Social Signals are human interaction metrics such as likes, shares, pins, votes, love, views, dislikes, etc. on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.
These interactions to a large extent indicates popularity, affinity, and credibility of content. However, a heated controversial debate exists on whether the social signals are a factor in Google ranking. To settle the dust, social signals are not a direct factor in Google ranking but indirectly they can be helpful in different ways.
Lack of direct link to search engine ranking should not be an invitation to ignore the social signals in SEO, organizations should continue to utilize social signals and find ways to level them up. For example, when marketing on social media channels like Twitter, you can level up your social signals in a number of ways including:-
1. Optimize Your Content And Business Profile On Twitter
Today as Neil Patel puts it, social media platforms are also search-engines – social media platforms are emerging as the next key search engine with billions of search queries a month. Twitter alone by 2010 handled over 19 billion search queries a month. As a result, there is a need to not only optimize content for the tradition search engine ranking but also for Twitter to rank first when the specified keywords are searched. Ensure you optimize your content when marketing on Twitter.
2. Build Relationships With Social Influencers
Not all social shares/tweets are equal as different individuals have different numbers of followers. Some individuals such as social influencers have a bigger impact because they help content reach a far wider audience due to their large followings.
Such influencers are known to associate only with credible products/services/content and to only share what they believe in thus the masses easily trust what they endorse, retweet or like. As a result, building relationships with social influencers may be a big plus to leveling up your social signals.
3. Grow Your Number Of Twitter Followers
The philosophy “build it and they will come” is outdated and no longer applies in the present competitive market and as a result, you have to proactively reach people to level up your social signals. Strive to increase the number of your Twitter followers to grow your audience.
Regularly post quality content on emerging issues in your industry, engage your audience, and respond actively to their tweets and your followers will gradually grow. Improving online visibility and brand awareness also increases the probability of more people linking to your content increasing the inbound links and citations which is another boost to social signals
4. Increase The Number Of Twitter Mentions
The more the number of Twitter mentions the more the exposure and visibility of an organization especially when the content under which an organization is mentioned trends.
The more the visibility and exposure the more the likely hood of leveling up the social signal. Encourage your audience to mention your organizations using @ or # tags.
5. Increase Positive Reviews, Feedbacks & Endorsements
According to Nielsen statistics indicates that 92% of the consumers trust what their family and friends recommend thus recommendations/endorsement, positive feedback and positive reviews are crucial.
The emergence of social media as the new online endorsement/recommendation platform is increasingly making it essential to cultivate positive reviews on social media by offering quality products/services, responding to questions and inquiries tweets as promptly as possible and keeping customers happy and satisfied.
In addition, positive reviews, positive feedback, comments, sharing to endorse an entity and direct endorsement helps the visitors to trust a brand, get the confidence to procure their products/services and give their views in return leveling up social signals.
6. Decrease Bounce Rate
Increase time-spent on the site and the number of visitors and repeat visitors – another effective way of leveling up social signals is by sharing quality resourceful and exciting content. This decreases the bounce rate, increases the time consumers spend on the page, attracts new clients, and increases the number of returning visitors leveling up the social signals.
7. Build Credibility Of Your Site
Credibility is key to getting more referrals and in overall social proof, social vote and social signals go hand in hand. Maintain the credibility of your site by deleting fake accounts using your organization name, offering quality products and services and encouraging sharing of your content which increases the likely hood of influential people re-tweeting or liking your content affirming the credibility of your site.
Conclusion:
Marketing on Twitter can be of great benefit both directly and indirectly. Directly you can get clients to directly buy or notice your product/services while indirectly you can level up your social signals. Social signals although they are no more direct factors in search engine ranking, indirectly they contribute significantly.
Furthermore not being a direct factor in Google and other search engine today doesn’t mean they will never be especially with the increasing popularity and adoption of social media. The above tips may immensely help in leveling up your social signal when marketing on Twitter and if you require more help you can contact us the Minds Metricks, a social media marketing agency.
[Main photo by mmisof, Pixabay]
Neeti A. is a social media and content marketing expert helping clients with complete social strategy covering influencer and content marketing part. Neeti also works as SEO consultant with Minds Metricks, a social media agency headquartered in Dubai, UAE.