SEO on social media : Why you need to know about it
Updated: Jan 18
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. You may have heard of it, but maybe you haven’t. Historically this was only really something you had to be concerned about regarding your business website.
But now people are using social media as a search engine, and they are using the search bar on social media the same way they do on their web browsers. The social media platforms are capitalising on this and ranking accounts and posts that use good SEO higher.
Social media account managers and business owners who run their own business accounts now need to get to grips with how to use SEO on social media.
What is SEO?
SEO is a way to make your website appear when people browse a search engine
like Google. Through careful and smart use of commonly searched words or phrases (referred to as keywords), your page will, in time, appear when people search for topics.
Where is SEO used?
It is used in website homepages, product descriptions, blogs, and any website page. If a website creator and copywriter made your business’s website for you, then they will have taken care of this.
How does SEO apply to social media marketing?
There are many ways to make your business page show up on potential customers' feeds through social media marketing. Often people think hashtags are the only way to do this. Instagram keeps telling us that hashtags don’t deliver your posts to people, but they still do; we can see this from our insights. So, definitely keep going with your hashtag strategy.
However, SEO is now playing a more important role in increasing the number of people from your target audience who could see your post. When creating content, we need to consider keywords and when and where to use them.
How to use SEO in social media marketing
SEO keywords can be used in a few areas on your business account pages.
Display name
Bio
Content copy (captions)
For each piece of content you should add appropriate keywords each time, and it should be relevant to your business and the topic you are posting about. It might be “orthopaedic dog bed” or “fireworks advice for pets” for example.
You do not need to change your keywords for your display name and bio routinely, but it is always worth having a review of these every few months to see if you can improve them or use better performing keywords.
Make 2023 the year you get to grips with SEO on social media. I have added keywords to my Social Media Strategy package. Now along with relevant and appropriate hashtags for you to use with your social media marketing, you will get a list of keywords to use in your content as well as suggested user name and bio description.