Internet is a place that allows your business to advertise and reach a target audience. However, it also allows the same thing to everybody else, which leads us to millions of different businesses looking for a way to get users’ attention. And there we have backlinks. Backlinks have been described as a ‘vote of confidence in the online world. They are representing proof of trust. When another website links to your website, it basically recommends it to its users. The more of these links your website gets, the more trust you can expect from Google and users. In this article, we’re going to discuss if social media links count as backlinks. Also, let’s find out what are the best strategies to reach the audience through this platform.
Why backlinks are important?
There are several types of backlinks and ways to reach an audience indirectly. However, all of them have the same purpose. Here are the main benefits of every backlink building strategy:
- increase the security of your website
- build a more trusting relationship with users
- improve the credibility of your website and make more opportunities to meet important people from your niche
- get a better ranking in search results – more backlinks to your website give a signal to Google that the content you post is valuable and trustworthy. This helps improve the rankings and get more benefits for your website.
Social media backlinks
As we mentioned, there are several types of backlinks, and one of them comes from social media. However, the question is do social media links count as backlinks? This is not such as the simple answer to give, and in the following text, you’re going to find out why.
Links that come from social media are no-follow links. This means they don’t bring anything to the website, as they don’t carry any authority. That’s why these are considered useless. However, with social media links, the situation is a bit different.
So, social media links count as backlinks?
Technically, no. However, social media links are absolutely not useless. They affect your website in a less obvious, but still powerful way. The proof is that many businesses and brands still invest time and money into their social media strategy. And there are a couple of reasons for it.
Social media helps brand visibility
As billions of people nowadays use one or more social media networks, brands use this opportunity to get in touch with the users. Social media backlinks help users of the networks learn about new features, services, or products that brands share and therefore recognize them a lot faster. Your social media profiles can be a huge step forward in terms of your competition, as users will recognize your brand easily.
Earn organic links through social media
Another reason why social media links count as backlinks is that they are organic, and present a natural way to improve your reputation as a brand.
Reach another audience
Ignoring your social media backlinks means you ignore a portion of the target audience you can’t get in some other places online. Even though social media is all about trends, this trend is not going anywhere soon. That’s why you should underestimate the power of social media but learn the ways to use it the best way possible.
Social media backlinks tracking
If you’re not sure about the efficiency of social media, you can easily track those backlinks. You can use Google Analytics to do that, or UTM parameters. You can check which of your social media profiles get you clicks. However, remember that UTM parameters can’t show results from all social profiles – you’ll need to shorten the URL by using bit.ly or a similar tool.
Where to add links to your social media?
You want to make your website link available to the users at all times. This means you need to add the website link to the most important places on your social media. Here are some spots to consider.
Start with the personal profile on Facebook
Even though you want to separate personal and business spheres, this is the moment where you should put them together. Facebook is important for businesses, so don’t forget to add the link to your website to the ‘About’ tab. Furthermore, be sure to include your website link to your posts – anything you share on your feed.
Photos on the page
If you have a page about your business, add the link to all the relevant places – about/details page, but also profile and cover photo descriptions.
Cover your LinkedIn, too
LinkedIn is also one of the places where people look for businesses. Add your website link to the profile’s contact info, the company’s basic information, any announcements or projects.
Informative and easy to use, Twitter should also be part of your social media strategy. Be sure to include the website link to the bio, website field, photos, and videos you tweet about.
One of the networks that have become very popular recently, Instagram has been very important for businesses. Add the link to the profile description, but also to your stories. However, to add links to stories, you need to have 10k followers or more.
You can only add one link to your profile on Pinterest, so make sure it’s worth it. Also, add the website link to your pins. Pinterest allows you to be creative, so make good use of it.
Social media backlinks are all worth it
Despite what some marketers think, it’s true that social media links count as backlinks. Even though it’s not directly, social media affects your website and traffic from a whole other perspective. That’s why you should use it the best way possible and get the most benefits.