Some carefree members of the younger generations are only on social media for the vibes; they don't care who sees their posts. The rest of us desperately want everyone to see what we share. That is why we pile on hashtags, overlooking a simple trick … SEO works for social media too.
If you work in the online world or if you are addicted to the Internet — like me — you probably know the term SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).
SEO describes how certain texts make content more visible or ‘searchable’ online, ultimately increasing the amount of people who see the content.
While it works gangbusters for websites and blogs, not a lot of people know that it also works for social media.
Get ready to post like crazy because media update's Alrika Möller explains the benefits of social media SEO.
Increased Searchability
Social media platforms don't know who to show your content to without you letting them know. That is where SEO comes in.
SEO refers to literally any text from your captions and hashtags to the texts that pop up on the screen during a video. Sometimes even the words you say count. The algorithms use them to decide where to distribute the posts.
So, when you post a video about the best cup of coffee in your city, and someone travelling there searches for a coffee shop, your video will show up.
Be mindful of the words and phrases you use. If you make the purpose of the post clear through your caption and the words in the post, you might not even need to add a million hashtags.
Better Discoverability
Yes, your followers will probably see your posts, but you also want people who are not following you to see them. How else is your page going to grow?
Trending keywords and phrases in your content will give your post a bit of a leg up when the algorithm decides what to put on people's fyps.
There are many ways to find these keywords, such as looking at viral topics and posts or using one of the many, many keyword-finding websites out there.
Just remember to incorporate these keywords organically. Find keywords that work for your content instead of building your content around the keywords.
Social media is built to be fun and expressive and SEO might sound like the exact opposite of that. But if you do it right, you will definitely have fun watching your page grow, one keyword at a time.
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Social media algorithms keep changing on us. Luckily, we keep up with all the changes so that you don’t have to. Check out How to grow your Instagram in 2024.
*Image courtesy of Canva