Today, we’re talking about something called “social media backlinks.” But we won’t just give you a definition – we’ll also explain the different kinds of social media links that act like backlinks. Plus, we’ll share how these links can help your website show up better on search engines (that’s SEO). By the end, you’ll know if using social media links is a smart way to build links for your website, and how they can affect your site’s popularity and visitors.
What Are Social Media Backlinks?
Social media backlinks are basically links on social media sites that lead back to your own website. These links can be in different places, like your profile, posts, comments, or even shared directly on your social media feed. Examples of social media sites include Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Reddit.
There are different types of social media backlinks. For example:
- Text Links: These are links in posts and user profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
- Image Links: On sites like Instagram and Snapchat, you can find links on user profiles attached to images.
- Video Links: Platforms such as Youtube, Vimeo, and TikTok have links in video descriptions and overlays.
- Forum Links: You’ll find these in posts, comments, and profiles on forums like Reddit, Quora, and Digg.
- Bookmarking Links: Pinterest and Flipboard are examples of sites where you can discover links through bookmarking.
Does Social Media Count as Backlinks?
social media does count as backlinks. Any link that takes people to your business website is considered a backlink. It’s a good idea to use social media to link back to your website because it helps create backlinks for your content. This, in turn, makes your website more visible and can bring in more visitors.
Do Social Media Links Help SEO?
Social media links can help with SEO in two ways: directly and indirectly. Directly, they increase your content’s exposure and offer more chances to get backlinks from other websites, improving your website’s authority and PageRank score.
According to a case study on the Fat Stacks blog, social media engagement can assist in SEO, especially for ranking content with specific keywords. However, the study notes that social media alone won’t make your content rank high for competitive keywords.
Another article on Semrush discusses findings from five social media case studies on SEO. It suggests that social signals can temporarily boost your content’s visibility in Google, and tweets from influential users may influence short-term rankings for certain keywords.
In conclusion, social media links can bring visitors to your website, both through organic search and the social networks. They work well for less competitive keywords, and over time, these visitors may link to your content, further boosting your SEO. Overall, including social media backlinks in your long-term link building strategy is a good idea—they are quick to create and have positive or neutral effects on SEO, making them a valuable asset.
How Do I Build a Social Media Backlink?
To create a social media backlink, just add your website link in these spots: your profile, posts, comments, business info, and video overlays. Another way is to team up with other brands and bloggers for more social media backlinks.
For a detailed list of where to make these backlinks for better SEO, take a look at this guide on social media link building. It has all the info you need!
Social Media Backlinks Summary
I hope you liked learning about social media backlinks in this guide.
In a nutshell, social media backlinks are different kinds of links—like text, image, and video links—shared on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Reddit. While these links might not always directly affect highly competitive SEO keywords, there are cases where they quickly boost rankings for less competitive, long-tail keywords.
