What are the most common SEO mistakes you make on social media?

When optimizing your profile be sure to use keywords that people would actually search for over being “trendy” and cool. For example, I could call myself the “Savvy Social Sistah” in my LinkedIn headline OR I could call myself a certified digital marketer and social media strategist. Which one is more likely to be part of a search query? It’s important to remember that social media platforms all have their own search engines within them, and when people are looking for consultants, coaches, speakers etc. (especially on LinkedIn), you have to ask yourself does my profile really “sell me” to that person.

Social media isn't direct SEO, but it's a game-changer. Don't get hung up on rankings - use it to build brand awareness and drive traffic back to your SEO-optimized website. Hashtags? Research relevant ones your audience uses, ditch the overload. Content should be trendy but timeless, focus on long-term engagement. Don't be a link ghost! Share your high-quality website content and entice clicks. Finally, social media is a conversation, not a monologue. Respond, engage, and build relationships - that loyalty can indirectly supercharge your SEO.

Keyword Neglect: Ignoring keywords in posts and profiles. Inconsistent Branding: Failing to maintain a consistent brand image. Ignoring Analytics: Not tracking social SEO performance. Neglecting Visuals: Overlooking image and video optimization. Duplicate Content: Reposting identical content across platforms. Ignoring Mobile Users: Neglecting mobile optimization. Ignoring Social Signals: Underestimating the impact of social signals on SEO. Over-optimization: Stuffing posts with keywords can harm engagement. Inadequate Linking: Not utilizing social profiles for quality backlinks.

I think one thing people neglect is the gap between industry knowledge and audience perception. For example, many businesses don’t know the difference between hiring a writer vs a copywriter, lumping these 2 distinct services together. Understanding that people may term the same service/product differently + optimising for a few terms could mean access to a larger audience. Failing to consider the nuances and audience perception could be detrimental to discovery. Basically, meet them where they are instead of only expecting them to come to you.

Choosing a domain name that is SEO friendly like anything .shop or .co if .com is NOT available vs unfriendly .net or .website.

One thing I've discovered to be beneficial in short-form content is the consistent use of closed captions and text, particularly on platforms like TikTok and Reels. Even in 2023, hashtags continue to play a vital role in social SEO. With TikTok and Instagram now functioning as search engines more than ever, it's crucial to incorporate these elements not just in your captions and hashtags, but within the videos themselves. This helps to enhance visibility, connect with the targeted audience, and foster engagement, making your content more accessible and appealing to a broader demographic.

Some of the notable mistakes on social media include: (1) Using irrelevant keywords in your postings (2) Not optimizing your profile and bio for search (3) Overlooking the importance of image alt text (4) Failing to engage with your audience through comments and shares

Using keywords as your hashtags is important as well - specifically on LinkedIn as these hashtags become part of the URL. Additionally, you want to focus on SEO friendly keywords for titles to your events/livestreams, your articles and documents you share here. On Facebook, always add a title to uploaded videos as they will show up on Google when people search for your business/page name, and can also show up in Google search results based on how SEO friendly they are.

You will not be able to use "right" keywords on your posts if your content is not about those keywords. So before jumping to check if you have all the right keywords mentioned, check if your content is really about them and creating value for your audience.

Having a social media presence is imperative, but what are the benefits if your brand is not getting noticed? Nobody hears about your brand's awesomeness; nobody finds what you're worth. Don't worry; these keywords are here to shine! Make your content searchable using keywords. Take advantage of them naturally, not as dictionary dumps. Platforms use keywords to understand your posts, so show you're an expert, not a random rambler. Show that you know what you're talking about. Your social media space isn't a one-way street, and it's a conversation. Engage with them, respond to them, and tailor your content to meet their needs. Now, go forth and shout out your value with some keyword magic and social media expertise.

Actively responding to comments is essential for improving your website's search engine optimization (SEO) and strengthening your brand reputation. By interacting with your audience, you demonstrate that you value their feedback and are committed to providing accurate information. This builds trust and credibility, which are crucial factors in search engine rankings. Search engine algorithms favor content that is seen as reliable and relevant. When you engage with comments, you provide additional context and information related to your original post, which can help search engines understand the topic better. This can lead to higher rankings in search results.

In my role as a social media manager, I believe advocating for dedicated time spent directly on social media engagement is of utmost significance. I've noticed that immersing myself in the community as a participant helps me gain valuable insights into our target audience.

Your content should be starting point for engagement and discussions in the comments. If you are not the engaging to your content, you are relying only on your active audience's responses, not activating them yourself to bring even more value to your post. If you are not engaging with them, they will find someone else who will.

1) Respond quickly 2) Share insights that help build your credibility 3) Keep things conversational, genuine and entertaining!

Ignoring comments and messages is like not answering your phone. Every reply or like is a chance to show you're listening and care about what people think.

1) Treat your audience’s time as a gift. There are hundreds of things competing for their attention. Don’t be boring! 2) Make sure your content has a point, an interesting takeaway, something you’d like your audience to share. Tell folks early and often. 3) Don’t confuse “quality” with “expensive”. A great idea with a compelling story and characters will always beat big budget blah.

I often see new social media managers quite quality solely with the design. If it looks amazing, and I spent a ton of time designing this just right, then that makes it a quality post. Reality is that quality has to do with whether or not it makes an impact on the viewer. A good design CAN help with that, but if you're not posting something people care about, then no design can change its quality. Quality content is content that resonates with your audience - it gives them an emotional response, helps them learn, makes them feel seen and heard, helps them feel like others are out there just like them.

Your content quality depends on your target audience. Creating value for all is not possible, well maybe if you have the solution for world peace and it works, but otherwise you have to know your audience and what brings them value.

I believe to make your content more engaging and informative by understanding your target audience and tailor content for them means to keep up the pace of quality content and it's relevancy. Always bring content with passion which can be valuable and helpful to others.

Posting just to post won't get you far. Share tips, stories, or news your followers will find useful or fun. It's about giving them a reason to follow you, not just filling their feed.

To move your audience beyond basic awareness, you need more information than just post engagement data. Start by looking at: (1) Website behavior: where do they go and what do they do once users click through from social? (2) Whether the audience is actually taking the ultimate desired actions. (3) If you have the correct objectives set for your paid social campaigns given your desired results.

Not checking your social media performance is like flying a plane without instruments. Use the built-in tools to see what's working. More likes, shares, or website visits mean you're on the right track.

Know your playground, in this case social media platform. Know the rules how to you are supposed to play so you know what is the right way on breaking them (if you do everything on the same way everybody else does, you are just going drown into the masses).

It's important to align the SEO strategy across channels. For example, please make sure that your website uses the same keywords you include in your content strategy on social media so they can help each other grow. You can leverage Google Ads to understand performance better and align top performance with your content strategy as well. All in all, the key element is to consider SEO from the user's point of view and not just the technical one so that each platform can perform as well as possible.

Using the same message everywhere doesn't work. Customize what you say and how you say it based on where you're posting. What works on Instagram might not work on LinkedIn.

SEO plays a crucial part in increasing the reach of your social content. However, there's a right and wrong way to go about it. You'll need to use keywords to tell the algorithm what your content is about. For example, if you're posting about the Olympics, make sure to include hashtags, on-screen text, and speak about the Olympics. (bonus points if you used closed captions) BUT, you don't want to over do it. Don't include 20 hashtags with the word Olympics in it and don't say "Olympics" in the video every sentence or it will come of as authentic to your audience and may be flagged as spam content on the platform.

Staying informed about Instagram’s updates and utilizing them to enhance your content strategy is crucial would be the seventh point. By adapting to new features like stickers and editing options in Reels, you can engage your audience more effectively. Employing tactics such as using keywords in brackets instead of hashtags can help you target a specific audience and gain authentic followers. Like if you posted a reel related to styling so you can use [Styling tips, style guide, style inspiration, etc]. Following relevant accounts on Instagram is a smart way to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and changes. This proactive approach will undoubtedly improve your content’s visibility and engagement.

Another SEO mistake we can make on social media is to Ignoring Image Optimization. Images and visuals are essential on social media, but not optimizing them can be a missed SEO opportunity. Use descriptive file names and alt text for images to improve accessibility and searchability.

Honestly speaking, I've seen many people ignore the alt sections on posts, and I myself am guilty of the same at times. However, I make it a measure to use the 'Add Alt' option, wherever I get it. Also, using Subtitles or SRT files are a great way to add that Optimization Level you were missing. Use the Captions Sticker in Instagram or the Upload SRT on Twitter to upload caption files that are filled with the right words. The fun begins after that.

While social media channels are not technically search engines - they all have search bars. My top tips to get you and your content found on every social network are: 1. Tag your location: whatever your content is make sure you are tagging it to be featured amongst local businesses 2. Include relevant keywords and hashtags in the caption: hiding hastags in comments is no longer effective, but keywords and hashtags in the caption will help your content appear on searches 3. Add alt-text: alt texts make your content accessible, but also help platforms understand what your content is and who might be interested in it 4. Use subtitles: again - big role on accessibility, but also by using subtitles you are including keywords