Millions of people use platforms like Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, and Instagram. Although social media doesn't directly influence Google's search algorithms, they can still have an indirect impact on search results.
According to a Google statement from 2014, Facebook and Twitter pages are treated like any other page in their web index. However, there are no specific signals from these platforms that directly influence Google's ranking algorithms.
Despite the lack of direct correlation between SEO and social media, the latter can indirectly influence a website's position in search results. Many experts have observed how a strong social media presence can contribute to the success of SEO campaigns.
These platforms not only enable maintaining contact with existing customers but also provide ways to connect with new ones, as many users, after conducting a Google search, delve deeper by seeking information on social media.
While not directly influencing search engine rankings, social media serve as a means to gauge interest and appreciation for content through likes, comments, views, and shares. These signals contribute to brand awareness, engagement, and increased traffic to the website.
A significant advantage of using social media is their ability to make content go viral, reaching a vast audience. Statistics show a continuous increase in the time users spend on social media, indicating that people are increasingly using social platforms as their primary source of information about brands and products. Additionally, a strong social media presence contributes to higher customer loyalty and conversion rates.
Just like with websites, it's crucial to create high-quality content for social media profiles by analyzing, planning, and implementing a targeted strategy to achieve specific goals, such as increasing sales or acquiring new customers.
The social media content strategy should follow several key steps:
1. Identify the target audience: before planning anything, it's essential to identify the target audience. This step is crucial for adopting the best communication strategy and creating targeted content to convert the audience into buyers.
2. Select the most suitable platforms: it's not necessary to be present on all available social media platforms. It's preferable to carefully choose the platforms that best suit the target audience and goals and consistently work on them.
3. Content creation: after defining the target audience and platforms, proceed with content creation. This phase is crucial to offer followers a pleasant and interesting experience, thus helping to maintain and increase the number of followers.
4. Post description: the post description should be well-crafted, considering the target audience and using appropriate language. Using keywords and hashtags is essential to integrate SEO and social media, increasing the post's visibility.
5. Engage with users: monitoring social signals such as likes, comments, and shares is important. Responding to users' questions and requests, interacting with them, and managing reactions contribute to maintaining an effective presence on social media.
6. Organize a social media planner: Creating a structured calendar allows planning the publication of interesting and diversified content over time. This practice ensures that each post has a specific purpose, always offering something new and valuable to users.
Furthermore, the centrality of keywords should not be ignored, as they are fundamental for distinguishing and identifying a website. Accurate keyword research is one of the most important activities for SEO. Additionally, link building has emerged as a key aspect, contributing to improving the site's authority in the eyes of Google through meaningful connections. Blogs provide an ideal platform to address various topics and are an ideal place to use keywords and implement link building strategies. Collaboration among professionals has been highlighted as crucial for successfully addressing the various facets of optimization.
In conclusion, although social media doesn't directly influence ranking, their strong presence can contribute to bolstering SEO efforts, gradually building a powerful brand identity and promoting the relevance and authority of the site. SEO is a constantly evolving discipline that requires continuous commitment; therefore, it's important to continue studying and adapting to the changing dynamics of Google's algorithm and online search practices.