Social networking is a massive part of how people interact online these days, and it’s also the starting point for many people who dictates the content they will consume on the internet. In SEO, social media is a powerful tool, not just to showcase your content, but also to raise your authority in search engines like Google.
In the early days of social networking, site owners could easily raise their search rankings by saturating social media through purchase of social bookmarks, back links, posts, or even through paid twitter followers. Google and other search providers have caught up to these practices though, making social media less lucrative for those looking for a quick buck, but ever more useful for quality content providers who want to grow their business through sustainable SEO practices.
Page ranking and authority will come naturally, the main way that you should look at social networking, is as a showcase for your work. Quality articles will receive shares, likes, reposts and retweets, raising your profile with your audience. The first part of your job, is to get your content out there, and understanding the main social networks is the first step in gaining that exposure.
- Facebook. Facebook is not only the largest social network in the world (with almost 1 billion unique users), it’s also one of the best networks for sharing your content. The reason for this is that Facebook penetrates all demographics in the market. Social shares from Facebook allow you to penetrate large groups, making it impossible to ignore when thinking about SEO.
- Twitter. Another heavy hitter, Twitter works a little differently to Facebook. Twitter is all about quick consumption and building a buzz. Promoting your content through twitter can get people talking about you, and with hashtags it’s incredibly easy to see exactly what kind of impact you’re making on the social scene. Twitter can lead to increased traffic to your site, and an increased awareness of your business with consumers.
- Google +. Smaller than Facebook and not as popular with the 18 – 25 year old demographic, Google + is still a killer network to use for social networking based SEO. The biggest advantage of Google + is that it’s already within the Google ecosystem. So while it might not build the same buzz as networks like Facebook and Twitter, google plus sharing actually helps you get indexed quicker, and can aid in raising your page ranking.
There’s no real ‘secret’ to SEO, and you will find yourself relying on a number of tools and practices to get your pages the most exposure possible, while heading for that coveted number one spot. Utilizing social media is just one of the ways in which you can get exposure and gain search rankings, but above all, these networks are valuable marketing tools, and the simple value of sharing and having your content seen can never be ignored.
