The rise of social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have given business of all sizes another avenue to increase their search engine results. Many businesses are using social media sites to stay in touch with customers and to update them on new sales and promotions, but their ability to get SEO results should not be overlooked.
Building the number of inbound links and increasing link popularity is one of the most important ways to get top search engine rankings. Most businesses serious about their SEO strategies are already using conventional routes such as press releases, directory and article submissions to garner links. Adding social media sites to this mix will deliver highly valued inbound links and boost placement on search engines.
Here are some basic points to consider as you integrate social media into your SEO strategy.
- It helps to integrate your social networking profiles. Use an RSS feed to share a post on your corporate blog with your Facebook profile, your Twitter page, your LinkedIn account and any other number of social networking sites. One simple step can generate multiple relevant inbound links for your site.
- Inbound links are only valued by search engines if they come from websites that are considered of high quality and relevant. Social sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, meet these criteria. Website Magazine recently did an informal study to see how Google valued sites such as Twitter and Facebook. When searching on a publication name, such as Chicago Tribune, they found that the company website came up first, as expected. What was unexpected was that the Twitter site came up in the first five results as well. These results were consistent among multiple publications tested, showing that Google is clearing valuing the links posted on social networking sites.
- Just adding any old link to your site is not enough. You must establish a brand and visibility for your business. This is why social media sites can be so valuable. When you post a link to a social media site, your followers or fans have the ability to determine if the link is valuable to them and worth passing on. By posting relevant quality links, you are creating a following among bloggers, customers and other people who view your social media pages. As you gain credibility and they pass along your links, you are gaining strength in search engine results.
Social media has quickly become entrenched in our society. It only makes sense to use it to promote your business and speak to your customers. Using social media sites to create high-quality inbound links improves visibility with search engines and gets your business top rankings. You just can’t beat that!
