In the past, local SEO and rankings was a game of quantity—how many backlinks you can achieve and how many times you can stuff geo-targeted keywords in a single page. However, Google has become more intelligent over the years. The search engine giant has now streamlined its local ranking process using various data and signals to determine quality of backlinks, content and pages.
Among these signals includes the usage of social media. It has now been revealed that social media marketing plays an important role in local rankings. We’ve outlined here how social media affects your SERP (search engine results page) rankings, why it’s important to build a social community and tips to maximize SEO value from your social media channels.
Social Media and Local Ranking
Many social media networks such as Google+, Facebook and Twitter provide category-based pages. You can set up a social media page for your business by choosing a category and sub-category. Previously, businesses seeking local marketing had to take a trial-and-error approach with various directories and citations. Today, it is essential to get quality directory listings. What can be of higher quality than social networks? These sites have immense domain authority and traffic.
Therefore, social media sites play an important role in local rankings. If you remain consistent in the form of address, phone number, business category and description, you can help Google get an authentic profile and image of your business. The search engine giant will find the information reliable when different sites and visitors have validated it. This ultimately helps your business rank higher in map results and local search.
Since social sharing allows businesses to communicate and engage with customers, they help in increasing the awareness of a brand and its website content. If a major publication finds your post and decides it is worth citing, they will link to your site, content or both, helping you increase rankings. Through social traffic, you can also improve other site metrics such as pages per visit, time on site and bounce rates, all of which are crucial for influencing local rankings.
Importance of Social Communities
Businesses looking to expand should invest in building their social community, which comprises of prospective buyers, potential advocates and referral customers. Since consumers on social media are in control of what they follow, earning their support makes a connection beyond simple advertising and promotes engagement opportunities.
Building a social community can also help with establishing and maintaining relationships, while adding value to each other’s lives. You really get to know your audience, while giving your business a personality and place to share its story. This allows you to develop a strategy that is specifically targeted for your customers.
Here is how you can build an appealing social community:
- Create a group for users to rally around a common interest or goal.
- Introduce incentives for those actively taking part in your community.
- Engage in strategic conversations regarding your business.
- Take part in discussions and create topics for debate.
- Connect with your offline community.
- Collect vital feedback.
- Amplify your news.
If you want to increase your local rankings on Google, make sure to focus on your social media strategy. Social media signals are crucial for establishing influence, value and credibility in the industry.