Is social media the most important task in search engine optimization?

Many SEO experts have been wondering why is social media so essential to search engine optimization? We can clearly see how the Internet is shifting from search to social because nowadays more and more people find information through social networking websites rather than traditional search. People can make the difference between high and low quality content better than machines. But social media has an even bigger role in the SEO strategy because now search engines are taking many social media signals into account when ranking pages. Some studies have even tried to prove that Google is using these social media signals to affect rankings. That means that the search engine now also looks at your tweets and likes to determine rankings, instead of just looking at your PageRank and backlinks. 

 Some people even go that far as to think that social media is the most important task in SEO, while others believe they can have a successful business without being active on all those social networks and keeping their SEO strategy just the way it is. The truth is the answer is somewhere in between. For a really successful SEO strategy you need to put time and effort in both your SEO practices and social media presence. Just think about how Facebook changed with all the Like, Share or Comment buttons and how Google became social with their +1 button. 

If you’re still not convinced that you need to find your way through all those social networking website, I’m going to show you why social media is good for your SEO strategy: 

Social media is free

For any other SEO practice you’ll need a budget (sometime a really large budget), but social media is free and I hope it will always be that way (Just how Facebook declared: “Sign Up, It's free and always will be”). It’s really easy to make and manage your accounts and you don’t even have to be active on all those social networks. Use and take advantage of only the best of them: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Youtube should be on top of your list.

Social media grows awareness

Social media is great for building brand awareness: it’s the best choice to get your company name in front of people’s eyes. You can use promotions and giveaways to connect with a large number of online users, or you can create contest to increase engagement of your audience (people actually doing something or joining the discussion). 

Social media connects you with the right people 

And even more than that, social hubs help you maintain the relationships you have formed. You can check people’s profiles and recent activity, you can send them your latest work or newest products and services, you can keep in touch with them.

 

 

Social media provides great customer services

Maintaining your social media network can have great benefits for your business because you get instant and free feedback: you’ll be able to fix any issues because your customers will ask questions, comment or express their opinion about your products and services at any given time. 

Social media can help you track and monitor your users

What can be more important that this great aspect? You have access to tons and tons of information about your followers, who they are, how did they found you, and so on. All these have a huge importance for your business, you can change your strategy and attract your audience based on this data.

Social media is good for your rankings

Did you know Google is getting better and better at recognizing your social signals? In other words, you’ll have great benefits if your content is being shared by people with authoritative profiles. Do you want to be found online and win in search indexing? Start creating high quality and sharable content, content is important in both SEO and social media alike.

                        

All these being said, I hope you’re now building your presence in the social media world! Good luck! I’ll be back soon with more tips on quality SEO!