It has been officially confirmed by Google and Bing that they will consider social signals for ranking websites and the impact of social media on search rankings is clearly visible.
However, some social media mistakes not only reduce SEO impact, but can affect your online reputation too.
Avoid these at all costs.
3 Social Media Mistakes to Avoid (for SEO and other reasons)
1. Using Social Media Because Everyone Else Is
This means you most likely have a Twitter/Facebook/Google+ account, but minimal or even zero activity. The aim of social media is to engage with your community/customers which translates into SEO benefits either due to immediate traffic surge (because people are clicking through to read your content) or due to future guest blogging opportunities with valuable back links. Random posts will not help. A dedicated social media strategy is essential for maximizing SEO benefits from social media.
2. Using Social Media as a Promotional Tool
OK, you are not making the first mistake. You are active on social media, constantly sharing posts and information. Only everything you share on social media points to one person – you.
Social media is not a promotional tool, it is (surprise, surprise) a social tool to establish relationships. No one likes people tooting their own trumpets (do you) and you may find strangely that your posts are not being shared and your fans/followers are not increasing.
Use social media to add value to the community. Engage meaningfully with others, share valuable information, offer to help, share other peoples’ posts and you will find them returning the favor. Eventually the SEO benefits will be seen.
But the bigger benefit is you have earned the goodwill of your peers and increased your credibility.
3. Using Social Media in Isolation (Without Great Content)
For maximum SEO benefits from social media, you can’t let content take a backseat. We eventually come back to ‘content is king’. The fact is only great content will be shared across social media, can go viral, will be mentioned by authority figures in your niche, all of which are precisely the social signals Google and Bing are considering.
Besides, great content reinforces your credibility in the niche and takes you one step closer to becoming an authority yourself. And we all know that domain authority is an important search algorithm.
So what social media mistakes have you learned from? Do share in the comments.
