How to Effectively Leverage Social Media for SEO

It would be a lie to say social media has no leverage on earning higher conversions and sounder profits.
But to some, social media has become a passing marketing interest that is often sidelined in online marketing trends. Over expectation, abuse of social media channels, and lack of creative ideas have taken a toll on the Internet’s champion platform. To this day, however, the benefits of social media marketing are irrefutable.
Companies that have properly incorporated social media streams for their marketing practices have come to realize its unlimited potential in SEO link building. According to a survey conducted by Hubspot in 2014, 92 percent of marketers claimed great success in various businesses through social media marketing, 80 percent of which was increased traffic to their website. In this article, we will discuss the how online marketing experts can leverage social media for increased link building.
Why Link Building on Social Media Works?
An overwhelming percentage of Internet users from around the globe spend hours each day browsing Facebook pages, engaging in Twitter debates and scrolling their Instagram feed.
Others might be looking for jobs on LinkedIn and searching for DIY videos on YouTube and Pinterest. These millions of users are the unattended and can become potential customers through proper publicizing and direction to website pages. According to the latest survey by eMarketer, it was revealed the social media advertising sector might jump to $35.98 billion in 2017 globally. It has also come to light that, since 2015, users are spending the majority of their time on mobile applications rather than interacting with other technologies such as television, desktop or even radio like they used to. Among the leaders of social media advertising are the U.S. and Canada, which spend the most on social media networks for paid marketing.
This is attributed to the changing behavioral trends of Internet users, which gives link builders a solid ground to cultivate the seeds of their marketing through user interacting and exposure to content. By far, this practice is the easiest and most effective of various social media streams.
Top Social Media Platforms Used for Link Building
One thing all social media platforms have in common, is they facilitate new connections such as friends, family, and co-workers. This is where a brand steps in to blend with the target audience and expose its products and services. However, in order reach out to the buyer niche, a brand must build a strong relationship with the users and learn about their preferences before ultimately using them to collect leads.
Here are the leading social media networks that vastly contribute link building for brands:
1. Facebook
The latest statistics confirm that Facebook, along with other prime apps such as Instagram and Messenger, take approximately 50 minutes at least of an average online user’s time each day. When conversions can take as low as a second, just imagine what 50 minutes could be worth. It’s enough to help users understand how useful your link is to them and why they must buy from you. Through your very own brand page, you can easily magnetize relevant users and collect leads by sharing interesting content with them. With a ton of other features and functionalities, Facebook is no doubt the king of social media networks when it comes to link building.
2. Twitter
Twitter is the second favorite platform due to the open interaction with celebrities and user savvy UI. It won’t be surprising to know that more than 500 million people use Twitter to share their statuses (tweets) with their contacts/connections. But when it comes to advertising, Twitter is all about its minimalistic design that allows fast updates and explosive engagement. Marketers must keep their tweets brief to qualify for posting. To get the most out of their target audience, there are several applications available that allow social media executives to fish out the potential users from the niche, interact with them and make them their followers through interesting posts and helpful content from your timeline.
3. Pinterest
Compared to other social media steams that rely on vigorous engagement to create online buzz, Pinterest works as a distribution channel for creative content. Due to its limitations, marketers often sideline its use in link building. But those who have used this platform can vouch for the true value it has to offer. Pinterest is a hub where communities of DIY, art, fashion, cooking and other desires gather. This is also the reason why users on Pinterest are mainly female, from students, to mothers, to older women.
This makes Pinterest a goldmine for fashion and lifestyle brands to pitch in and introduce their innovations and ideas by showcasing products in ‘Pins.’ This not only allows marketers to link back users to their website but also generate onsite engagement to create long-term followers. Since Pinterest is a visual-centric channel that mostly communicates through images, videos, and GIFs, its best to get your content in at least HD.
4. Google+
Google+ has a truckload of marketing potential, but it came a little later than its peers and did not get the response it had hoped for from Internet users. Most users were not inclined to try the new social media network, while others abandoned it after finding it difficult to use. With time, users joined its fold and discovered its unique advertising potential, which grew after its release in 2011.
Google+ gathers users through circles that allows marketers to share content and give immediate exposure to their products and services, building links and converting customers. One of the greatest holds it has over other social media networks is that it is intertwined with Google+ Authorship making it highly accurate for search purposes. If there were a litmus test to identify a competent SEO resource, it would be to find out if he/she is using Google+ to get valuable links and follow backs.
5. LinkedIn
Among professionals, LinkedIn comes as the most widely used social media platform. Its primary purpose is making connections with workmates and professionals while searching for other opportunities in the industry. A huge percentage of Internet users are also hooked up with LinkedIn: somewhere above 200 million.
However, when advertising your brand and products, caution must be taken so your website remains safe and your paid campaigns don’t spiral into a costly catastrophe. If you abuse your account or are viewed as a spammer, it won’t be good for your LinkedIn presence and you might even be banned. According to the annual B2B Content Marketing report of 2014 presented by Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs, an astounding 91 percent of B2B content marketers used LinkedIn for link building practices and distributing content.
Create Social Media Worthy Content
To create content, social media marketers must also learn how to effectively spread it. One of the fundamentals in SEO link building is managing an expansive network for inbound links. Each time a user links to a brand’s website, the trust factor increases and the brand get more attention through Google. This makes social media unrivaled for cranking-up links.
Keep Content Unique
The key is to think of articles, blogs and other forms of copy when writing content for social media networks. Take innovation from instructional videos, witty GIFs and even infographics because who doesn’t love statistics? Aside from that, marketers must also practice care when publishing content. Capitalize on early or late afternoons to get the best numbers in terms of views and clicks. In the long term, you will come to reap the benefits of SEO even after the social media shelf life has perished.
Get Your Meta Tag Game Up
Meta tags have always retained their place in SEO. They help identify why a page is special while making it crawlable for search engines. But how can meta tags benefit in social media? When websites are posted or shared, these meta titles and descriptions are displayed by Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and similar social media channels. On particular instances, these meta tags can be the only opportunity to interact with potential customers. Meta descriptions and meta titles have some specific requirements as well. To be precise, meta titles are 65 characters or less, while meta descriptions can be up to 150 characters. This gives sufficient room to concisely describe the existence of the webpage and its purpose. To get the best out of your meta tags, we highly recommend getting them done by a professional content writer for more appeal.
Develop a Blog
Starting a blog on the brand’s business website is imperative and also a complimenting element for social media posting. Marketers do this by adding a few content pieces and circulating them through your social media profiles. After moving at a steady pace, blogs can be updated regularly to build links daily. Share them with proper optimization for maximum visibility and click worth. If everything goes swimmingly, followers will share your links not only in their timelines, but on other media streams, forums and blogs.
Google +
Google+ is highly recommended for blogging since it has specialized features for social media outreach and marketing. Another great benefit is that Google+ automatically embeds a fresh piece of content in e-mail marketing campaigns when marketers send it to their Gmail users. This is why blogging straight you’re your Google+ profile is recommended. That being said, make use of the latest trends and news topics for relevant blog entries to increase awareness in your e-mail marketing efforts.
Use Engaging Topics
Social media serves as the missing link to commerce and commune, so marketers must utilize it by connecting users to real issues and giving them real solutions. What are the five secrets of business success through community? What Technologies benefit people’s lives the most? Which 10 things should online users be careful about? These are some good examples of blog ideas which today’s audience appreciates.
Don’t Underestimate Local Media
SEO and social media campaigns are incomplete without positive media coverage from local streams. Thanks to technology, the majority of media outlets have made a habit of posting their stories online which can then be linked to brand social media accounts. Using the power of news reports, marketers can educate their audience and increase credibility through shares, stronger signals, and enhanced rankings.
Once marketers are successful in that, journalists, bloggers and media outlets will pick up the scent and cover localized issues with time. An idea worth pitching is all it takes to position a brand in the interest of people’s welfare and safety – something local media perpetually thirst for.
Specialize Your Efforts
With the abundance of social media streams, prioritizing one as a signature account is a sound technique. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and Snapchat are some of the many channels available, which provide their unique functionalities and advantages for use.
Talking from what experts have to share, the right approach is a focus-oriented one. Instead of intensively diversifying your efforts and taking every platform into the flow, choose one or two channels to concentrate resources toward the most beneficial choices. Diversifying does increase outreach, but it compromises quality to an extent. SEO through social media is a continuous effort and managing even one social media platform requires investing resources to a vast extent.
Conclusion
Finally, it all comes down to how a social media marketer tends to build a relationship with his/her target audience. Although Google has somewhat lesser interest in crawling incoming links from social media, the bulk of traffic pouring in from social media streams such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and Pinterest, etc. is undoubtedly a fertile ground to cultivate conversions. Its potential is remarkable, especially for newly established businesses that plan to grow continuously and at a rapid pace. However, abusing social media into spamming can also cost marketers and their clients dearly. The goal is to interact with the audience and give them solutions worth their time. If you get that right with the help of these tips we have shared, your social media use will only increase, and unlimited backlinks will be earned.

Asad Ali is an expert in SEO with an extensive experience of seven years in digital marketing with GO-Gulf web design Dubai – A custom Web development company offering its services in multiple spectrums. You can reach him on LinkedIn.The post How to Effectively Leverage Social Media for SEO appeared first on SiteProNews.
Source: Site Pro News
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