How to optimize your social media pages for search

Optimizing your social media pages can help boost your visibility in search engine results and attract more organic traffic to your website. 

Whether it’s Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn or a different platform, below are some tips to optimize your social media profiles and content for the best SEO results possible.

Getting your profile information right at the onset can provide an edge over competitors. 

Here’s a concise checklist for creating a new social media profile:

• Choose logical handles and profile names that are accurate, relevant, and easy to remember.
• Complete your profile information. If somebody searches for your profile or account topics using the platform’s internal search feature, you want to be found.
• Incorporate relevant keywords based on how users might try to find the profile. Let the SEO keyword strategy be your guide.
• Link to your website. Ensure the website links to relevant social media profiles, too.
• Interlink profiles. For example, include links to social media sites on YouTube channels and videos.
• Maintain consistent brand messaging across digital platforms (website, social media, etc.).
• Choose the most relevant tags and/or categories on platforms that use them, and consider integrating them into your website’s keyword strategy.
• Include “contact” information to make it easy to get in touch with you, like including an address, phone number, email, or other means of communication.

Many best practices will apply to the profile and individual posts (content). 

However, the optimized profile is the foundation for success of social media and SEO integration.

Best practices for creating SEO-friendly social media content

Once you’ve established your social media profile, it is time to post relevant, optimized messaging and content.

Double down on content and context

Create content that aligns with your audience and consider the context in which your content will be viewed.

For instance, a long-form video on “how to do an oil change” might land better on YouTube, whereas “Everything you need to buy to do an oil change,” might work better as a bite-sized informational video.

Incorporate organic search keyword data

Each social media platform has its unique style and limitations for messages. For instance, every character counts on short-text platforms. 

Integrating organic search keyword data into your social media posts (scripts, captions, locations, etc.) can significantly increase your visibility. 

Monitor the popular search terms related to your brand, industry, or topic, and use them strategically within your posts.

In other words, the content should be written naturally and engagingly, as the use of too many keywords can make it sound like it was written by a machine rather than a human.

Here are some tools you can use to surface SEO and social media keywords:

• Google Trends: Reference Google Trends for immediate insights on hot topics across languages and geographies to target engaging conversation topics with content.
• TikTok’s Keyword Insights and Hashtag Tool: Specifically designed for TikTok, these tools identify popular keywords and hashtags within the platform and show how other accounts are using the terms. Such insights typically apply to other platforms.
• Google Keyword Planner: A powerful tool that provides insights into search volumes and keyword ideas (requires account).

For website metadata and content, hashtag trends on platforms can also be useful in informing your keyword strategies and blog or article topics.

Master the art of using hashtags and category tags

Using relevant tags and hashtags in social media posts can increase discoverability. 

When users search for a specific tag or hashtag, your posts will appear in the search results, enhancing your visibility.

On YouTube, categorial tagging happens behind the scenes, too. Still, some platforms may not have tags at all.

Using popular and relevant hashtags could quickly increase your post’s exposure. However, avoid using too many unrelated hashtags as it can make your post seem cluttered and less engaging.

A branded or pro-social hashtag may also make sense to include on your website. If people are “Googling” your hashtag, tastefully place it in site content and metadata on your website.

Choose user-friendly links

The right links enhance the user experience by leading to content that aligns with audience interests and needs, boosting engagement. 

Meanwhile, incorporating relevant links in tagged and hashtagged posts increases their discoverability. 

Say you want to highlight a product your website offers in an Instagram story post. It would be wise to add a “clickable link” to the product detail page instead of the homepage (a common mistake!). 

Conversely, keeping your website’s OG/X (formerly Twitter) card metadata tags up to date is equally important. 

These tags indicate to a social media platform how a webpage should appear when shared, offering control over a featured image, title, description, and more.

Consider the timing of your posts based on platform and audiences

Understanding audience behavior is essential to enhance the visibility of your content. The timing of your posts needs to consider not only the hour of the day but also the day of the week and seasonal variations. 

Each social media platform has unique peak times, influenced by user behavior which can vary on weekdays, weekends, and during different seasons. 

The key is to experiment and adjust your posting schedule based on platform-specific insights and market trends, rather than adhering strictly to preset rules. 

As audience behaviors (and algorithms) can shift over time, it’s crucial to stay adaptable and regularly reassess your strategy to maximize engagement.

Use the power of alt text whenever available

Alt text, used to describe images for visually impaired users and search engines, is another aspect to consider while optimizing social media content for SEO. 

When posting images or videos, include relevant keywords in the alt text to improve your content’s visibility. 

Be sure to recall the primary purpose of alt text, though – to describe the image for those who cannot see it.

Engage with your audience across platforms

Engagement is a key indicator of the relevance and quality of your content. 

High levels of engagement can lead to improved visibility on social platforms and search engines alike. 

Think of what your audience needs and wants to know when looking for and coming to a profile; if a platform offers a way to “pin” or highlight relevant content, use it.

Encourage user interaction by posting engaging content, asking questions, and responding promptly to comments and messages. 

Brand-answered questions in the comments of a well-regarded social media post can replicate the impact of a well-optimized FAQ on the web.

Leverage social media for improved Google SERP visibility

When optimized effectively, social media content can impact your visibility on Google SERPs, especially for branded queries. 

While social media signals aren’t a direct ranking factor, the information shared across social platforms can help you show up on search results.

For instance, many brand videos on “how to do something” appear on Google SERP from YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook. 

The videos may very well “outrank” any on-the-website articles of a similar nature, even if the video is posted on the page.

Optimizing your social media pages for search visibility

Creating SEO-friendly social media profiles and content will enhance your visibility on search engines and draw organic traffic to your website. 

Remember, a strong profile foundation, content aligned with your audience, strategic keyword integration, user-friendly links, and consistent engagement are vital in driving your success.

Make the most of these techniques and be flexible as you fine-tune your approach.