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Whether your website is newly established or you’ve had it for quite some time, you may wonder whether social media is a better investment than SEO. Unlike SEO, social media can produce nearly instant results, whether from Facebook, Instagram ads, or sharing your stories with hundreds of thousands of viewers.

Though the various social channels offer a wide reach, SEO is arguably a better investment. While it may take longer to see SEO results, the rewards are long-term and sustainable. Social media profiles can also boost your SEO efforts as your website’s authority and reach increase when you have a strong social following.

How can SEO and social media work together so you don’t have to take a side? Let’s dive into why SEO applies to social media and vice versa. We’ll also explain why both are important for your brand’s online success.

Understanding SEO and Social Media

SEO is a continuous process that aims to establish the authoritativeness of your website to search engines so they can organically rank it higher on relevant search results. It involves various techniques, including keyword research, on-page optimization, and link building.

This marketing strategy centers on comprehensive content to inform, engage, and convert target audiences into customers. A website with little content and a poorly designed layout has little chance of ranking high.

For this reason, SEO focuses on improving visitor user experience (UX) to increase the likelihood of conversion. Moreover, regularly publishing detailed and informative content can attract backlinks, which are crucial for SEO.

A backlink is a citation from another website or social media profile that points back to your website, indicating that others trust and value your content. The more high-quality backlinks you have, the better your SEO rankings will be.

Relevance is another big factor, so you shouldn’t create random content. Sticking to a niche and consistently publishing valuable content will ultimately bring more targeted traffic to your website.

As we progress, you’ll understand how time is a big factor in SEO and how it is closely related to social media marketing.

What Is Social Media Marketing?

We can’t claim to have the ultimate definition that everyone should agree on, but this description may help you understand the concept better. Social media marketers create and distribute engaging content on social platforms (Facebook, X, formerly Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp Groups, LinkedIn, TikTok, Medium, Reddit, etc.) to achieve specific branding and sales goals.

We consider social media marketing a subset of digital marketing that focuses on attracting attention and driving engagement through social media channels. It’s always about building a loyal audience and boosting brand awareness by creating valuable content that resonates with them.

Social media marketing is pivotal for online success. It’s a platform for brands to interact with huge online audiences who are in a social mood. It’s an excellent avenue to showcase your brand’s value and personality. For example, hopping on trends and creating viral content boosts brand exposure, attracting new customers.

Sharing behind-the-scenes footage, customer reviews, and answering questions builds trust and a sense of community. What about challenges? They encourage interaction and allow you to improve your real-time customer service.

Ultimately, social media marketing helps businesses establish themselves as authorities in their industries and gain a competitive advantage.

SEO vs. Social Media: A Comparative Analysis

As marketers, we’d say SEO and social media marketing affect the mind and psyche differently. The difference between the two is apparent but also a bit blurry. They both aim to increase online visibility but use different means.

As mentioned before, time is the biggest difference between social media and SEO. Social media is about trends and timely responses to build engagement and interaction. That’s why short, engaging content always does better on social media (think Instagram captions or X posts).

Time is always of the essence, and brand social media managers need to be ready for any latest meme or trend. They must be active and responsive, constantly monitoring and updating their social media pages with relevant content.

For example, a simple conversation can begin with negative brand sentiments. On social media, negativity gains traction quicker than positivity so that conversation can quickly go viral and cause irreparable brand damage.

Because of this, social media managers must be on guard 24/7 and respond quickly and efficiently. It’s easier to execute damage control when the scandal is young than when it’s blown out of proportion.

The ultimate hack with social media is to trigger emotions and maintain relevance by staying trendy.

SEO Takes Longer and Also Lasts Longer

SEO is an entirely different game. Unlike social media, the intended results don’t come immediately. It takes weeks, if not months or years, to rank in a search engine for a particular keyword(s). But when you do, it’s usually worth it.

SEO is all about getting as much relevant traffic as possible from search engines. It is way more targeted than social media. A user who’s searching for something specific on a search engine is more likely to convert into a customer than someone scrolling through their social media feed.

SEO caters to search intent, and local SEO even comes into play with Google Business Profile listings. Whenever users look up a keyword within your niche on search engines, they’re more likely to find your business if your SEO game is top-notch.

Location-based searches will also favor businesses with a Google Business Profile, making potential customers more likely to find you.

SEO vs. Social Media Content Structure

The ideal content structure for SEO and social media differs significantly. For SEO, having a clear and concise title with targeted keywords is crucial. Additionally, incorporating those keywords throughout the content in a natural and relevant manner will help improve search engine ranking.

People searching for particular information or asking questions online will spare time to review multiple top-trending articles, and it’s your job to ensure they choose yours. An easy-to-read structure with organized headings and subheadings helps users navigate the content and find the necessary information.

You need to give readers as much value as possible, so feel free to publish long posts. Answer their questions exhaustively, provide credible sources, and link to relevant content within your website.

Readers need to be able to see that you’re knowledgeable, and you can only achieve that by providing in-depth information on topics relevant to your niche. You also need to increase the chances of readers spending more time on your site to improve SEO ranking.

In contrast, social media content is more visual and needs to capture attention quickly. Eye-catching images or videos with short, impactful captions can make all the difference in gaining user engagement.

Don’t forget that hashtags are essential for increasing visibility on Facebook, X, Instagram, and other social media. Go for popular hashtags within your niche for a wider reach in relevant circles.

Another important aspect of social media content is the use of calls to action (CTAs) to lure the audience into specific actions, such as liking, sharing, or commenting on your post.

CTAs are also a great way to direct readers to your website posts and products, increasing traffic and potential sales. Here’s more on social media optimization.

How SEO and Social Media Should Work Together

We’ve already dropped several hints on how social media affects SEO. Social media and SEO synergy are powerful for increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, and improving relevant search rankings. Here’s more on Social Media: Three Ways to Improve SEO.

We’re about to analyze how and why SEO is also needed for social media posts and presence, but there’s something we’d like to say first.

Don’t wholly rely on search engines to give you traffic. If executed properly, social media can potentially give you so much reach that your brand becomes more visible to the world.

That said, search engines are still vital for long-term success and sustainability. Together with social media efforts, SEO will help establish your niche authority and build your audience.

Did you know that social media SEO, meaning optimizing your social media profiles and posts with relevant keywords, can help compete with websites on search engine results pages (SERPs)? Even if someone isn’t directly searching for your brand or product, they may come across it through a related keyword search on Google.

A strong social media presence can also improve your website’s domain authority and, ultimately, SERP rankings.

Some keyword research also comes in handy when selecting hashtags for social media posts. Using popular keywords in your hashtags boosts the chances that your post gets discovered by a broader audience.

Additionally, social media interactions such as likes, shares, and comments can also indirectly impact SEO. These engagements signal to search engines that people appreciate and value your content, making them more likely to rank it higher.

Extra Tip for Doing Better on Social Media

We find that all social media algorithms love and popularize debates and interactive posts. Sometimes, you can gain more brand awareness by interacting with other people’s timelines or communities than you could by consistently posting on your pages or profiles. 

It also doesn’t hurt your search engine ranking to be perceived as an expert in your field. You’ll attract more potential customers, increase brand awareness, and potentially gain backlinks from other authoritative websites. 

All of these factors can positively impact SEO and boost website traffic.

If We Had to Pick One, It’s SEO

To sum up, social media and SEO are not mutually exclusive. They both play crucial roles in driving website traffic and increasing brand visibility. However, if we had to choose which one is more important for businesses, we would choose SEO.

Managing your website and online presence is all about balance. You should prioritize SEO over social media, but you shouldn’t neglect your social media presence either. Instead, you should spend fewer resources building your social media presence (more on SEO) and focus on growing your account organically and sharing your content with your existing audience.

You may grow slower on social media, but the greater monetary and time investment into SEO will pay off massively as opposed to exclusively investing in your social presence.

Contact us to learn more about Adopt the Web for your business

Author Jarod Thornton

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