One of the latest trends that has been making waves in the digital marketing world is the concept of ‘social search.’ Join us as we take a closer look at this emerging phenomenon, explore why it matters, and how to optimise your social media SEO for search engines.

What is ‘social search’ 

Put simply, social search is the process of using social media platforms to find information about products, services, and businesses. It is becoming increasingly popular, as more people are turning to social media to research their options before making a purchase.

According to Google’s internal data, nearly 40% of Gen Z prefers searching on TikTok and Instagram over Google Search and Maps. This trend is driven by a number of factors including, the shorter and more visual nature of social media content, the built-in social proof from authentic creators, and a dislike of information overload in Google.

Why optimise for social media?

There are a number of reasons why businesses should optimise their social media content for search. First, it can help you reach a more relevant audience, when consumers search for products or services on social media, they are already interested in what you have to offer. This means that your content is more likely to be seen by people who are actually interested in buying from your brand. 

Social search can help you improve your social media SEO. When you optimise your social media content for search, you are essentially creating backlinks to your website. Backlinks are one of the most important factors that Google uses to rank websites in search results.

Also, social search has proven effective when it comes to building brand awareness. 59% of the world’s population uses social media for an average of 2 hours and 30 minutes daily, that’s plenty of opportunity for consumers to view your content which helps to raise awareness of your brand and what you do. This can lead to increased traffic to your website and, ultimately, more sales.

Integrating SEO techniques into your social media strategy

There are a number of ways to integrate social media SEO techniques into your social strategy, including: 

• Using relevant keywords in your captions, hashtags, and about/bio section
• Creating shareable content that includes links to relevant content 
• Posting regularly and consistently 
• Promoting your social media content on other channels, such as your website, Google My Business platform and email newsletters

Platform-specific optimisation

It’s one thing to integrate social media SEO into your social strategy, but you also have to understand how to optimise your content based on the different social media platforms out there. Each has its own unique features, algorithms and types of audience that you need to appeal to, which is why when looking to optimise your it’s best to do it on a platform-by-platform basis.

Facebook: 

• Use long-form captions 
• Focus on creating engaging visuals
• Include relevant links 

Instagram: 

• Focus on creating high-quality images and videos 
• Update your Linktree with relevant links 
• Create reels and video content 

LinkedIn: 

• Use visuals that include statistics 
• Use long-form captions 

Twitter: 

• Use short, catchy headlines
• Use hashtags

TikTok: 

• Create short and visually appealing videos 
• Use hashtags 

For more insight into creating engaging content for different social media platforms, read our latest blogs.

The future and beyond

The social search trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down in popularity, especially with Gen Z’s as, 24% of consumers between the ages of 18-54 search for brands using social media instead of a search engine. This number jumps to 36% among Gen Z consumers. As more and more people turn to social media to research their options, businesses that are not optimising their SEO social media content for search will be at a disadvantage.

As we see this trend grow, we predict that social search will become more integrated with traditional search, some social media platforms will eventually develop their own search engines, and social search may potentially be used to personalise the user experience, but as usual only time will tell when it comes to this new digital marketing movement.

Social search is a powerful tool that businesses can use to reach their desired audience, improve their SEO, and build brand awareness. Not sure where to start when it comes to optimising your social media strategy? Get in touch with us today for a free brand tracker audit to see how you can improve your social media SEO.