts may appear in Google search results but will also show up when someone is searching the social media platform for specific content.

6. Social Media Helps Establish Authority and Trust

Through the content you share on social media, people see you as an authority in your field. Once they see you as an authority, they’ll begin to trust you. People love to share content from brands they trust, plus they also are more inclined to purchase their offerings. But the question is, how do you use social media SEO to establish this level of authority and trust?

Well, it’s important to show up consistently by sharing fresh content that’s high quality and of value to your target audience. Consider their pain points and what they most want to hear from you, then write about it on your blog. Use your social media platforms to promote those posts often. And, finally, incorporate relevant keywords to increase the likelihood of being found in search results both on and off Google.

7. Social Media is Great for Building Relationships

Business success is directly related to your relationships with your audience. When people feel connected to you, they’re more likely to engage with and share your content, which is essential for boosting visibility. The brands that are taking the time to reply to their audience on social media are the ones that stand out above the rest.

If you want to nurture online connections, ask questions that get the conversation going. Encourage people to DM you with their thoughts and questions. And you can even join communities where your audience is active to meet and connect with them, whether that’s a Twitter chat or a Facebook group. Building those relationships just might be what attracts someone to you over your competitor.

8. Social Media Metrics Shape Your Content Marketing Strategy

Are you looking to drive new traffic to your website and keep those visitors coming back for more? The best way to do that is to deliver the valuable content they need the most. However, we can sometimes struggle to develop great ideas, particularly when those creative juices seem to have run out.

To alleviate this challenge:

Let social media SEO inform your keyword research.
Come up with a list of target keywords related to your brand and the type of content you cover.
Search those keywords and hashtags on platforms like Twitter and Instagram to see what others share and talk about. The posts you find can help you generate an endless list of ideas you can discuss on your website.

A Few Social Media SEO Best Practices to Keep in Mind

Now, you have a better understanding of what social media SEO is and how it can benefit your website’s rankings. Although we know that social media doesn’t directly impact our position in the search results, it’s clear that there is an indirect influence at play.

If you’re ready to make social media SEO part of your overall marketing strategy, keep these best practices in mind to ensure your long-term success:

•Optimize Your Profile With Keywords: On platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, you can add keywords to your display name. These keywords help your profile appear when someone searches for those keywords, whether on the platform or Google. It’s also smart to add keywords to your bio, as this can also help you show up in SERPs. The more discoverable your account is, the better chance you stand at driving traffic to your website.

•Post Consistently for an Active Account: People won’t be inclined to follow or engage with your social media accounts if you aren’t posting there. Determine how frequently you’d like to share content, even if it’s one or two posts per day. Your social signals drive traffic to your site and encourage even more people to share your work.

•Be Patient—Growth Takes Time: Websites don’t explode with traffic overnight. Whether it’s organic search traffic or people who find you through social media SEO, this is something you cannot rush. Keep this in mind when your content isn’t getting thousands of views shortly after its publication. Just keep sharing and trust that the right people will see your content.

•Optimize for local SEO: You have to focus on strategies that allow local customers to discover you for local service companies, like contractors. Your social profiles must be optimized for local SEO, including a keyword-rich description, a clear description of the services you provide, your operating hours, and a business phone number and address (which should match what’s listed on your Google Business Profile).

•Encourage Reviews: One of the most critical aspects of local SEO is having a positive online reputation. Obtaining five-star reviews is an essential part of any business plan, often “making or breaking” a company’s success. Reviews account for thirteen percent of ranking factors for local searches and seven percent of general search ranking factors. Consumers can find reviews on Google Business Profile, Facebook, Yelp, and more.

Need Help With Your Social Media SEO?

Social media is a powerful way to get your brand discovered online and, when paired with an effective SEO strategy, the results are truly unbeatable. There’s no need to wait for people to discover your website and its high-quality content. Instead, be proactive about putting yourself out there and sharing what you’ve created with the world.

If you’re ready to step up your social media presence and boost your search rankings, we can help. Contact us today to discuss our available SEO services.

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22/11/21 SEO # content writing, keywords, organic search, search engines

The Complete Guide to SEO Writing

One of the most important things you can do to improve the online presence and visibility of your business is to incorporate quality SEO writing into your website.

Without good content writing, your website won’t rank well in online search queries. Most searchers don’t click past the first page or two of search results. If your business isn’t listed there, your site click-through rate (CTR) drops dramatically.

This step-by-step beginner’s guide will help you understand what SEO content writing is, why it’s so important, and how to effectively add it to your site.

What Is SEO Content Writing?

SEO, which stands for search engine optimization, is crucial in making sure your business stands out online. Whether you’re a business owner or a blogger, you want to have the best content possible in order for people to find you. An optimized site delivers a great user experience (UX) by being simple to use, easy to understand, and obvious for search engines like Google to find.

SEO writing is a type of writing that focuses on key SEO principles to help your website stand out. It concentrates on some of the over 200 factors that Google uses in its search algorithm. With the right kind of SEO strategy, your website can climb the search results (or SERPs) and earn that coveted first-page spot.

According to Neil Patel, the SEO copywriting on your site needs to solve a problem and appeal to your users, whether they are clients, prospective customers, or simply searchers looking for valuable information on your site.

Important SEO Terms

Like any industry, the SEO world has its own jargon. Here are some of the most common SEO terms and what they mean:

•Anchor text: The word or phrase that is hyperlinked to another webpage.

•Click-through rate: The ratio of clicks to impressions on any given search result.

•Conversion rate: The percentage of visitors to a webpage that completed a specific action (making a purchase, filling out a contact form, etc.).

•Dwell time: The amount of time a user spends on a clicked search result before returning to the original search engine results page.

•Long-tail keyword: This is a string of keywords, often 3-6 words, to create a more specific targeted keyword.

•Off-page SEO: Tactics relating to search engine optimization performed outside of your own website. Examples include backlinking, social media, and guest blogging content.

•On-page SEO: Also known as on-site SEO, this practice refers to the optimization of web page content for specific keywords to increase traffic. This includes internal links and SEO-optimized types of content, title tags, headings, and subheadings.

•Organic traffic: The number of searchers who found your site on their own and not through a paid ad or link from another site.

•Page ranking factors: The criteria a search engine considers in its algorithm when determining page rank results.

•SERPs: This stands for search engine results pages.

•SERP position: The ranking on a search engine results page for a specific keyword search.

•Technical SEO: The optimization of websites and servers to help search engine spiders effectively crawl and index your site, improving your site’s organic ranking.

5 Key Benefits to SEO Copywriting

Optimized SEO writing should be a core component of any digital marketing strategy. In fact, adding high-quality content writing to your site is one of the most important things you can do to improve your SEO performance. Any SEO agency worth your time will make quality content creation a top priority.

Here are five crucial benefits that SEO content writing adds to your website.

1. Gives Google Something to Rank

If you don’t have any optimized content on your site, there is nothing for Google to rank. The more quality content you have, the better your rankings will be. This is why SEO copywriting is so crucial to your overall digital marketing strategy.

2. Adds Strategic Keywords to Your Content

One of the most important considerations for search engine results is the keywords on a webpage. You want to use keywords and phrases that relate to your business and content. Think of keywords as search terms someone would enter to find your business. For example, if someone searches for “places to buy a boat in Dallas,” the returned results will be web pages that include that phrase or something related to it.

If you’re a boat dealer in Dallas, you want to be at or near the top of the results for this search. The best way to achieve that is through strategic content writing that uses strategic keywords. Many businesses rely on blogs to continually add fresh, keyword-relevant content to their sites.

SEO copywriting is the primary way to add relevant keywords to your site. Without optimized keyword content, it will be difficult for your business to get the attention it deserves.

3. Boosts Your Social Validation

Another consideration that Google and other search engines use for search rankings is social validation. Links that are widely shared on social media outlets add social validation to your site.

If you don’t want to spend a lot of money to get social validation, you need impressive content that stands out on its own. When your site or blog offers valuable new ideas and engaging material, your readers and customers are more likely to share that content with their friends and associates, giving you the boost your business needs.

4. Encourages Backlinks

A backlink is a link from another site to your content. It can also be called an inbound link or external link. Backlinks are a form of social validation that does not require social media sites. To encourage backlinking, you need authoritative, engaging content.

The more backlinks your site has, the more this improves your Google ranking. Backlinks give your content authority and validation. Here are a few strategies on how to acquire more backlinks:

•Quality Content: High-quality content such as how-to articles, list posts, and guides can be great formats that encourage backlinking.

•Skyscraper Content: Skyscraper content is an exhaustive article with extensive details on one subject. These super-detailed posts can be more than 10,000 words and are a popular generator for backlinks.

•Infographics: Infographics are a visual representation of your content in an easy-to-understand format. They usually include facts, charts, graphs, and images and are frequently shared and linked to.

5. Contributes to Your Search Task Accomplishment

In recent years, Google search results are focusing more on something called “search task accomplishment.” This is the idea that the top-ranked results will help the searcher solve the problem they searched for in quick, simple steps.

For example, if you searched for “largest industries in the U.S.,” you’re probably looking for the largest economic drivers in the country. The top results should give you a simple numbered list of the biggest industries in the United States. Further down the results, you might see variations based on GDP, revenue, or even lists broken down by state. The results are solving your “problem” with easy-to-understand information.

With SEO content, it’s important to focus on content that solves problems and understands the user’s intent. Be sure to include content on your site that covers a broad range of search intents. Typically, there are four key intentions for any online search:

•Navigational: A navigational search is when a user is looking for a particular website.

•Informational: This type of search tries to get the answer to a question.

•Investigational: An investigational search helps a user research information before deciding on or purchasing something.

•Transactional: This type of search is when someone is trying to purchase something.

Ideally, your site will contain content that covers each of these search categories.

Best Practices for SEO Content Writing

Before getting started with content writing (or hiring someone to write your piece of content), you need to create your SEO content marketing strategy. Here are some best practices for you to consider:

1. Create a List of Relevant Content Ideas

You want content that will draw people in. You also want to attract searchers who will convert into customers. To reach your target audience, it’s vital to create content that they care about.

It’s good to brainstorm ideas within your company. However, a more effective method is to use online resources to discover what questions people are asking related to your business.

•Q&A sites: Search through question-and-answer sites like Reddit and Quora to discover business-related queries.

•Answer The Public: A free, idea-generating site is Answer The Public. Type in one or two words related to your business and you’ll get a web visualization with questions people have asked about that topic.

•Wikipedia. Wikipedia can be a goldmine for content ideas. Search for the main topic you want to focus on. Then, look through the table of contents on that page for subtopics.

With the ideas you found, you can create a list of relevant blog topics, FAQ pages, and other types of content that will answer questions and offer engaging thoughts. Be sure to update your list regularly so you do not run out of ideas.

2. Do Keyword Research

Once you have your topics selected, you can start your keyword research. This is one of the most important steps in the SEO writing process. Choosing the right keyword can mean the difference between great content that gets thousands of views a month and content that gets none.

Use these keyword research tools to help you narrow down the best-performing keywords for your business:

•Ahrefs: An SEO copywriting goldmine providing a copywriter with an entire suite of tools including site audits, rank tracking, keyword explorer, site explorer, competitor analysis, and more. The keyword explorer tool allows you to enter a target keyword and view top organic search results, backlinking, search volume, keyword difficulty, and domain rating.

•Infinite Suggest: This free tool can help generate hundreds of relevant keyword suggestions including long-tail keywords. Just type in your starting keyword to get started. The downside to this tool is that it doesn’t show you search volume.

•SEORCH: To capture some clicks from the competition, try using the SEO Check feature on SEORCH. To use this tool, enter a URL from a competitor’s website or blog. In the report, find the “Text & Phrases” section near the bottom. Focus on the portion that includes “Frequencies of phrases with 3 words” and “Frequencies of phrases with 4 words.” This section will give you long-tail keywords that have much less competition.

•Moz: The Keyword Explorer from Moz gives you a comprehensive keyword analysis along with keyword suggestions. Enter your starting keyword or URL and sign up for an account to get started.

•Yoast: A WordPress plugin that helps you optimize your content by providing you with key SEO benchmarks and suggestions for improving your ranking.

There are numerous other SEO tools available to help you analyze and refine your keyword selection. You can also hire SEO experts to do this keyword research for you.

3. Use Keywords Wisely

When you know which keywords you expect to perform well, it can be tempting to use them as much as possible. This is called keyword stuffing and likely won’t serve you well. Google is now smart enough to recognize this. The best practice for keyword use is to make sure your focus keyword appears in the following places:

•Title tag

•URL

•First 100 words

•An H1 tag

•An H2 tag

Beyond that, you can sprinkle your keywords naturally throughout your content. You can also use your keyword in an alt image tag if you have any relevant images in your content.

4. Create Comprehensive SEO Content

Multiple studies have shown that longer content performs better in search results than shorter content and usually generates more backlinks. After analyzing 912 million blog posts, Backlinko found the average word count for first-page search results was 1,447.

With a comprehensive page between 1,000 and 2,000 words, you can thoroughly cover a topic without losing the interest of your readers.

5. Craft Attention-Grabbing Titles

When scanning search results, most people quickly check the titles and move on. If something grabs their attention, they might go on to read the brief meta description or click through to the site. This is why creating an optimized title that encourages people to keep reading is crucial. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

•Use numbers: List articles that include numbers are easy to understand and work well in drawing in readers. Titles like “Top 10 Tips for Baking Bread at Home” will usually bring in more clicks than “Bread Baking Tips.”

•Use emotional words: Use strong emotional words to capture the attention of your readers, for example, “Five Amazing Ways to Impress Your Boss” is more alluring than “How to Be a Good Worker.”

The Headline Studio from CoSchedule can help you create optimized headlines. Type in your headline idea and it will score your headline and offer suggestions on how to make it more effective.

6. Compose Impactful Meta Descriptions

A key component of search engine optimization lies in creating meta descriptions that capture the attention of searchers and improve your click-through rate.

7. Utilize HTML Meta Tags

Meta tags appear in a page’s source code as snippets of text, not on the actual webpage itself. These pieces of information inform search engines about the information contained within a given page.

Unlock Your Potential with Search Engine Optimization from Best Dallas SEO

Now that you better understand how important SEO writing is to your business, it’s time for an SEO upgrade. If you’re feeling overwhelmed about your SEO needs, Best Dallas SEO is here to help.

To demonstrate what we can do for you, we offer free, no-obligation SEO audits. We can perform a quick evaluation of your SEO needs and tell you how we can help. We provide a full suite of SEO services including content writing, link building, landing pages, and web design.

Ready to unlock your SEO potential? Contact us today to get started.