The integration of social media into your business is a crucial step towards improving your SEO rating. A common myth is that social media has somehow become an involuntary replacement for SEO, which is not the case. Social media has indeed changed the way we discover and share content, and it will continue to do so, but it has yet to replace any of the major search engines and their vital function of providing a one-stop place to find information.

What social media does do, is it can actually improve your SEO rating. Having the ability to share and spread the word virally, it all helps websites attract more backlinks, which in turn helps to boost your SEO rating. Yes, having a solid social media presence will increase your web traffic, but Google actually does index these sites and includes this in their ratings. There have been studies done that show a drastic improvement on the amount of backlinks that are tied to the specific amount of Twitter or Facebook followers. Think about it plainly – the more followers you have for your website, the more exposure and clicks you will get on the links you share with them.

This, in turn, means you do have to keep an active social media presence, updating and interacting with your social network, and not just creating the page and hoping for the best. The most successful businesses online are almost always tied to an equally impressive amount of followers on social media platforms. This is something that is built, not created.

On the same wavelength, social media can also negatively impact your ratings and rankings online, which is why having a social media presence that is alive and dynamic is so important. Customers and consumers all over the globe are learning how to voice their concerns, and the number one way to do this is via ratings that are shared, or reviews on social networking websites. The ability to share these kinds of bad reviews or poor experiences means you need to take an active interest in the online presence of your business. With that comes the responsibility of keeping on top of the negatives, as well as the positives. You want to develop a progressive network of followers who will help spread the word. Engage with your consumers and make them feel like people who have voices that can be heard.

The most important thing to consider when building a social media presence is trust. People will not only go out of their way to find businesses that they feel they can trust, be it from reviews online or from friends and family, but they will go out of their way to discredit what trust you have if they feel it is not validated. This is simply because of how easy it is now, and how quickly word can spread around the internet with social media discussions. If you are a business to be trusted and utilized, your followers will want to tell people about it.

Social media is an important rung in the ladder towards the top SEO rankings, and one that is often overlooked. It is not an alternative to SEO, but rather a tool that should be utilized to improve your ratings. The more followers you have online, the more your links are being shared and clicked on, which equals more backlinks for you rating, but also a huge spread from word of mouth. Keep your consumers’ trust, and build up relations with them using active social media to maintain positive visibility online. Social media is as much a tool to you as any other common SEO resources. Use it well to build trust and followers, and boost your SEO rating along the way.