How Social Media Helps Maximize SEO for Your Dental Practice
How do social media and SEO work together?
If you’ve done your homework, you may have found that there’s some debate over whether or not social media directly impacts SEO ranking.
Refresher: SEO stands for search engine optimization, and it is a strategy focused on optimizing the chances that potential patients will find your website first when using a search engine, that your website will rank at the top of page one. SEO is about gaining visibility online and getting more people to visit your website. Without SEO, you are invisible.
Social media’s effect on SEO? Social media and SEO may look different, but they have overlapping goals and essentially go hand in hand when it comes to social signals, such as shares and likes, and the way in which they bump websites up in ranking. Here’s why your search ranking will benefit when you focus on your social presence.
#1 Social media profiles boost ranking in search engines
According to ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt, “Within search results, information tied to verified online profiles (like Facebook or Twitter) will be ranked higher than content without such verification.” So, being tied to verified profiles and posting regularly to gain followers who tweet about your practice help to build a presence in your community and improve SEO ranking.
#2 Social media profiles are the new Google
These days, if someone wants to check out your dental practice, they’re likely to use Facebook or Twitter as a search engine. This means it’s important to make is as easy as possible for users to identify your official social profiles. You may want to delete multiple accounts and makes sure that each of your social accounts is labeled clearly.
#3 Social media influence is growing steadily
If, in comparison to other things, the impact social media has on SEO still seems measly, sit tight. It’s just a matter of time before social media, which is not going anywhere, gains traction. In the meantime, while social media builds momentum, grow your practice’s online presence by upping your social media game. Studies continue to show (as stated above) that search engines do take your social profiles into account as it looks for value and authority signals.
#4 Social media includes Bing, a well-used search engine
Did you know that Bing, which also powers Yahoo, was responsible for 33% of searches in the US in 2018? And Bing openly boasts its use of social signals for ranking in search results. Another thing to think about when creating your SEO strategy.
#5 Social media shares provide potential for links
As your shares increase, more people will see your content which means more visibility. And the links that come from the shares is even more effective in helping your rankings. If your content is useful and popular, people link back to it from other websites. And since social media marketing helps build brand awareness and an audience, it boosts SEO as it increases the likelihood that people will click on your content in Google’s search results.
When it’s all said and done, content is still king, and quality is the number one ranking factor in google. It’s the relevant posts that speak with authority that have the greatest impact on your audience and your SEO. So, as you expand your social media marketing, make each post count. Continue to build your brand and reputation as you include social in your SEO strategy.
If you’d rather leave social and SEO strategies in the hands of experts, have our PBHS social media specialists improve your practice’s visibility and reach. Call us today: Santa Rosa Office Phone Number 800.840.5383.