Social media and search engine optimization (SEO) are both key components in a business-to-business (B2B) brands’ marketing strategy intended to promote growth and increase the reach of its target audience. Now, it’s no surprise that SEO can boost your brand’s reach through searches on search engines like Google. In fact, the statistics tell you everything you need to know:
- Google receives an estimated 3.5 billion searches per day.
- 54.4% of all clicks on searches on Google come from the first three results that are displayed.
But, although social media can help increase your reach, can it directly influence the growth of SEO?
In this article, we decode how brands use social media for B2B SEO optimization and improve their visibility and rankings in search engines.
What Is SEO?
SEO is an abbreviation that stands for search engine optimization. It is a digital marketing strategy aimed at increasing the visibility of a website’s results displayed on search engines.
This can be achieved by providing relatable or the most searched content to obtain multiple clicks by extracting engagement and traffic data on a website. And, if implemented effectively, can magnify your B2B revenue and develop the brand’s visibility.
What Are the Benefits of SEO?
- Obtains organic views to increase website traffic
- Facilitates lead generation at the lowest possible cost
- Excellent brand awareness and visibility in the market
- Puts you in the driving seat against competitors
- Builds the trust of your target audience
- Boosts your other marketing strategies
According to the Research and Markets SEO Services Global Market Report, the global demand for SEO services worldwide is projected to increase at an average annual rate of 20% and is estimated to hit $103.24 billion by the end of 2025.
Role of Social Media To Optimize SEO for B2B Brands
Although a key element of numerous marketing strategies, social media has often been underused by business-to-businesses (B2B). This means that B2B businesses lose out on important business prospects simply by not incorporating social media presence in their digital marketing strategy.
With a strong social media representation and distinctive content advertising tactics, your B2B business brand can effectively reach your customers and other B2B business brands in the market.
Utilizing social media for SEO comprises two specific strategic approaches that can assist you in forming your unique online brand presence.
B2B businesses can maximize their existing social media platform by incorporating an effective marketing strategy to promote its brand on social media. Every update, blog, post and reel can be used; however, this is only possible if the content shared uses relevant keywords to help search engines navigate the content and signal them to rank your content higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
As per the reports confirmed by market intelligence firm – IDC, 84% of a B2B organization’s C-levels and VP Executives are influenced by the quality of social media content shared prior to making any sales decision. So here are two useful tips on how to utilize social media to boost your SEO efforts:
- An ideal way in which social media directly influences the growth of SEO is with the procreation of backlinks. Sharing content on social media doubles the chances of other sites linking your content.
- When users proactively connect with your content on social media, search engines receive social signals highlighting the relevancy and originality of the content that was shared. These signals can have a favorable impact on search engine rankings for the B2B business brand.
What Are Social Signals?
Social signals are the direct interactions from social media users with the content that was shared on virtual platforms.
From a social media marketing viewpoint, these mere interactions are termed as online engagement or social media engagement, but from an SEO outlook, these are more than just engagements. They are signals which assist the search engine to identify their brand as a reliable creator/profile or post.
Below, we have enlisted a set of top-rate social signals that can anchor the growth of your B2B business brand.
Corporations leverage LinkedIn by sharing industry-specific content, which positions them as the authority in the subject field. Posting content that includes the B2B organization’s website, which eventually attracts users further with high quality backlinks, enhances SEO strategies.
Twitter can be used by B2B organizations to communicate with their target audience on a real-time basis. Posting relevant content that comprises news, brands achieved, or specific offers can trigger and help you gain quality rankings.
- 53% of Twitter users utilize the site to stay up to date on the latest developments.
Facebook is an impressive platform that can be used to increase traffic count and transmit engaging signals to search engines. Different modes of sharing information, such as posts, updates and blogs, can generate a high-quality engagement rate.
Instagram’s primary emphasis is based on visual content. Brands utilize the medium by curating clickable content, which will eventually pull its users to the website and boost its brand’s presence.
- Optimization of your (B2B) brand’s social media handles will make it appear more professional. The inclusion of fresh bios and other information, including your website link, will create a swift transition from social media platform to website and vice versa.
Content Strategy on Social Media for B2B SEO
A B2B business brand’s ace component for sustainability is engaging content. Content has the ability to draw people in, inspire social sharing, start conversations and foster community.
When the audience connects with your content, they are inclined to circulate it, expanding your brand’s reach and popularity. More visibility can lead to increased website traffic, providing higher chances of lead generation, which is an essential metric used by search engines for assessing the relevancy and positioning of your B2B business.
How To Create Content on Social Media for SEO
- Marking of your target audience
Many B2B business organizations fail to understand their audience. Social media analytics can assist you in gathering your audience’s tastes, interests and behavior. This will allow you to curate content specifically designed to meet your audience’s search intent.
- Inclusion of precise keywords
Using relevant keywords in your sharable content will make your posts or blog rank higher based on the social signals, which directly influences the algorithm of search engines. B2B brands must, however, focus on inserting keywords naturally, along with relevant hashtags and captions in order for it to be effective.
The work, however, does not stop after the creation of the content. Leaving the audience informed does not bring them justice. Instead, it redirects them to the next step of the CTA, which is to like, share and comment and, ultimately, direct users to the website for sales conversion.
- Endorse developed content
Sharing content on social channels is essential. Seeking various collaborations from industry influencers or existing organizations can provide an adequate push for your organization’s better visibility.
- According to 12.5% of marketers, the most effective approach to building links is through content marketing.
Analyze and Optimize Social Media for B2B SEO
Analyzing the existing SEO strategy is decisive in social media and websites. A miss in this can wash out the entire efforts put in and the B2B business brand will need to start from scratch. This not only makes the brand look suspicious but also demotivates the users and breaks their trust.
The metrics must be taken in and the decision-makers, along with the stakeholders, must evaluate their performance from the beginning to rate the impact of the growth. This can help produce an accurate result and provide a proper understanding of their ranking.
Conclusion
The digital market is a wide space that grasps information that is refreshing, creative and can be SEO optimized. The concept of utilizing various platforms, more specifically social media, for your B2B business brand can create authority and trust within your target audience. The majority of businesses (B2B) overlook this opportunity to captivate their target audience and receive a higher return on investment (ROI). By implementing the techniques mentioned in this article, your brand will stay competitive and increase visibility, driving more traffic and, potentially more sales, to your website.