Search engine optimization (SEO) and social media content are two ways to help people find you online. They’re each powerful options, but combined, they become even more useful.
SEO and social media naturally intersect more than you may realize. They tend to feed off each other, giving customers more ways to find and engage with you online. Use them strategically, and you can take advantage of both to drive more traffic, gain greater visibility, and dominate the digital landscape.
Keep reading to learn how you can combine SEO and social media management for a winning marketing strategy.
Contents:
The Connection Between SEO and Social Media
Benefits of Both Social Media and SEO in Marketing
Creating Content that Drives Both SEO and Social Media Results
Measuring Success: Metrics for Social Media SEO
5 Ways to Maximize SEO and Social Media
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Integrating SEO and Social Media
SEO and Social Media: Creating a Unified Marketing Strategy with Meltwater
The Connection Between SEO and Social Media
What is SEO and its relationship to social media? SEO and social media marketing seem like they exist in separate worlds, but they’re more interconnected than you might think.
With SEO, marketers use keywords and content to show up in relevant search results. The content aligns with the user’s search intent and helps drive traffic to the website. SEO optimized content is a big part of brand discovery and helps turn clicks and visitors into sales and other actions.
Social media works in a similar way. It’s heavy on discovery and relies on content to engage users in the moment. While users might not be actively looking for a brand’s content on social media, algorithms help the content to appear to users who are most likely to be interested in it.
Here’s the cool part:
Social media can send traffic to your website, which helps with SEO.
The more traffic you have, the higher quality you appear to search algorithms, which can encourage higher rankings.
Likewise, social media content can also appear in search results, increasing your brand awareness.
When you optimize your content with keywords, you can help your social content rank, just like a blog or website.
TIP: Check out our Social Media Management Toolkit for a wealth of resources to make your efforts more efficient and effective!
Benefits of Both Social Media and SEO in Marketing
Imagine this: You’ve optimized your website with all the right keywords. Your blog posts are ranking on the first page of search engines. You’re primed for solid organic traffic.
That’s great, but what if your audience isn’t just searching?
What if they’re also scrolling through Instagram, chatting on Facebook, or binge-watching TikToks?
That’s why SEO alone isn’t enough — you also need social media, and you can apply similar SEO practices to your social media management to make your content more “findable.”
There are plenty of benefits of both social media and SEO in marketing. Don’t think of them as separate players; they’re teammates with complementary strengths. They amplify each other to give you the greatest chances of being found by the right people by:
- Combining search and social boosts your content’s visibility
- Driving traffic both ways (website to social and social to website)
- Building brand authority by signaling a trusted, active brand
- Maximizing social trends to inform your SEO keyword strategy
- Building loyalty by directly engaging with customers on social, which can strengthen your overall online image
SEO brings people to your doorstep, while social media invites them inside. People have more ways to discover and engage with your brand so you can build on the successes of each.
Creating Content that Drives Both SEO and Social Media Results
Content strategies can be broad and varied, with some types better suited for search or social media than others. There are also multiple types of content that perform well for both, including:
- How-to guides and tutorials
- Listicles and round-ups
- Infographics
- Case studies and client success stories
- Timely and trending content
- Videos
- Quizzes and polls
- User-generated content, such as reviews
- Any type of evergreen content
- Behind-the-scenes content
- Brand stories
You can repurpose each of these types of content for other platforms. For example, your how-to guides and listicles might have a home on your website or blog. You can pull a snippet from this content to use as a social media post with a link driving people to the full content.
Or, you might screenshot a post from one social media channel to use as a post for another, like this example from Justin Welsh:
Some social media content ideas can give you even more mileage by starting in one format and turning into others. For example, you can turn your listicles into infographics, explainer videos, and polls.
By doing this, brands can capture attention from a broader audience that might have missed content on another channel.
TIP: Download our Ultimate Guide to AI for Social Media Management, full of practical tips and tricks to help you repurpose your marketing content for SEO and much more.
Measuring Success: Metrics for Social Media SEO
Social media and SEO each have unique metrics that will tell you how you’re performing. In a combined social media and SEO strategy, you’ll need to focus on a few key metrics that bridge the gap.
Organic traffic
Organic traffic shows how much of your website comes from search engines or direct inputs. When your social media content helps you earn backlinks and improve site authority, your organic traffic should increase, too.
Referral traffic
Referral traffic tracks how many visitors come to your website directly from social media. A good social media and SEO strategy will help you earn more website traffic from these sites.
Backlinks
High-quality backlinks are a major SEO ranking factor. Social media can help you earn them through shares, collaborations with influencers, and user-generated content. Use SEO tools like Ahrefs to track backlinks and see if they’re coming from social media campaigns.
Social signals
Every social media metric matters, but some carry more weight than others. For instance, engagements like likes, shares, retweets, and comments indicate people like your content and find it relatable.
These metrics aren’t direct ranking factors; however, they can increase visibility to drive more traffic (and traffic is a direct ranking factor).
Click-through rate
Click-through rate (CTR) measures how effective your social media posts are in sending visitors to your website. A low CTR could mean you need to work on your call to action.
Keyword rankings
As you drive more traffic to your optimized website content, your keyword rankings should also improve. Social media campaigns can help you win more keywords by creating buzz and traffic.
Conversion rate
Whether it’s signing up for a newsletter or downloading an ebook, conversions show how well your traffic is performing. Social media traffic that converts shows your content aligns with your audience.
Mobile vs. desktop traffic
One essential piece of SEO and social media marketing is checking traffic by device. Social media traffic is mobile-heavy, so an uptick in mobile users indicates your social media and SEO integration is paying off.
5 Ways to Maximize SEO and Social Media
To get the most out of social media marketing and SEO, you’ll need to treat them as two sides of the same coin. There’s quite a bit of overlap, so let’s look at some best practices that apply to both social media marketing and SEO.
1. Optimize your social media profiles
Your social media profiles are like your digital storefront. They need to look professional and branded, which means including key information that makes you easy to find.
Use your target keywords in your bio or about section. For instance, if you sell pet strollers, you can use phrases like “premium pet strollers” or “travel solutions for pets” in your bio. This not only tells visitors what you’re about but also helps search engines index your profiles.
Also, link to your website. You can drive traffic to a landing page to capture visitors who found you via social media.
2. Share SEO-optimized content on social media
You’ve done the hard work of optimizing content for your website. Now, get more eyes on it by sharing it on social media.
Sharing SEO content on social media will help you drive traffic and build on your existing optimizations. In theory, this can help you rank higher in less time.
Content that performs well in search can also shine on social media. When you create blog posts or videos, use keywords in the titles, captions, and descriptions when sharing on social platforms. These keywords help social algorithms understand what your content is about, improving your chances of showing up in users’ feeds.
3. Use alt text for social media
Alt text isn’t just for website images. It’s also important for social media, especially on image-heavy platforms like Instagram.
Adding descriptive alt text makes your content more accessible. It also helps search engines understand the content of your visuals.
For example, if you’re sharing a photo of a dog on a leash, your alt text could say “Golden retriever standing on a sidewalk wearing a red leash.”
Alt text not only boosts SEO but also improves the user experience. Some platforms automatically generate alt text, but it’s always better to write your own to be sure it’s accurate and relevant.
4. Post consistently
Regular posting is a must. Search and social algorithms favor brands that stay active and engage with followers.
Stick to a consistent schedule that matches your audience’s preferences. This might mean posting once a day on Instagram but only a few times a week on LinkedIn, for example.
Also, make sure you engage with your audience. Respond to comments, participate in discussions, and respond to direct messages promptly. This fosters community and boosts your profile’s visibility.
5. Monitor analytics and adjust your strategy
Combining SEO and social media takes practice. The only way to know if your efforts are paying off is to monitor your progress and adjust as you go.
It’s not enough to post content. You also need to track how it’s performing. Built-in social media analytics tools on Instagram, Facebook, and other channels can help you define what resonates with your audience. You can also use third-party social media management tools like Meltwater to gain deeper insights into your performance.
Find your top-performing content, then look for common denominators:
- Does your audience gravitate toward a specific type of content?
- Do they prefer static posts or videos?
- Do they like content on specific topics?
- Does a certain time of day get more engagements?
Keep experimenting to find what works. This will help you stay ahead of trends and keep your SEO and social media efforts aligned.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Integrating SEO and Social Media
We've talked a lot about what to do to combine SEO and social media. But there are a few missteps you also need to avoid.
Let’s review a few common mistakes in social media and SEO integration and what to do instead.
| The Problem | The Fix |
|---|---|
| Not treating social media and SEO as one and the same | SEO helps people find you; social media makes them care about you. Optimize your content for search but also make it engaging for social media |
| Ignoring keywords for social media posts | Social media channels use algorithms to learn about your content and show it to relevant audiences. Include keywords and hashtags in your posts to help algorithms understand your content |
| Posting without a clear strategy | Plan your content calendar around themes that tie into SEO keywords and business goals. Think of ways to create social posts around blogs and other SEO content. |
| Overloading with hashtags | Just like you should avoid keyword stuffing, you should also limit hashtag usage. Too many hashtags looks spammy and can harm engagement. |
