Optimizing Your Social Media

If you spend enough time building your online presence for your brand, then chances are you’ve come across the term SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and unless you’ve been removed from society for the last decade, we’re sure you’ve heard of social media as well.

But have you ever considered optimizing your Social Media profiles?

SEO is an extremely powerful tool that can be a bit complex. While not every facet can translate to the social side of your brand, there are some important techniques and tips that you can do to get the most out of your Social Media profiles and help drive traffic to your content.

Create a Social Media Optimization Plan

Content Marketing may not be new, but one of its most popular, modern iterations is through Social Media.

Social platforms used to be a bit of the Wild West.

You would create something, it would go out into the world, and the content was consumed.

These days, things are a bit more complicated.

Algorithms play a significant role in who sees your content. They can dictate, to an extent, how often it is shown, to whom it is shown, or if it is shown at all!

This is why creating a plan is vital to your content creation.

The idea is to provide valuable content to your followers to produce positive actions such as “likes”, “follows”, “shares”, or “saves”, and by creating an executable plan, you can provide quality content in a timely manner to your target market.

Identify your message and then begin to develop content that allows you to convey that message to your follows.

Having a plan involving which Social Media channels to produce content for mediums utilized, content ideas, and more will keep you organized and consistent when posting…but more on that a bit later.

Research Keywords and Hashtags

Of course, if you’re going to have a plan, then you’re going to need to do some research and what better place to start when optimizing than with keywords.

Did you know that Social Media platforms such as Instagram have their own Search Engine algorithms?

Did you know you can add Alt Text to assist algorithms in getting your content in front of the right audience, which is looking for those keywords?

Social Media has come a long way and continues to grow but a hashtag is a tool that first brought a different way of looking at “keywords” to the platforms.

Knowing the trends on each platform and understanding your audience and their relation to the various hashtags that are being searched, followed, and shared can be the difference between getting your message to the right people or missing an opportunity altogether.

Hashtag research is also important due to the unofficial, completely denied, yet confirmed shadowban.

What is a shadowban?

The practice of an algorithm deliberately not showing your content due to the hashtags you have associated it with.

Some of the shadowbanned hashtags include terms for adult websites or more explicit material; however, they also contain far more innocent content such as #HappyThanksgiving.

Shadowbans can occur if your content is associated with spamming and using “popular” hashtags with posts that have nothing to do with the content available.

Shadowbanning is a bit of a mystery because companies like Facebook deny that they exist. Still, many users have reported incidents of shadowbanning and many major outlets that have written articles on the subject.

The best practice is to use a variety of distinct hashtags that you can and will provide value to while remaining unique and creating and using branded hashtags that are more specific to your business.

You should also utilize hashtags that are for your brand in bios, stories, and wherever else traffic can be driven to your profile. The idea is to optimize every aspect of your Social Media channels to ensure you maximize traffic and the return on putting out your content.

[idea] Pro Tip: Don’t Spam Your Location Either

Machines are smart and are only getting smarter. If you are going to tag your location, be sure it is accurate and relevant to your content. [/idea]

Have a Schedule and Be Consistent

Having a plan is one thing, but without a schedule to execute that plan consistently, your Content Marketing efforts will fall flat with your audience.

Planning your content and when things will be posted will help you drive traffic and retain a relationship with your follows.

Not posting shows your followers and the algorithm that you are not someone that should be prioritized, and you will be shown/viewed less often because of it.

Notice when your page receives engagement and posts are interacted with. Post during these times and monitor your page statistics to determine the best course of action to reach your audience.

Post quality content daily at a minimum and watch your engagement, reach, and interest reach new heights.

A/B Test Your Content

Research and preparation are great, but when it comes to optimizing your Social Media profiles, you’ll never know what works best for your brand until you take action.

Theories are great but testing, them is the true measure of their worth and when implementing or scheduling content.

Creating the same content through different mediums is a great way to see how mediums perform on individual Social Media channels.

Observing and testing different times in which you post can help you pinpoint the perfect time to maximize engagement.

And don’t forget to test those hashtags!

These tests can help you generate more traffic and find the lane in which you are acquiring a more defined, possibly larger audience for your brand.

Social Media Management That Tells Your Story

Social Media should always focus on quality over quantity.

What good are a million posts if they bring no value to the followers?

What good are a million followers if they bring no value to your brand?

With proper management and optimization, your Social Media channels can build relationships with customers through storytelling and create opportunities for your follows to convert with your business.

For over 9 years, Visibly Connected has been helping home services companies reach their audience and tell their story all while growing their presence within their community.

If you’re interested in taking your Content Marketing or Social Media Marketing efforts to the next level, Contact Us Today!