How to Combine Social Media and SEO for Better Results
Social media and SEO are often treated as two completely separate things, but the truth is, they’re strongest when they work together.
Both help your business get found online, build credibility, and attract the right audience.
When you align your content strategy across both, you’ll see faster growth, stronger engagement, and better conversions.
Here’s how to make social media and SEO work side by side.
1. Understand the Connection Between Social Media and SEO
Social media doesn’t directly affect Google rankings, but it influences the signals that do.
When your posts get shared, saved, and linked, they drive visibility, brand awareness, and web traffic, which all support SEO performance.
Think of social media as your distribution channel and SEO as your discovery engine.
Social gets your content seen; SEO makes it searchable and sustainable.
2. Create Consistent, Searchable Content
Both SEO and social media rely on content.
The key is to make sure your messaging, keywords, and visuals are consistent across both.
For example:
If you’re writing a blog about “social media strategy for cafés”, turn it into a carousel or Reel.
Use the same keyword phrases in your captions and alt text as you do in your blogs.
Add your main keywords to your Instagram bio or LinkedIn headline, they help AI-driven searches identify relevance.
Pro tip: Create content once, then adapt it for multiple platforms. SEO fuels long-term visibility; social fuels short-term reach.
3. Drive Traffic from Social Media to Your Website
Every social platform gives you opportunities to send people to your website, your digital home.
Use that link intentionally.
Here’s how:
Add CTAs like “Read more on the blog” or “Download the full guide.”
Use Linktree or a custom landing page to highlight your key links.
Share snippets of blogs or videos and encourage clicks for the full version.
Each visit helps Google understand that your site is active, valuable, and relevant, which can indirectly improve your SEO authority.
4. Optimise Your Social Profiles for Search
Your social media pages are often the first results people see when they Google your business name.
Make sure they’re fully optimised:
Use consistent handles and profile names across all platforms
Include keywords in your bio (e.g. “Freelance Social Media Manager in Manchester”)
Add your website link and contact details
Use location tags in posts to strengthen local SEO
When your profiles are optimised, they support not only search visibility but also brand credibility.
5. Use Social Media to Build Backlinks (the Smart Way)
Backlinks, links from other sites to yours, are one of Google’s top ranking signals.
Social media helps indirectly by getting your content in front of bloggers, journalists, and creators who might link to it.
Here’s how to encourage backlinks organically:
Share blog posts consistently across platforms
Tag collaborators or clients who might re-share
Create genuinely helpful guides that others want to reference
This type of natural visibility helps strengthen your domain authority over time.
6. Repurpose Top-Performing Posts for Blog Content
Some of your best-performing social posts already contain the seeds of great SEO content.
Look at what your audience engages with most, and expand those ideas into blogs, guides, or newsletters.
That way, you’re using proven topics your audience already cares about, while improving your site’s keyword relevance.
7. Leverage SEO Insights to Shape Social Media Topics
Just as social can inspire blogs, your SEO data can inspire social content.
Check your Google Search Console or keyword tools to see what terms people are searching for.
Then create social posts around those topics, answering questions or breaking down key points visually.
That alignment ensures your brand shows up both in social feeds and search results when people look for those answers.
8. Track What’s Working Across Both Channels
To really see the impact of combining social and SEO, track both in your analytics.
Watch for patterns like:
Traffic spikes on your site after posting on social
Increased search impressions for topics shared socially
Higher engagement when blog links are repurposed visually
If you see overlap, great. That means your strategy is working cohesively.
FAQs
1. Can social media directly improve my Google ranking?
Not directly, but social engagement can lead to more visibility, traffic, and backlinks, which do improve rankings over time.
2. Should I prioritise SEO or social media first?
Start with SEO foundations (website, keywords, blogs), then amplify that content through social media for faster reach.
3. How do I know if my social and SEO strategies align?
If your content themes, keywords, and calls-to-action are consistent across both, you’re already on the right track.