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Writer's pictureParth Savani

SEO vs. Social Media: Which Is Better?

Updated: Feb 5



Simply put, SEO is focused on optimizing your website for search engines. This optimization is important because search engines are more efficient in generating higher traffic to your website than all the social media sites combined.

SEO Search Engine Optimization

Social Media

  • Increases Web Traffic

  • Build Beneficial Relationships

  • Link Building Earning

  • Engage Users

  • Improves Ranking & Visibility

  • Increases Brand Presence

  • Generate Conversions

  • Social Engagement & Networks

  • Helps in achieving good ROI

  • Reach Wider Audience

  • ​Gets more clicks

  • Spend Less

Search Engine Optimization

Content that ranks highly is written with SEO in mind and is informative to your target audience and is based on research. Pieces of content that work best are ones that provide in-depth definitions and answer common questions, like how-to articles, for example.


When you’re writing content with SEO in mind, remember that readers want to know something, and they want to find all the information they’re looking for without having to read multiple pages. They want to be in and out with an answer to their question without having to click on more than one link in organic search results. If your content is uninformative, they might leave your site.


Long-form content (at the very least 1500 words) that is relevant to your target audience (aka properly keyword optimized) tends to see the most success in search results.



Social Media

Content for social media, on the other hand, sparks empathy. The focus on some emotional responses — anxiety, anger, awe — drives engagement. People on social media browse to look for entertaining and engaging content, and nothing is as satisfying as being able to relate to something emotionally.


That’s why content that provides emotional response tends to trend, and social media is all about trending topics. Content that works well on social media is short, condensed thoughts, emotional headlines, and, most effective, visuals. Photos on Facebook garner 53% more likes than other types of content.


Social Media SEO Strategy

1. Social Sharing Buttons on Your Website

It may seem simple, but search engines like Google are starting to use social media sharing data to influence search rankings. As a marketer, it is critically important to have social media sharing buttons on your blog and website to encourage visitors to share content in social media. These buttons will not only help to increase traffic from social media but will also play an important role today and in the future for ranking positions in search engines.


2. Integrated Keyword Strategy

As I mentioned earlier, the line between search engines and social media platforms is blurring. Take the keyword strategy you are using for your website and apply it to your social media engagement when appropriate. This doesn't mean cramming tweets full of keywords. Instead, be aware of how you are wording social media messages. By incorporating keywords into social media content, you can increase the reach of your messages.


3. Include Links in Social Profiles

The links in social media messages such as tweets and Facebook status updates are traditionally no-follow links. This means they don't pass any SEO authority to the site they're linking to. While this is starting to change, it is important to understand that the URL in the actual bio of a social media account is a follow link. Keep this in mind, and make sure you are taking advantage of these extra links.



4. Incorporate Links Into Video and Presentation Content

Some of the most powerful social media platforms are those that facilitate content sharing, such as YouTube for video and SlideShare for presentations. When sharing content on these types of networks, be sure to share links to related blog posts or other content on your website. Yes, this will increase traffic to your website, but it will also help build new inbound links. When someone writes a blog post about your content, it is likely they will also include a link from the presentation, simply because it is the "easy" thing to do.


5. Optimize Social Profiles

Think of social media profile pages as extensions of your website. In the same way that you would optimize website pages for page titles and keywords, audit your social media profiles to ensure they mirror the search engine optimization strategy of your website.


6. Build Links and Social Media Reach

Search engine optimization has long been about inbound links to your website. While inbound links are still really important, a secondary metric for marketers looking to increase search traffic should be social media reach. As we talked about earlier, social media data is becoming a factor in search engine rankings. In order to get more people to share your content on social media, you need to increase the number of fans or followers of your account. By doing this through quality content creation and engagement, you will not only build social media reach but also inbound links.


7. Establish New Relationships

The web is now a social communications channel. Similar to sales, relationships are huge for driving inbound links and social media attention. Building relationships using social media can open opportunities for guest blog posts and other link-building opportunities.


The debate between SEO and social media often centers around the specific goals of a business. SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is essential for enhancing website visibility on search engines, driving organic traffic, and establishing long-term online authority. On the other hand, social media platforms provide immediate audience engagement, fostering brand awareness, and facilitating direct communication. The choice between the two depends on the nature of your business objectives. SEO is pivotal for sustained online presence, while social media excels at fostering quick interactions and building a loyal community. A balanced approach that integrates both strategies can optimize online performance, leveraging the strengths of each for comprehensive digital success.



Benefits of SEO

SEO has a lot of unique advantages that other forms of digital marketing don’t quite have. This is no surprise considering that close to 75% of searchers start their searches on Google.

When you also consider that the first five results on Google get 67% of all clicks, then you’ll see why SEO is so important. Let’s take a look at some of its benefits and how they can impact your business.


· You spend less on SEO

· SEO gets more clicks than some paid advertising

· SEO can help you achieve a good ROI


Benefits of Social Media Marketing

Social media is a bit informal and flexible, and a lot of people see it as a place to chill and unwind. Most marketers take advantage of this by targeting potential customers in this relaxed mood when they are more likely to have a better response. Below are some other ways that SMM can favour advertisers.


· Direct communication with customers

· You can reach a wider audience

· You get to spend less

· You have a lot of options

It is important to undersatnd the the demand of the page and/or website. Both SEO Marketing as well as Social Media Presence is dominantly crucial. Hence, choose both and make sure you use it optimumly.

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