Why Social Media is Important for SEO

The rise of social media is not only influencing how people are using the web and connecting online, but it also has an impact on search engine optimisation (SEO). The principles of SEO haven’t really changed that much over the years: a well designed site with keyword research built in, useful & high quality content, regular updates etc. However there are external factors which also influence a website’s rankings and this is where things are changing.

Years ago, just submitting your site to a few directories or exchanging links could help influence rankings, but these techniques don’t really work any more. The way links affect rankings is changing and this now has to be considered a major part of SEO.The diagram below may help explain.

Social media plays its part in several ways:

Links from sites where you have a profile, which can be optimised.
Links from blogs and other communities where you participate.
Endorsement of your website/business from other sites and communities. This gives your site an element of trust which search engines look for.
Social media activities are now integrated into search results, so your business could get found via your social media activity within a search.
All online marketing activities contribute towards a website’s optimisation, e.g online PR, article marketing, blogging. Social media is no different and should be included in your online marketing mix.
Social media raises the profile of your business which is important for recognition & branding, leading to more sales and enquiries.
The search engines monitor everything you do to promote yourself and this is being increasingly included in the main search results, particularly on Google who now draws in results from a variety of media such as blogs, videos, images and ‘tweets’.

It’s important that social media isn’t seen as a separate activity but has to be included within your marketing mix, contributing towards the visibility of your website and those all important leads and sales.

For more on this please read our post ‘SEO Gets Social‘

Please let us know what you include in your marketing mix and how you make everything you do work together!