Pairing local search rankings with social media is critical to effective marketing. It is a combination of local and digital marketing that guides mobile small-screen social media users to the websites with the most relevance to their ‘near me’ inquiries.

While the impact of social media is enormous on local search rankings, and there are ways to take advantage of social media, you should first understand the need to track your performance.

That’s why it’s vital to pick the right SEO tool. You can find one such tool through SEO software comparison. 

Here’s a bit more about the impact of social media on local SEO marketing and how to use it to your advantage:

1. Social Signals and Local SEO

Over 74% of local businesses now rely on social media to grow their audience. When using social media for local SEO, you have to consider various social signals, such as:

• reactions, replies, and comments
• likes
• retweets
• pins
• upvotes
• shares

Although social signals can impact rankings, it is an indirect relationship where engagement boosts SEO. For instance, social signals influence the ranking indirectly by:

• signaling trustworthiness in a product or site
• encouraging shares linking people to content
• meeting the requirements of some of the search features in robust social media profiles

It is important to create social media content that resonates with the platform’s users, as it will generate high engagement levels, boosting your local SEO score.

Work on developing good viral content because it results in a fresh wave of organic searches and increased conversion rates. And, of course, it attracts reviews and backlinks, which boosts a strategy’s overall SEO.

2. Localized Social Media Strategies

Localized content and location-specific posts are favored by the algorithms on social media and tend to achieve an excellent local reach.

Implementing a localized SEO strategy using social media will:

• raise brand awareness within its surrounding community
• develop perceptions of trustworthiness and credibility
• encourage local customer loyalty
• be seen to be of value because content reflects local issues and people
• have quality backlinks giving access to related high-quality content
• increase reach, as content migrates to associated platforms with its content already confirmed as valuable and relevant

It is also important to consider using localized hashtags to expand reach by connecting with existing conversations on the hashtag topic.

Best Practices to Use Hashtags

If you want to include hashtags in your marketing strategy, remember the best practice for encouraging a social media impact on SEO. Here’s what to consider:

1. Research hashtags specific to the area
2. Use a mix of general location hashtags and hypertags that are more location-specific.
3. Use multiple hashtags in each post, but no more than five at a time
4. Keep abreast of hashtag trends, including the seasonal
5. Refresh tags regularly

3. Online Reviews and Social Proof

The impact of positive social media reviews on local search rankings cannot be understated. If you want to boost local SEO for your business, you have to take steps to encourage online reviews from your customers.

Positive online reviews boost visibility for faster, more reliable discovery. They signal popularity and are social proof that the content offered is relevant and engaging.

Many platforms, including Yelp and Facebook, use a review system, but reviews are critical to Google. Their algorithm favors the number of reviews as a signal of popularity before its star rating.

Other platforms operate a review process, but the Google algorithms are the most widely used, and their rankings are trusted.

Its algorithms are primed to surface the most reputable businesses in local results and are optimized for its own Google My Business.

4. Social Media Advertising for Local Visibility

Visibility on local social media platforms creates opportunities for highly targeted marketing. Therefore, local businesses need to rely on social media advertising to reap many incredible benefits. For instance, it helps:

• identify and reach a large target audience
• deliver campaigns with precision
• create interest by working in real-time
• deliver content in a variety of media
• use data to inform and adapt the overall SEO strategy
• guide users through their content
• encourage click-throughs

Remember that raising social media visibility is easier and faster with a mix of free and paid advertising. Paid ads are the most immediate form of social media advertising.

5. Case Studies and Examples

Social media offers many insights into user behavior, and many kinds of businesses have benefited, such as the local restaurants that market on TikTok and Instagram. Their increased visibility resulted in increased orders almost immediately.

Adopting social media and SEO also benefits retail, mainly by driving brand awareness. It facilitates early engagement with a specific audience, creates interest, and improves sales.

Pink Tag, for instance, a small business, saw a 10fold increase in revenue when it used Facebook Shops and Instagram for its promotions. Its web traffic increased to 336% after adopting a marketing strategy combining SEO and social media marketing.

High local search rankings with social media leads to increased engagement, which is helpful for those involved in creative content or not-for-profit campaigns.

One such example is Daniel Wellington’s Instagram contest, another is using the leverage provided by well-known influencers for online fundraising events.

Conclusion

Social media is an effective marketing medium, and social signals have an impact on your SEO rankings.

These elements signal quality to Google algorithms along with reviews and star ratings, making sure your business gets high in local searche rankings.

Just be sure to have a reliable SEO tool to track your performance and make changes whenever required to get the best results.