Social Media and SEO: How to Use Social Media to Boost SEO

Consider, for a moment, that you run a bakery specializing in gluten-free treats. It's a small business, and you wish to grow your customer base. So you decide to create an attractive Instagram profile, include a bakery dictionary in your bio and use hashtags like #glutenfreebaking to market your products. And this leads to your bakery experiencing a surge of new customers and soaring sales. Now, that’s the power of social media and SEO trends working together harmoniously for your business.

Surveys suggest that 43% of consumers use social media platforms to discover products, making them powerful search engines. But what does this mean for your business?  

The answer is quite simple. Leverage the space to boost SEO strategically by using social media to connect with your target audience, drive organic traffic to your website and ultimately improve your conversion rates. 

Interest piqued? Keep reading to understand how you can raise your ranking through the powerful integration of social media and SEO. We’ll be covering what social media SEO is exactly, seven strategies to excel at it and the go-to platforms you can leverage in this domain. 

What is social media SEO? 

Social media SEO is the practice of optimizing your social media presence (bio, content, follow links, etc.) to improve ranking and visibility in social media searches and search engine results.  

While social media doesn't directly impact your Google ranking, the buzz you create on social platforms can influence your website's SEO performance. It can enhance organic traffic, time on site and user engagement. So, while social SEO is connected to traditional SEO, they differ in many aspects.  

Let's see how: 

Learn More: Expert Tips to Drive Organic Growth on Social Media 

How does social media impact SEO? 

Social media and SEO follow a virtuous cycle — they drive cross-channel visibility and lead generation — even though social media signals aren't directly factored into Google's search engine ranking algorithm.  Social SEO and search engine traffic are both integral components of forward-thinking marketing strategies. Here's how: 

1. Improves visibility: Good social media and expert authority also align well with Google’s expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness (EAT) guidelines, helping your web/blog pages stand out in the top 10 SERPs. 
     
2. Increases engagement: Building momentum and visibility through social SEO can improve the traffic engagement you get via search engines through social signals (like, shares, reposts, etc.). Strong social media profiles with relevant content attract followers to all your other pages and assets, establishing you as a domain expert and boosting organic traffic from people who are genuinely interested in your offerings. 
    
3. Improves ranking: Heightened traffic prompts search engine crawlers to visit your page(s) more frequently, resulting in quicker content indexing. Moreover, it is more likely to be shared and linked, creating valuable backlinks that enhance your website's ranking in search results. 
    
4. Feeds sales funnel: Engaging and bite-sized SEO-optimized content on social media keeps your audience hooked, fills your social media marketing funnel and reinforces brand relevance. A win-win for your online presence! 

Read More: How to Create Social Media Marketing Funnel in Just 7 Steps 

Look at Lola Bakare, for instance. She started be/co for purpose-driven marketing and has carved a niche for herself on LinkedIn. Her thought-provoking content on responsible marketing showcases her expertise and builds trust with potential clients.  

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Plus, her optimized page bio, with clear contact details and a website link, makes it easy for clients to connect with her company for consultations. 

7 social media SEO strategies for 2024 

A thoughtfully curated Instagram or Facebook post could very well be your golden ticket to landing on the first page of Google searches. If you’re wondering how, let’s dive into these seven impactful social media strategies that’ll help boost your SEO. 

1. Focus on local SEO 

You want your business to be the top choice for anyone seeking the services you offer in your area. And that’s where local SEO kicks in.  Engage in local SEO by embedding your NAP (name, address and phone number) at your website footer, social media profiles and any location page to establish proximity with the searcher. To leverage socials for local SEO, you need to: 

1. Think global, act local: If you are sponsoring a local event that your audience might be interested in, use the event hashtag to get in front of others.  
2. Leverage searchable maps: Promote your business on Instagram’s searchable maps by adding location stickers to your stories and location tags or hashtags to your posts. This will make your content more discoverable under the “Places” search tab. This way, you can nudge a greater number of users to click and visit your social page and website. 
   
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3. Infuse local elements: Embed your Facebook content, paid ads and organic posts with local elements. Highlight your city, neighborhood or specific landmarks in your area. Combine Facebook’s "Book Now" feature with local SEO to ensure your leads are solid and convertible.  
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4. Seek reviews: Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews on Facebook. These reviews build trust and can appear in Google search results, influencing local searches and driving conversions. 
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5. Target keywords with geographic intent: For instance, if you run a boutique in London, consider creating a landing page with the keywords "best-boutique-in-london" or "fashion-clothes-in-london" and sharing it on your socials. The goal? Acquire backlinks while promoting your brick-and-mortar store to the local audience. 

💡 Pro Tip: It may be difficult for your brand’s teams to target a local region efficiently when they’re dispersed all across the globe. But this is where Sprinklr’s Distributed Marketing Platform can bring everyone together. This tool:

• Enhances performance through location-specific insights on performance, trends, sentiment and competitor benchmarking 
• Improves collaboration between local and global teams through live chat, lead assignment, escalation support, campaign subscription and more 

2. Repurpose content for ranking  

While every sales funnel stage has its challenges, adapting to various customer journeys and social media trends rather than changing your entire content strategy is essential. Here's what you can do: 

1. Identify high-performing content outside of social: Google Analytics (GA) has your back here!  
   Login to your Google Analytics (GA) account.  Tap Behavior >> Site Content >> All Pages.  Filter by Page Views to get the list of the most popular web pages on your website to figure out which content is getting the most traffic.  And based on this information, tailor your other content in accordance with what’s raking in the views.  Source
2. Track social mentions: Employ social listening to track brand and keyword mentions across social media platforms and pay attention to the context. Are users asking questions, seeking solutions or simply expressing positive feelings? Based on user intent, repurpose your content to suit the themes and platforms.  

💡 Pro Tip: Find out what type of content is resonating with your audience the best by using Sprinklr’s social listening tool to refine your content strategy. With it, you can: 

• Tap into billions of customer conversations across 30+ social and digital channels to uncover the top themes of discussion around brands and the top words of discussion around specific topics to create more current, relevant content 
• Compare the social performance of your posts and your brand’s share of voice against competitors across multiple social channels 
• Perform sentiment analysis to accurately capture how users feel about your product or brand (positive, negative or neutral) 

 
START REDEFINING YOUR CONTENT FOR IMPACTFUL SEO NOW 

Deep Dive: Why Social Mentions Matters for Brands (+ how to use them) 

3: Integrate long-tail keywords  

Unlike broad keywords with high search volume but low conversion rates (e.g., "running shoes"), long-tail keywords use more specific phrases with lower search volume but higher intent (e.g., "running shoes for women above 50").  
 
Users searching for long-tail keywords are typically closer to making a purchase or seeking specific information. So they are crucial to your sales funnel. Explore how you can integrate long-tail keywords into your socials to boost SEO by:  

1. Leveraging tools: To map the right long-tail keywords, combine UberSuggest, Keyword Sheeter and a little bit of social media brainstorming. Export them into your Google Keyword Planner and estimate traffic as well as keyword difficulty. Additionally, install the SEOQuake Chrome extension to double-check. 
    
2. Embrace specificity: Instead of a generic bio like "Marketing Consultant," use a long-tail, keyword-rich description like "Helping B2B businesses grow leads through data-driven social media marketing strategies." 
    
3. Get interactive: Create social media polls, quizzes or live Q&A sessions that use long-tail keywords within the prompts, descriptions or questions. Take the case of Sephora. In this post, they used keywords such as "Hispanic community," "policy analysis" and "community service" to drive traffic and generate interest.
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4. Leverage SEO captions: Weave relevant long-tail keywords into your captions to increase content discoverability. For example, your e-commerce clothing brand can use Instagram Stories with keywords like "summer dresses" or "floral prints." 

Related Read: Comprehensive Guide on Social Media Content Creation 

4: Capitalize on backlinking      

Google relies heavily on backlinking to determine domain authority and overall ranking. This holds true even on the first page, where results typically have 3.8 times more backlinks than those on the second page. Here’s how you can improve backlinks to boost SEO on platforms like LinkedIn:   

1. Run link-building campaigns: Use Ahrefs to identify viral content and backlink it to promote it further. Apply Backlinko's Brian Dean’s famous skyscraper technique. That is, create content superior to current high-ranking pieces to obtain their backlinks and outrank them in the search engine results pages (SERPs). 
2. Tap broken links: You can also identify broken links on relevant Wikipedia pages within your niche and contact the page editors with your high-quality content as a potential replacement. 

5: Stay updated with trends  

Whether it’s short videos or meme campaigns, trends reveal user sentiment and audience interests. Here are some tips to uncover impactful trends for your brand: 

1. Activate alerts: Personalize your news stream and get instant notifications on what's happening in your industry. Feedly can do that for you. Additionally, use Google Alerts to identify trends relevant to your niche. Experiment with AI desktop extensions to customize your feed, scan headlines and identify relevant articles. Simply define the topics you want to track and adjust the frequency of alerts to fit your requirements.  
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2. Join online communities: Connect with Discord channels and Reddit threads to understand the pulse of your industry. Look beyond mainstream avenues, like LinkedIn, to find communities that cater to sub-niche segments. For instance, Superpath’s Slack channel is the place for social media marketers to hang out. Join such communities to stay on top of trends. 
    
3. Use platform features: Instagram’s "Explore" section is valuable for discovering trends. Search for terms and hashtags relevant to your audience or keywords your competitors target to fetch a niche audience. Also, if you want to ace your social media game further, check out our dedicated guide on hashtags. 

💡 Pro Tip: Knowing what’s trending across the globe through the news is one thing, but keeping track of it in real time is another. And if you want to be in the know of trends as they unfold, then using Sprinklr’s social media management solution can make all the difference. This tool not only keeps you in the loop of trends as they happen, but it also analyzes those trends based on brand, country, topic and severity. What’s more, its topic-based listening capability brings you specific, actionable and current insights about your brand, customers, industry and more. 

DISCOVER WHAT’S TRENDING RIGHT NOW

6: Increase organic CTR with paid ads  

Organic click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of searchers who see your listing and choose to click through. A higher CTR means more website visitors, translating into more leads and, ultimately, more revenue. To leverage paid social media advertising:  

1. Run A/B tests: A/B test your paid ads’ headlines, visuals and messaging on social media. Translate those winning elements into your search titles and meta descriptions. You can try Sprinklr AI+ to generate great headlines for your marketing copy.
    
2. Use Google Analytics: Identify your top-performing assets and tailor your ad copy to match platform specifications and user intent through Google Analytics 4. For instance, if your ebook on e-commerce holiday marketing is already ranking well, create paid ads like "Limited Time Offer: Free E-book Revealing 5 Hacks to Increase Holiday Sales by 30%." 

7: Don’t forget technical SEO 

What happens when a user bounces from your social media profile link to your website, and the page is not loading? Social media traffic won't help if your website isn't optimized for user experience. Here's how you can fix common SEO issues that can impact your conversion rates: 

1. Leverage analytics: Use Google's free PageSpeed Insights tool to assess your website's loading speed. You can also enable gzip compression to load your code faster.  
2. Optimize your website: For optimal search engine visibility, maintain a flat website structure — ensuring any page on your website can be accessed within 3 clicks from the homepage.  
3. Activate lazy loading: Your website is visually heavy? Use lazy loading to delay the loading of images that take time to render on the screen until the user needs to see that particular bit. Upon user arrival, this feature loads specific webpage elements that are essential and stays the non-essential bits till required, and it prevents buffering due to heavy frontend elements. 
4. Use rel-canonical tags: Remove duplicate content from your website with rel-canonical tags, which inform Google’s crawlers that another page is the source of the master copy on a particular page. This way, you can show Google your original pages when you are A/B testing with website content.  

4 best social media platforms for SEO 

Want to climb the search engine ladder? Check out the top social media platforms that can help improve your SEO:   

YouTube  

With a staggering 2.5 billion monthly active users, YouTube is the second-largest search engine globally. This makes it an SEO powerhouse for businesses looking to reach a massive audience. Here’s how YouTube can elevate your video SEO strategy: 

1. Enhances discoverability: Viewers are twice as likely to purchase a product after seeing it on YouTube. With 27.92% of mobile SERPs in the US containing a video, leveraging them into your SEO strategy boosts your discoverability.  
2. Promotes backlinks: YouTube is a backlink magnet, and it can be used to feature your videos in guest blogs or vice versa. 
3. Supports local SEO: YouTube SEO can help you stand out in local SEO searches through the optimization of meta descriptions and long-tail video keywords.  

Instagram  

Did you know that 70% of shoppers use Instagram to decide on their next purchase? This makes the platform highly relevant to your SEO plans. Here, you should examine how to: 

1. Use visual elements: Image-focused search and visual storytelling instantly attract users. The more aesthetic your Instagram profile is, the higher the CTR to your website link.  
2. Interact to win: The platform builds higher engagement through Stories, Reels, Instagram Live and polls.  
3. Leverage platform features: Instagram's shoppable post and story features seamlessly connect users from social discovery to product purchases on your website. 

Learn More: Social Media for Ecommerce: How to Stand Out From the Competition  

Pinterest

With 518 million monthly active users, Pinterest thrives on aesthetic, niche content catering to specific user interests. Here's why Pinterest should be a key player in your SEO strategy: 

1. Offers higher ROAS: Pinterest advertising has a 2X higher return on ad spend for retail brands than other social media platforms, so you can drive sales without breaking the bank. 
2. Streamlines buyer journey: A whopping 55% of users turn to the platform for shopping. Shoppable pins on Pinterest directly connect users with visually captivating content to product pages. 
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3. Supports mapping for enhanced discoverability: The platform helps you map brand taglines and offerings to keywords your target audience uses. Use these keywords to create Pinterest boards for easier brand discoverability.  

LinkedIn  

LinkedIn's power isn't just its size; it's who's on it. It connects you with the business world, from industry experts to potential investors. Here's why this platform stands out: 

1. Provides social proof: The platform delivers social proof through recommendations, endorsements and reviews on your profile. Positive feedback speaks volumes here, and clients trust you more as a consequence.
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2. Showcases thought leadership: LinkedIn’s algorithms reward posts that showcase your expertise. To differentiate your voice on the platform, use a mix of thought-leadership, educational and promotional content.  

Read More: 10+ Ideas for Social Media Posts That Move the Needle 

How do you integrate SEO and social media into your marketing strategy? 

SEO and social media are a winning team and not solo acts. Let's see how you can consolidate the two in your online marketing strategy: 

1. Populate with keywords: Integrate your hero keywords in social media posts. This increases your content's discoverability across search engines and social media feeds. 
2. Offer cross-platform sharing options: Share your blog posts, articles or landing pages with attention-grabbing captions on your social media platforms. You can additionally leverage social sharing buttons on your website to expand your reach and potentially drive organic traffic back to your website. 
3. Interact with viewers: Actively engage with your audience by responding to comments, participating in relevant discussions and building relationships with your followers.  

Social media and SEO with Sprinklr Social 

With over 5 billion users as of now, social media is booming. However, managing and monitoring SEO content across platforms and tracking its performance can be overwhelming. Sprinklr Social takes this load off your shoulders by automating social media management with its AI-powered platform and actionable data insights that are garnered from across 30+ digital channels.  With it, you can also schedule social media posts, analyze the traction of each post and run ROI-informed campaigns from a single, intuitive platform. This way, you won’t need to toggle between apps and waste resources and energy.  Want to see how Sprinklr can optimize your social media content so it lands on the first page of search engines?