14 Benefits of Using Social Media to Improve SEO

Source Keywords from Social Media

Social media is a great way to do keyword research. It allows you to source seed keywords straight from the your target audience.

While social media can still drive traffic, the focus on zero-click content many platforms have nowadays makes it more important than ever to use your social media platforms to establish your expertise and build a relationship with your audience.

When you do that in an engaging way, that audience, in turn, will respond with their thoughts, questions, and problems…all phrased in the way they’re likely to Google these same things.

Sofie Couwenbergh, Content Strategist & Writer, Let Me Write That Down for You

Drive Engaged Traffic to Your Website

One key benefit of using social media to improve SEO is its ability to drive engaged traffic to your website, which can boost “long clicks”, a significant SEO ranking factor.

Long clicks refer to the amount of time a user spends on a webpage before moving on, and they signal to search engines that the content is valuable.

While ranking for popular terms can be difficult without strong domain authority, sharing your content on social media can help attract visitors. If your content keeps them engaged, they’ll stay longer and explore more pages, signaling to Google that your site offers valuable content, which can positively impact your rankings.

Dhiren Mulani, SEO Specialist, Earningify.com

Increase Brand Awareness

The biggest benefit is brand awareness. People get to know your brand the more active you are, which means you get more branded searches on Google. A branded search is where people go to Google, type in your brand name, and click on your website.

It’s such an important ranking factor, and it’s something I strongly recommend everyone does. Just find the media that makes sense for your target group so you don’t waste your time.

Phillip Stemann, SEO Consultant, Phillip Stemann

Generate High-Volume Returns

The great thing about using social media for SEO is that it has the potential, though it’s not always realised, to generate high-volume returns at a low cost.

If you can get content to go viral or encourage your customers to create organic content for you, you’ll get a better ROI than just about any other form of content in terms of exposure and backlinks.

Nick Valentino, VP of Market Operations, Bellhop

Gain a Rapid Feedback Loop

As a tech CEO, one benefit of using social media to enhance SEO is the rapid feedback loop it provides. Staying agile in today’s tech climate is crucial, and social media use allows for almost immediate customer response.

This feedback can aid in optimising your site’s content and design based on what users are resonating with. This real-time dialogue with your audience keeps your site continually improving and relevant, which is a green light for search engines.

Abid Salahi, Co-founder & CEO, FinlyWealth

Drive More Organic Traffic

One powerful benefit of using social media to improve SEO is that it helps drive more organic traffic to your website. This strategy not only supports SEO efforts but also creates a positive cycle of visibility and engagement. Here’s how it works:

1. Increased Content Exposure: Sharing blog posts, articles, and product pages on social media puts your content in front of a wider audience. As people click on these links, it drives more organic traffic to your website, which is a positive signal for search engines.

2. Improved Brand Awareness: Frequent social media sharing helps build brand recognition, making it more likely that people will search for your brand directly. These branded searches show search engines that your business is trusted and well-known, which can positively impact SEO rankings.

3. Greater Engagement and Dwell Time: Social media visitors tend to spend more time exploring your site when they come from a post that piqued their interest. This increased dwell time is another favorable SEO signal, as search engines recognize that users find value in your content.

Brands that consistently share valuable content on social media often see improvements in site traffic, enhanced brand credibility, and indirect SEO benefits. By bridging the gap between social engagement and search visibility, social media can effectively support long-term SEO success.

Nitesh Savaniya, Digital Marketing Manager, BrainerHub Solutions

Improve Visibility and Brand Awareness

One significant benefit of using social media to improve SEO is the ability to enhance visibility and brand awareness, which can lead to indirect SEO advantages. When you regularly share high-quality content on social platforms, it increases the chances that your audience will engage with it, share it, or even link back to it from their own websites or blogs. These shares and links can drive more organic traffic to your site, sending positive user-engagement signals (like time on page and lower bounce rates) to search engines, which can contribute to improved rankings.

For example, suppose you have a blog post on “Top Fitness Trends of 2024” on your website. By sharing this blog post across your social media channels and even boosting the post to reach a broader audience, you increase its visibility among people interested in fitness. The more people who see, share, and click through to the blog, the greater the chances of generating backlinks and amplifying your content’s reach. Additionally, if influencers or fitness bloggers see it and decide to link to it, that added authority can further help your SEO.

Boosting posts can be especially valuable because it ensures your content reaches a targeted audience outside your immediate followers, increasing the likelihood of more shares, traffic, and engagement, all of which can contribute to great SEO outcomes over time.

Curt Cresswell, SEO Specialist, Brand Pandas Ltd

Leverage Parasite SEO on LinkedIn

Posting content on social media, especially platforms like LinkedIn, can be a powerful way to improve SEO through “parasite SEO.” By tapping into LinkedIn’s high domain authority, well-crafted posts with relevant keywords can show up in search results, bringing in organic traffic from beyond your direct followers.

Plus, social media posts that spark engagement often catch the eye of journalists, bloggers, and writers on the lookout for fresh ideas. When they reference or link to your posts, it creates valuable backlinks, further strengthening your SEO. This approach creates a positive cycle where social content not only draws traffic but also builds your brand’s authority and boosts its online presence over time.

Victor Hsi, Founder & Community Manager, UGC Creator Agency

Improve Content Discovery and Engagement

The SEO advantage everyone agrees upon regarding social media is its role in content discovery and engagement on niche topics. For example, by posting niche-related content on social channels, I can share links with a target audience who may care more about specialized topics, resulting in a higher likelihood of backlinks and meaningful interactions.

After publishing a substantial case study regarding web-design best practices on LinkedIn, I saw an increase in direct traffic, coupled with outside sources within the industry referencing my case study on their blogs, in turn providing high-quality backlinks. Not only did this deliver organic backlinks, giving my SEO an immediate boost, but also brought in more visitors who spent longer on the website, which are all good indicators for things like dwell time or page authority.

Darryl Stevens, CEO, Digitech Web Design

Increase Content Visibility

One key benefit of using social media to improve SEO is increased content visibility, which drives more organic backlinks. When content is shared widely on social platforms, it has a better chance of reaching influencers or relevant websites that may link back to it, boosting domain authority.

Additionally, social clicks, particularly for Chrome users, can contribute to signals that search engines notice, such as increased traffic and brand engagement, indirectly supporting better search performance.

While social signals don’t directly impact rankings, the exposure and link opportunities created by social sharing can significantly enhance search visibility over time.

Tim Nicklas, Founder & Marketer, FollowerWave

Generate Unlinked Mentions

Google is increasingly looking at brand-strength signals, not just backlinks. When you generate engagement and conversations on social media, you’re creating unlinked mentions, which strengthen your position as a legitimate brand used by real people.

Plus, social media creates new backlink opportunities. For example, if you publish outtakes from your blog post across platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn, you’ll drive traffic and increase the chances of someone linking to your content from their blog post.

Lana Rafaela Cindric, SEO & Content Manager, SiteGuru

Share Quality Content

One key benefit of using social media to improve SEO is the ability to drive more organic traffic to your website. Although social media signals, like likes and shares, don’t directly impact search rankings, sharing quality content on social platforms can indirectly boost SEO. When you share blog posts, videos, or infographics with your social media followers, you increase the chances of people visiting your website to explore this content. This traffic signals to search engines, like Google, that your content is relevant and valuable, positively affecting your SEO rankings.

Furthermore, social media helps with brand exposure and content distribution. By sharing your content on platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, you allow followers to discover, engage with, and share your material. This expansion can lead to high-quality backlinks from authoritative sites, which strengthens your website’s SEO. Ultimately, social media serves as an essential channel to attract an engaged audience and improve your site’s SEO performance over time by driving sustained traffic and visibility.

Himanshi singh, Digital Marketing Expert, BigOhTech

Enhance Brand Authority

While social media doesn’t directly impact SEO rankings, it offers valuable indirect benefits. One of the key benefits is that it could provide you with a pathway to enhance your brand authority and trustworthiness. Google increasingly considers signals of expertise, experience, authority, and trust (E-E-A-T) to assess whether a brand is credible, qualified, and trustworthy within its industry.

By actively sharing relevant content on social media, you establish your brand as a knowledgeable voice in your niche, which can attract attention from industry authorities and may lead to valuable mentions or backlinks from reputable sites, boosting your brand’s reputation and positively influencing your organic performance over time.

Mark Howser, Enterprise SEO Consultant, Digital Snowstorm

Foster User Engagement

SEO is all about connectedness and interactivity among users, which is exactly what social media fosters. When you show engagement with your audience, they will respond to it. Engage in conversation within the comment sections of your post or through direct messages on the app. They will respond by engaging with your posts more and visiting your site more often as well, which will drive up your traffic. Posts with linkable assets are also more likely to be spread by your devoted followers.

Amy Mayer, Product Engineer, Shawood

Conclusion

The consensus seems to be that social media is an effective way to get more eyeballs on your content.

More eyeballs can lead to more traffic and more backlinks, the latter providing a big benefit for SEO.