How to Use Social Networks to Increase Visibility in Google Search

Social networks are a great source of visibility on the internet. If you optimize your social media accounts, they can greatly help in increasing visibility in Google search result pages. The following tips will help you to attain great results:

1. Create an Optimized Social Media Profile

You have to be likeable in order to be liked. Therefore, for your social network to work well for you, you need to make it attractive straight from the beginning. Search engine optimization should be visible everywhere; from the header tags (your name, username or company name and title of your notes/blog posts) to the meta description (brief bio) and the image ALT tags (names of the photos you use). This can be done through doing some keyword research and incorporating keywords that relate to your business on all the areas above.

2. Be Active

Google loves something that gets updated regularly. If you check on the top ranking blogs and websites, you'll realize that most of them get regular updates, with some even being updated a couple of times a day. The same is true for your social networks. A Google friendly social profile is one which gets regularly updated.

3. Build a Relationship with Your Followers

Whichever social network you are dealing with – be it Facebook, Twitter or About.me – you need to build a relationship with your followers. This can be done by regularly updating your profile, commenting on people's profiles, uploading photos and videos and giving helpful content to your audience. This will make it easier for your readers to recommend you to others, click on your links and even follow your recommendations when it comes to buying products or joining programs.

4. Optimize File Names of Photos

This method works well in some networks but not all. For example, Facebook renames all photos therefore optimizing them will not add any SEO value to your profile. On the other hand, other social networks do not rename photo file names and therefore using optimized names will get you more visibility with the search engines.

This is not to say that Facebook does not rank photos. In fact, Facebook uses an algorithm called EdgeRank to determine which posts appear first on different Facebook accounts. Some of the items that will always be given priorities are photos. Therefore, you can even use photos to update quotes and this will get them right to the top of your friends' Facebook accounts. This will in turn increase your visibility and as a result increase chances of people clicking on your links and following your recommendations. Remember that it is these inbound links that Google looks for when ranking your page.

5. Be Diverse

In case you are trying to increase the visibility of your website, do not push this down on your followers. Make sure you are diverse in what you post. One thing that can make users stop following you is always posting links to your stuff. On the other hand, if they feel like you have a human side and are out to interact with them, you'll win their hearts. Therefore make sure you also post jokes, photos, links to other related sites among other items in addition to what you post to market your brand.