Small Business Guide: 5 Quick Social SEO Wins

There are multiple modules that can build up the growth of an Inbound Marketing* strategy, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one process that affects the visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine’s organic search results.

“Social SEO” refers to the crossover between SEO and social media and the purpose of it is to use social media to improve the search engine rankings of your business. It might sound complicated but basically SEO is all about optimizing content—whether it’s on your website or on a social media platform—in order to appear higher in search rankings.

Here are 5 uncomplicated Social SEO tips you can easily implement immediately:

1. Optimize your social media profiles

The key to an SEO-friendly social media profile is to be as descriptive as possible. Always fill out the ‘About’ or ‘Information’ sections of any social media platform. Use words or phrases that describe your business and which people would use to search your products and services.

For example, to optimize your Facebook Page for local searches, it is very important to include your address, city, state, and zip code. Also include your website link in your profile pages.

Insider Tip: The ‘Category’ field is often over looked on Facebook Pages but is important for Facebook mobile searches. Check to make sure your business is listed in the correct category while editing your basic information.

2. Optimize your social media content/updates

To optimize your social content, always include some of the relevant search keywords you have determined for your business in your Facebook updates, tweets, pin descriptions etc. It is important to remember to share content from your website or blog socially to give it an SEO boost too. Sharing new content on Twitter is especially important because it helps Google index it faster.

Insider Tip: Use your business’s name in your social posts. This helps Google associate the keywords you use to describe your business with your business’s name.

3. Make social sharing easy

A key factor in SEO is link building. Simply put, this means having good website-to-website relationships through links. When you have more quality sites linking to your website (inbound) and you are linking to other quality websites (outbound), the more authoritative Google determines your website to be.

Social signals like ‘likes’, comments, +1s, repins, retweets all play into the weight given to your links. If you create content people want to share, you can create more inbound links. ‘Content’ doesn’t always have to be as elaborate as a blog post or whitepaper, content can also refer to tweets or Facebook posts as well. By posting engaging social content, you’re improving your SEO value.

Insider Tip: A more advanced way to increase shares is to add social share buttons to individual pieces of content on your website or blog.

4. Sign up in Google+ and spend 10-minutes on it everyday

No one loves Google+ more than Google. Set up a Google+ Business Page and complete as many fields as you can in the ‘About’ section using keywords that describe your business. Google also allows you to add several customized links within your profile, so you can use this as an opportunity to link back to your website, blog, and additional social channels. By spending 10 minutes a day sharing your content to your Google+ page, you are more likely to appear within Google’s search engine results page.

5. Create a Google+ local listing

According to Google, 97% of consumers search for local businesses online. In order to perform well in local search results, you should set up a Google+ page for your business. The contact information allows customers to easily connect with your business’s physical location. Update the details about your business—address, phone number, hours etc.—and you are good to go!

Insider Tip: Be sure to keep your information up-to-date on Facebook too—it helps.

* Inbound marketing is a form of digital marketing that involves SEO, Social Media, blog and landing pages to generate sales leads.