6 Simple Social Media & SEO Tips to Drive Visits to Long-Form Content

5 minute read

Upland Admin

You’ve got this writing thing down.

You easily craft the long-form content that paralyzes other marketers.

You know to share your content on social networks after it’s written.

When readers find your content, they become regular visitors, then leads, then customers—and even the coveted brand evangelists.

Yes, dare I say, YOU are a content marketing rock star.

So, what do you need this post for, then?

Take social sharing to the next level by slipping into something a little more SEO.

Imagine reaching all of those people who need your article, but who just can’t find it or who bypass it in their social streams. They’re out there!

With a few SEO techniques, your social posts will be seen and shared by more potential customers who need your help.

Sprinkle Some SEO on Your Social

As you know, SEO done right brings more targeted traffic to your site while increasing your rankings in the SERPs. As you also know, so does social media.

Now you’re going to combine those two powerful tools for explosive web traffic. Whoa.

Follow these tips to give your social media posts an SEO boost.

1. Include your keywords

You probably have a list of keywords that you include within your content, links, meta description, and page title to help searchers find that content. The same goes for social media.

Here’s the top organic post for a “social media” Twitter search:

Please don’t be STUCK UP on #SocialMedia. Talk back to your audience. If you don’t value them, they won’t tune into you for long! #SMTip — Kim Garst ツ (@kimgarst) February 14, 2014

Social Media expert Kim Garst hashtagged “SocialMedia” in her tweet, making it a link and making it more easily found in search for that term.

Don’t forget that your brand name is a keyword, so include that on occasion. However, to avoid awkwardly posting in the third person, let your team do most of the brand name mentions on their social accounts.

2. Put It in Context

Google’s algorithm overhaul Hummingbird aims to understand the intent behind web searches rather than just the keywords used.

Put your keywords in context within social posts.

As Jean Spencer writes in 2 Tips to Make Your Content MORE Hummingbird-Friendly, “For example, to rank for working out, shoes, sports, and athletic wear, Adidas would benefit from content that discusses those topics in greater detail vs. stuffing keywords on their site.”

Bill Slawski does an amazing job describing Google’s understanding of word relationships on a page in this post.

3. Include Images in Your Post

Garst was the first organic post for “social media” in the Twitter example above, but she could’ve done even better had she added a photo.

SEOs know that it’s not about getting the top spot in search results anymore. You will get clicks in the other page-one spots with something attention grabbing. Here’s more of the Twitter feed where her post appeared.

Garst’s post is seen at the top, but these photos, the first in a post about a social media award and the second about a fundraising event, might steal a searcher’s attention.

Images work whether someone’s social searching or already follows you. Here’s what the social-media-award post looks like in the Twitter news feed:

Not only is that post visually appealing, but it also takes up a lot of social real estate. It can’t be missed by someone scrolling through their feed.

Added bonus for including a descriptive keyword in the image name.

4. It’s All in the Numbers…So Borrow Someone Else’s

Did you reference someone with a huge follower base in your content? Mention them when you share it on social. Maybe that influencer’s followers will see it and maybe that influencer will also share it or mention you.

You can also ask industry experts with a hefty follower number to share your content relevant to their industry. Don’t be afraid to reach out. They certainly won’t share your post if they don’t know about it. As long as you follow best practices when reaching out, the worst that could happen is they don’t share it.

5. Share More Than Once

You’ve worked really hard to create an awesome piece of long-form content. There’s no way you can reach everyone who needs to see it by sharing it just once on your social platforms.

There are different best practices for how often to share on each social network, so check ‘em out and get posting!

6. Add Share Buttons within Your Post

Of course, I’m not talking about the social share buttons that everyone has.

You can add “tweet this” options to quotes or other sentences within your posts.

Nowadays, there’s a lot of pressure to craft original posts rather than just share the blog post headline and link. This does the work for your readers, letting them share an interesting fact or quote with a click while getting more shares for your post.

This Blog Tyrant post gives step-by-step instructions. It’s easy, I swear!

Happy SEO-Friendly Social Sharing!

Your content can do the work. It just needs to be found by more of the readers you’re trying to reach.

Get started and let the leads roll in!

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