Social Media Backlinks: 26 Ways You Can Leverage to Increase Organic Search Traffic

Social Media Backlinks: 26 Ways You Can Leverage to Increase Organic Search Traffic - Semola Digital (semoladigital.com)

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Anyone that’s ever tried their hands at SEO knows how important backlinks are in boosting search engine rankings on SERP.

There are several ways to build backlinks to improve search traffic, and social media is one - most people aren't given a try.

Because they're nofollow.

But, don't get fooled by people carrying misconceptions about social media backlinks.

Let's get it right…

Social media works great for link building. And search engines now turn to social signals - although this is not yet a part of ranking factors on Google… it's a strong ranking signal on Bing.

Now, let's face it! How many of those email pitches you sent got a response and a link back to your site - the last time? 

Nada…, Few? Ok ...If you got 2 out of 10, you're lucky.

The reason is that there are too many requests that people just stop reading pitches. Plus, it gets boring when you open 3 out of 5 and discover they all use the same email templates.

But relax! 

Here's an opportunity for you to cut through the pitch noise and still build 25 authority backlinks with;

Plus, if you hate being turned down...

Just follow the steps I'm going to show you now. You'll learn how and where to place links in your social media profiles without looking spammy.

So, let's start with the largest of them all…

Facebook Link Building

Facebook is an open opportunity for everyone to start building links through:

  1. Personal profile
  2. Business profile
  3. Fan page
  4. Group page

Every step we'll discuss here is basic. But do not underestimate the basics.

Backlink #1: Your Personal Profile’s About Tab

Start with your personal profile's "Contact and Basic info."

The first thing experts do when optimising their social media accounts is to place a link back to their website from under the About Tab.

To do this, head to Contact and Basic Info on the About Tab; in the website field, put your site link.

Social Media Backlinks seo

Note: remember to mark this field as public, so it's visible to anyone on Facebook.

Since you work at your company and your Facebook page represents your company's page, you can add your Facebook page link as your current employer on your Facebook personal profile.

That way, visitors can connect to your website and your business page.

Backlink #2: Your Page’s About Tab

In your page's About tab, you can add up to two different links or even more.

First, you can include a link to your About Me page on your website in the company overview field. 

And secondly, you can add a link back to your homepage.

Social Media Backlinks seo

You can see here that I make sure that my domain name appears in my about me section and an additional link to my about me page in the company overview field.

Backlink #3: Your Profile And Cover Photo Descriptions

Many people don't pay attention to this area.

Do you know you can place a link right underneath the cover photo area of both your profile and the page's cover photo?

If you don't, now you know.

Facebook designed these cover photos with a lightbox option such that when anyone clicks on it, it shows the lightbox of your photo and if you notice by the right side of the photo, are text displays.

Now to the right of your image, present an awesome opportunity to add a link to your website. 

Take a look at this…

Social Media Backlinks seo

Backlink #4: Your Page Buttons

Facebook allows you to customize your page's button as a call-to-action for your followers.

You can see this button under your cover photo, and you can edit it by clicking on the button, this will show you a drop-down item. 

Social Media Backlinks seo

Select "Edit Button" and place a link back to your website. Now when anyone clicks to learn more, it brings the person to your website.

All these including the one mentioned below, serve as social signals to search engines and should not be ignored just because they're nofollow.

Backlink #5: All Your Personal Profile And Page Posts

With your Facebook posts (page and profile post), you can expose your website URL to millions of viewers by including your domain.com in every post.

For example, whenever you want to post anything on your wall and share it with your friends, add your website URL to it.

Backlink #6: Your Group Description

If you have a Facebook group, here's another opportunity to utilise.

Within your description - preferably at the beginning - you should place your website URL so that when anyone joins the group and reads through the description, it'll be the first thing they see.

Social Media Backlinks seo

Backlink #7: Facebook Group Pinned Posts

Another way to maximise Facebook group opportunities and add links is through your pinned posts.

If you have a group, especially where members are free to add new members, you can create a pinned post on your group and include a link to your website URL so that when people join the group, it'll be the first thing they see.

Now let's look at LinkedIn link building.

LinkedIn Link Building

Although LinkedIn is no near Facebook in terms of audience. But being a professional and business social site, there are lots of backlinks you can harness ranging from personal profiles to pages, groups and posts.

Backlink #8: Your Profile’s Contact Info

On your contact info tab, you can add up to three links. And these links will be shown to your connections and anyone with a LinkedIn account.

One advantage LinkedIn has over Facebook is that you can customise your link's anchor text when it comes to adding links.

Here's how I include three different links to my website with my preferred anchor text.

Social Media Backlinks seo

You can track clicks from these links by configuring UTM parameters  (more on this - as we move on).

Backlink #9: Your Profile’s Projects Section

You can track clicks from these links with UTM parameters too!

You can include a link to direct people to a specific page on your site, either to a case study or an ongoing project you want people to be aware of.

Social Media Backlinks seo

Backlink #10: Your Profile’s Publications Section

Publications can be any of your best works. This could be:

  • Blog posts
  • Case study
  • E-books
  • Magazine
  • White papers
  • Reports of surveys or research

Both projects and publications sections give you a customisable "direct" link from your profile to your website or landing pages.

Consider adding UTM parameters to track your social signal backlinks.

Backlink #11: Your Profile's Posts

When posting articles on LinkedIn, be sure to add a link that will take visitors to your site to learn more about you - your services, your blog etc.

Social Media Backlinks seo

Backlink #12: Your Company’s Basic Information

Make sure you have links to your website on your company's page "basic information".

You can include a link to your landing page, service page or homepage.

This way, people viewing your profile on your company page can easily see your website URL.

Backlink #13: Your Group’s Website

LinkedIn group works almost the same way as Facebook group.

If you have created a group on LinkedIn, head over to the group settings and add your website URL as part of the information for both logged-in members and non-members.

Social Media Backlinks seo

Backlink #14: Group Announcements

Unlike Facebook groups, LinkedIn allows group admins can send out emails to their members in form of an announcement.

This is an opportunity to include a link to your website while reaching out to hundreds of thousands of members who've opted to receive a notification.

Twitter Link Building

Twitter may not be the powerhouse that it once was, but this bird App is far from dead. Let’s look at how you can get some social link juice from here:

Backlink #15: Your Twitter Website Field

This is another link back to your website - you wouldn't want to miss it. When you're setting up a Twitter account, make sure you add your website URL in the website field. It helps!

Social Media Backlinks seo

Backlink #16: Your Twitter Bio

Beyond the website field, you can add another link in your Twitter Bio within the 160 characters.

This is important for two reasons:

Twitter search results will only show the URL in your 160-character Bio information

When other sites fetch your bio information from Twitter to create your profile, the URL in your Twitter Bio is what will be fetched.

So make sure you add a link to your Bio when you're setting up your account.

Backlink #17: Your Photo And Video Tweets

The same way that we saw lightbox in action in the Facebook cover photos, photos and videos tweets -  shared on Twitter are also in lightbox design. And when someone clicks on the thumbnails, your website URL will appear provided you include it in the photos or videos you're sharing.

Pinterest Link Building

Pinterest may not be as popular as Facebook and Twitter among marketers but when it comes to social media backlinks, it works pretty well.

Backlink #18: Your Profile Link

Unlike LinkedIn where you have lots of places to place your URL, Pinterest only allows one link.

When setting up your account, Pinterest will ask you to include a link and verify it before you proceed. 

Backlink #19: Add Links To Your Rich Pins

You can extend your link building with Rich Pins. When you pin images on Pinterest, make sure to add a link at the end - back to your webpage.

Rich Pins are designed to provide more context to your products, services or web pages. From an SEO perspective, it increases brand awareness and adding a link back to your site will boost your traffic.

YouTube Link Building

If you have a YouTube channel and you create a lot of videos for marketing your business, here's an opportunity to also include a link back to your site. 

If you're not leveraging this link opportunity, you're just wasting the spots; no one will claim them.

Backlink #20: YouTube About Page

YouTube About Page (also known as a Channel Description) is a short description of the type of content you regularly publish on your channel. Whatever you put in your YouTube About Page will appear on your page and in the search results.

As people visit your page to learn more about your videos, you should help them also to visit your website to learn more about your services or products by including a link in the description.

YouTube About Page link really works well and is one you shouldn't miss out on.

Backlink #21: A Link In The Video Descriptions

When you're adding a description to your video, consider placing a link close to the beginning (the first 50 words of your description). This way, when someone clicks on it, it will take them to the specific page of your website.

Instagram Link Building

Instagram limit you to a single link in your profile leaving you to swap your Instagram bio link all the time. But you can find a handful of tools that'll give you more out of your Instagram bio link.

But here's a good start...

Backlink #22: Your Profile Link

The link on your Instagram profile works exactly as your Twitter Bio link. When people search for profiles on Instagram, the link you added will also appear with your profile.

Backlink #23: Instagram Stories

Nowadays people spend more time on Instagram thanks to Instagram stories. And if you have an Instagram account and you're not including a link back to your site to draw the attention of people to your website- you should immediately.

Although this link will disappear it means greater exposure and more click on your website URL.

Quora Link Building

Quora is a type of social platform where you can build backlinks to your website. There are tons of forum link-building opportunities on Quora - a question-and-answer platform. If you're creating relevant and helpful content, you'll get lots of referral traffic to your website.

Backlink #24: Your Profile

Your profile is a good place to start adding links. This will show up with other information whenever people view your profile.

Backlink #25: Your Answers

As you provide answers to questions on Quora, you should include a link that'll lead visitors to your site where they can learn more information.

This way you can drive relevant traffic to your site and the beauty of it all is that whatever helpful information you shared remains even for years together with the link.

Remember to keep things simple, don't spam! Quora is primarily a forum for questions and answers.

Reddit Link Building

Reddit is also a great platform to get free backlinks to your newly published content.

#Backlink 26

Sharing only your webpage URLs on subreddit like Reddit.com/r/promote

Social Media Backlinks seo

Or writing and publishing your stories or valuable information on and hyperlinking to your webpage on subreddit like Reddit.com/r/promote

Social Media Backlinks seo

Wrapping it up...

Social media signals essentially add to the overall visibility of a social media page as perceived by search engines. This encompasses both community websites like Tumblr and Reddit as well as social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. It's all about how people engage with a brand's content, with a strong emphasis on human interactions such as:

  • Likes
  • Shares
  • Retweets
  • Votes
  • Reviews
  • Views

All of these send the relevant signal of your page to search engines.

However, as backlinks remain one of the top-ranking factors, connecting your site to your social media account is one good way to get free backlinks. Although social media backlinks are no-follow they could still pass some hints to search engines as part of the determining factor of website authority. Link building takes time, but if you are just starting out or your website is new, I recommend you start building links from your social media profiles. It's FREE and helps strengthen your website!

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