If your company’s current SEO strategy doesn’t include social media, you’re missing out on a big piece of the puzzle. What does Social Media mean for your business in terms of SEO? It could mean the difference between landing at the top of the search engine results page (SERP)or languishing somewhere in search engine limbo. The following are five ways social media boosts your SEO:

1. Social media helps build external inbound links.When you have high quality content - whether that’s a video, blog post or anything else - people will share that content not only on social media but on their blogs and websites. This sharing is what creates links back to your website. These external inbound links give your website more authority in Google’s eyes, resulting in better SERP ranking.
2. More followers = better search engine rankings. Having more followers isn’t just good for marketing, it’s good for SEO. The number of followers your social media accounts have will influence your search engine rankings. However, Google does differentiate between low quality and high quality followers, so buying “proxy” followers just aren’t worth it.
3. Social media provides local optimization.If you’re a local business or you have a business with a particular local brick and mortar location you want to promote, social media provides the ideal platform to do so. Check-ins at local events as well as posts interacting with other local businesses will help make your business more visible in local searches. This type of engagement will also help highlight your business’ involvement in the local community.
4. Optimizing social media posts increases searchability. Popular social media posts are often rewarded by a top spot on Google’s SERP. To make it easier for people - and search engines - to find your updates and content, it helps to optimize it. For instance, give your content an accurate, descriptive title. Include appropriate keywords within the body of your content. Use the same SEO techniques in social media updates that you would on your website.
5. Social media boosts brand awareness. The higher your engagement on social media (in terms of quality content and interactions), the better your reputation will be. This will lead to increased brand awareness, which in turn will lead to increased brand presence that will ultimately lead to more branded searches and a higher SERP ranking.

With so many advantages, it only makes sense to use social media to boost SEO.