GET FOUND On Social Media – they’re as Powerful as Google

The main social media networks, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, X, Pinterest, TikTok, and YouTube, each have very powerful internal search engines and algorithms that rival Google. Here are some easy tips to help you optimize your social media profiles to get found when someone is searching for what you have to offer. Furthermore, the AI search bots like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini scrape, that is, grab content from the social media networks. Additionally, you have online communities like Reddit and Quora, which also have internal search engines.

If you don’t have your business profiles optimized for all the search engines, you won’t come up in search results. They work the same as Google, based on keywords and phrases that searchers enter into the search box to find what they need.

Also, your social media business profiles appear in Google searches. Searching for information on a business, I entered the name, and their LinkedIn company profile came up first, above their website! I was searching to get more information on a political candidate, and when I Googled her name, her Facebook business page came up before her website!

Here are some tips to help you tweak your social networks to make them POWER PROFILES!

1. Clearly define your target market. The better you get to know your target market niche, the better you’re going to be able to reach them.
2. Do some keyword research. This will tell you the keywords and phrases your potential customers are using. Google Keyword Planner is the best. It’s part of their Ads program, but it’s free to use.
3. Once you have your keywords, it’s time to get creative with your social media profile descriptions.
   1. X (Formerly Twitter) and Pinterest only give you 160 characters. Instagram is shorter at 150 characters. TikTok gives you only 80 characters. So avoid using “flowery language” and make it keyword-centric.
   2. Facebook and LinkedIn give you a lot of space; use it! But it’s the same thing, keep it keyword-centric.
   3. YouTube gives you several places to add descriptions, including the video defaults and the channel description. By the way, YT is the 2nd largest search engine next to its parent, Google. “How to” is the most searched-for phrase.
   4. Spell-check and proofread! Some of these search engines give you exact matches. If you misspell something, it won’t come up.
   5. Put yourself in your target market’s shoes. Look at everything from their perspective.
4. Make sure you have the correct URL (web address) linked properly on your website. This helps with overall Search Engine Optimization (SEO). I don’t know how many times I’ll click on one of the social media buttons on a website, and it goes either to the main network page (not their profile or business page) or “sorry, this page doesn’t exist”! That hurts your online reputation!

It’s Part of Your Branding

You have only 7 seconds to catch a visitor’s attention. Make it good!

Your graphics should be of good quality, not fuzzy, and a visitor should know instantly what it is you do and what you have to offer.

Need help with your social media profiles?

I’ll take a look at what you have, website and social networks, and give you some tips on optimizing them. Click here to schedule your free call.