The Importance of Social Media in Local SEO

The Importance of Social Media in Local SEO

Let's face it. No matter how you feel about the emergence of social media, odds are that you have at least one social media account. Many people have more than one. This makes social media one of the most important platforms that you can use for your marketing efforts. However, there is a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it. Here is what you need to know about social media and how it relates to your SEO ranking.

The Three Legged Stool of SEO

Search engine optimization was originally all about the keyword and optimizing website around those keywords. However, the SEO of today looks vastly different. As websites began to diversify, quality became king over keywords and meta tags, making it necessary for them to develop new and better ways to differentiate themselves from each other and compete. Today's search engine optimization looks quite a bit different from the SEO of long ago and require website developers to coordinate on-page SEO activities such as keyword optimization and meta tag usage along with off page SEO activities such as creating quality backlinks and social signals optimization.

So, Just How Important is Social Media to SEO?

Today, social media is vital to your SEO strategy. And its importance grows exponentially on a daily basis. Every business needs a strong and active social media presence that not only provides advertisements to potential new customers but also serves as a platform that allows businesses to develop a voice, a brand identity and makes them accessible to customers in a way they've never been accessible before.

Google was the first search engine to publicly confirm the use of social media signals to help rank websites in order of importance. However, they are far from the only search engine who uses it in their ranking algorithms. Yahoo!, Bing and other search engines all rely on the popularity of a company in social media to rank websites in both global and local searches. As a matter of fact, their Google+ social media platform is actually built around this very concept. But all social media platforms are important. This means that if you don't have an active Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter account as well as a few other profiles, you are missing out on tons of valuable exposure and sales.

The Bottom Line

SEO, both global and local, relies heavily upon a company's ability to launch an effective social media campaign. The more popular a business is on social media, the better off they rank in search engine results and the more convertible traffic they drive to their websites and businesses. In order for your business to survive and compete, you must be 100% engaged in social media. This means that you need much more than just a Facebook page. There has never been a more important time to establish your social media presence and begin interfacing with your customers on a regular basis.