In 2015, it goes without saying that social media is key to any online marketing strategy, although understanding that it matters is only a fraction of the battle. Putting into practice methods that actively drive traffic to your site – traffic which then converts – is where it really matters. In this blog, we’ll take a look at five practices which can improve your site’s SEO via social media.

Keep a calendar

Putting a social media calendar in place is more than simply making events available on Facebook. Plan your promotions and offers for multiple weeks (and in some cases months) in advance to ensure an effective, varied campaign. Think about what generates sales at a particular time of year when planning your promo. Find out what dates are key to your industry as a whole and allow these to influence your marketing.

Creative innovative, exciting content

Content is still king – just look at some of the most successful social media marketing campaigns of the past couple of years for proof. If you can create content that entertains your followers and relates to them, they’ll be comfortable sharing it and this ultimately drives clicks to your site. Think before you post, the last thing you want is to appear like a spammer, and a poorly executed social media campaign can turn your company into a laughing stock – who could forget #susanalbumparty, for example.

Don’t shy away from searchable keywords

Relevant keywords and hashtags in your social media posts will help to direct users searching for terms relevant to your products to ultimately end up on your site via your social content. Do your research and find out what short and long-tail keywords are likely to drive traffic to your site, and put them to use.

Use direct links to your site to help with indexing

Most social media networks are beneficial purely because they provide good ‘link juice’. The larger social sites have incredibly high page rankings, meaning that search engines tend to index your site quicker when links to it appear on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and others.

Consider search engine algorithms

The largest search engines are thought to now incorporate algorithms which take into account social media links, meaning that few can now afford not to take social media optimisation (SMO) into account. It’s now inconceivable that you can run an online store or site without having social accounts, so if you haven’t already, you need to begin setting up or at least employing the services of a consultant who can help, if it’s not your forte.