When looking for a particular brand's product or service, you are likely to also come across their social media profile(s) when you type the keywords in the search bar of major search engines like Google. This is because these search engines provide results based on where traffic is most for a brand. So, if you have a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn account, there are ways to optimize it, so it can rank high along with your website on search results. Here are some tips to help you.
Be verified
Between 2009 and 2014, Twitter grew exponentially - and having a blue tick on your profile meant you have some credibility and some sort of relevance in the online community. It became important for brands to get verified and for other social media networks to include that in their platforms. Consumers, on the other hand, only patronized brands that were verified - as that helped differentiate between real and parody accounts.
To get search engines to rank your brand and social media profiles better, you need to consider getting a Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram verification. This also prevents your identity from being stolen by any fake account.
To also reassure people that your account is legit, you could also add "official" to the handle or the bio. For example, if you run a clothing brand, adding a bio like "this is the official Page of (brand name)" goes a long way in adding credibility to your profile.
Make your social media profiles accessible
Find a way to drive traffic toward your social media profiles. When you post content, you can add a "turn on notification so you don't miss out on what we offer" or "follow me for more updates" to ensure users are subscribing to your profile.
You should also add call-to-actions (CTAs) to your website, telling people to share. As you and your already existing customers share your copy, more people subscribe to your newsletter and automated emails – so your followership grows massively.
The main aim of making your social media accessible is to increase online activities there. Therefore, you can come up with exclusive codes and offers for your followers to use to get a discount when they want to place an order.
You can also make offers available for first-time subscribers. Try to monitor the growth of your social media accounts using online tools you can easily find on Google.
Brand your social media profiles
Every business owner should know how important branding is to the success of their business. When you go to Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter, you will find the likes of Starbucks, GoPro, and Wendy's respectively - doing it right on their profiles.
No matter how small your business may be, branding right makes it easy for you to compete against even the biggest brands. It helps you look professional, credible, and reliable - thereby boosting your followership as well.
From hashtags on Twitter and Instagram to using specific colors when updating your Facebook page, you should try to make your profile drip with branding. When customers enter specific keywords or see a color, it should tell them that the content is coming from your brand.
The way you interact with customers also depicts what your brand is about. Use logos or branded photos on your display picture and header. You can also include certain emojis that your brand can become known for. This helps you stand out, as search engines can better rank your profile and users can easily find you without going through lookalikes.
Optimize your content for search engines
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) goes hand in hand with online branding. It's only important to create content that will make it easy for you to rank better on search results. One of the first things to do is to use your brand name as your username for all your social media handles.
When asked for your full name on any platform, use the same one on Facebook for Twitter, LinkedIn, and so on. Do not shorten the name or use an abbreviation for places with a character limit. Find a suitable username that will fit all your accounts - but can still be identified as your brand.
Use a unique description for each of your pages. Every social media account usually has an "about me/us" page. Great content of about 200 words or 500 characters can be used across your profiles. Make sure they aren't the same. Using the same username doesn't mean you should use the same content as well. Google and other search engines penalize duplicate content.
Therefore, get the services of a professional SEO firm to create ideal content for you. There are plagiarism checkers you can use to find out how original your content is.
For every new social media account, you open, link it to the other profiles you have. This is a good way of promoting your brand and making your pages accessible. It will also make it easy for users to locate you on other platforms and follow you as well.
That being said, you need to make your copy engaging at all times. When putting up a tweet or post, use lots of pictures. These days, images go a long way in optimizing your content. As most social media sites are becoming more visual, make sure to put up relevant, high quality and branded images.
Finally, try as much as possible to put up lots of updates. No matter the number of followers you have, having just a little or no activity on your page will hurt your web rank on any search engine.
Gone are the days when digital marketers tell you to update less so followers won't take you for granted. That isn't the case anymore because you need to always update your readers on what you are up to if you want to be taken seriously. Putting up daily posts on your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest pages will encourage interaction and drive traffic which in return leads to better ranking on search engines.
That isn't the case anymore because you always need to update your readers on what you are up to or if you want to be taken seriously. Putting up daily posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linked In and Pinterest pages encourage interaction and drive traffic which in return leads to better ranking on search engines.