How to Optimize Your Social Profiles for Search

Have you thought about optimizing your social accounts for search?

Do you know where to use keywords in your social profiles?

In social media, there are two search engines you have to optimize for: the search function within each social network and Google search.

In this article you’ll discover where to use keywords in your social profiles and pages so you are found when people search.

Discover how optimize your social profiles for search.

Anatomy of Google Search Results

First, take a look at the anatomy of a result in Google Search.

Example of a search result in Google.

There are three things you can usually (but not always) control in Google search results for your website and social profiles and pages: the title, page URL and description.

The title is shown first in a search result. This is made up of 50 to 60 characters generally found in the SEO title of a page. The SEO title for Social Media Examiner (as shown in the Google search result above) is:

Social Media Examiner: Social media marketing how to, research, case studies, news and more! | Social Media Examiner

The URL of the page is shown below the title. On social networks, your URL is usually the social network’s domain name followed by your chosen username.

The description of the page is shown below the URL. This is the 155 characters generally found in the meta description of the page. The meta description for this website is:

Social Media Examiner helps businesses master social media marketing to find leads, increase sales and improve branding using Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and YouTube

For Google search results, also note that Google can only pull information that is available on your public profile. This means you need to log out of each social network completely to see what your profile or page looks like. Anything that isn’t publicly viewable won’t be indexed by Google.

Here’s how to use keywords in your social profiles and pages to improve your visibility in search results.

#1: Optimize Your Facebook Page

When it comes to Facebook pages, you’ll see that most pages appear in Google search results like this.

Toyota’s Facebook page in Google search results.

Google’s search results use the Facebook page name, short description, number of likes and number of people talking about the page.

Specific elements of a Facebook page appear in Google search results.

In terms of keyword optimization, Facebook pages with keywords in the page name generally rank higher in Google search, as you can see below in a search for “cars on Facebook.” Although Toyota is a top brand for cars, their Facebook page doesn’t appear in the first page of search results.

Facebook pages optimized for the keyword “cars.”

Facebook search, on the other hand, uses more than just your page name. When you start a search for “cars,” you’ll see an option to click on Cars Pages.

A search for cars on Facebook.

When you click on Cars Pages, you’ll get pages in the Cars subcategory, found under the main brand or product category for pages.

Brand pages in Facebook search results.

If you switch your search term to just the keyword “cars” (without selecting Cars Pages), you have the option to find search results for that keyword under People, Photos, Pages, Places, Groups, Apps and Events.

If you’re a local business owner, note that your page will appear in Facebook search under Places based on your proximity to the searcher and the category of your page. In this case “car” or “cars” must be in the subcategory.

Local business pages in search results.

Key takeaway: If you want your page to come up in Google search for a keyword, that keyword needs to be in your page’s name. To come up in Facebook search, that keyword needs to be in your page’s subcategory.

#2: Optimize Your Twitter Profile

When it comes to Twitter profiles, you’ll see that most profiles appear in Google search results like this:

Twitter profile in Google search.

Instead of using the Twitter bio as the meta description for your profile in search results, Google pulls one of your latest tweets along with your profile name, username, number of followers, number of photos and videos and number of tweets.

Specific elements of Twitter profiles appear in Google search results.

In terms of keyword optimization, Twitter profiles with keywords in the name or username generally rank higher in Google search, as you can see below in a search for “cars on Twitter.” Again, although Toyota is a top brand for cars, their Twitter profile does not appear in the first page of search results.

Twitter profiles optimized for the keyword “cars.”

In search results on Twitter, profiles that are related to the keyword or phrase searched will appear, even if they don’t have the keyword in the name, username or bio.

Twitter search results for a specific keyword.

For example, Top Gear isn’t optimized for cars, but is a well-known show about them. Further down in the results, you also see unrelated queries with a keyword match, like a profile for a musician named Carly.

Key takeaway: If you want your Twitter profile to come up in Google search for a keyword, that keyword needs to be in your profile name or username. To come up inTwitter search, that keyword must be textually relevant to your account. Including it in the name, username or bio can also help.

#3: Optimize Your LinkedIn Company Page

For LinkedIn company pages, you’ll see that most pages appear in Google search results like this:

A LinkedIn company page in Google search results.

Google pulls your company page name and description for their search results.

Specific elements of the LinkedIn company page that appear in Google search results.

In terms of keyword optimization, LinkedIn company pages with keywords in the page name generally rank higher in Google search, as you can see below in a search for “cars on LinkedIn.”

LinkedIn company pages optimized for the keyword “cars.”

In search results on LinkedIn, company pages that have the keyword or phrase searched in their name will appear first.

LinkedIn search results for a specific keyword.

Key takeaway: If you want your company page to come up in Google or LinkedIn search for a keyword, that keyword needs to be in your company page name.

#4: Optimize Your Other Social Accounts

Now that you understand how profiles and pages from the top social networks appear in search and how keyword placement can help your rankings, let’s take a quick look at how to optimize your profiles and pages for other networks.

For Google+ pages, Google uses the profile name and a snippet from the introduction in search results. Pages with a specific keyword in the name rank best in search on Google and in Google+ search.

For YouTube channels, Google uses the channel name and description in search results. Videos with a specific keyword in the video name are more likely to appear in Google search over channels. Channels with a specific keyword in the channel name rank best in YouTube search under the Channels filter.

You can use SEO tactics to improve visibility for all your social profiles. Image: Shutterstock.

For Instagram profiles, Google uses the profile name, username and bio in search results. Profiles with a specific keyword in the name rank best in search on Google and in the Instagram app.

For Pinterest profiles, Google uses the profile name and description in search results. Pinterest boards with a specific keyword in the board name are more likely to appear in Google search results over profiles. Profiles with a specific keyword in the name will rank best in Pinterest search under the Pinners filter.

7 Ways to Track Your Social Media Marketing Activities

#1: Discover Optimal Times to Post

Use a tool like SumAll to track metrics such as what times of the day you get the most engagement and which content types work best for your social posts.


Find out when your social media posts get the most engagement.

As you gather these insights, start scheduling your posts at optimal times. Make other changes as well, such as a different content type or voice, to connect with and grow your audience.

#2: Examine the Reach of a Keyword on Twitter

To track the reach of a specific keyword or hashtag on Twitter, use a tool like TweetReach. For example, if you’re running a campaign with an associated hashtag, you can determine how far your hashtag traveled over a given time frame. TweetReach’s free service will look at 1,500 tweets for a given keyword.

For example, below are the results for a search for the hashtag #MondayBlogs. The results show that the term had a reach of nearly 211,000 accounts.


TweetReach analyzes tweets that match your keyword search term.

TweetReach also shows you the most influential accounts that help spread your message and makes it easy for you to engage with them.

With the premium service, you can track a hashtag over weeks or months to see how your campaign is spreading on Twitter.

#3: Research Your Competition

If you want to know where your competitors excel and where they’re falling short on social, use a tool like Rival IQ to find out.

Why is this good to know? If your competitors are tanking on Snapchat, for example, chances are you will too. Or if your competitors aren’t on Snapchat, it might be worth a look to see why. Maybe they were on the platform previously and it didn’t work out, or perhaps it’s just a venue they haven’t explored yet.

Use RivalIQ to research your competitors’ social presences.

A recent blog post from Rival IQ reveals engagement rates for Shopify and their competitors, complete with detailed graphics showing where each company has a social presence and where they get the most interaction.

You may find some of the results surprising. For example, Shopify gets the most engagement on Instagram. That’s probably not the first place you’d think people would go for an ecommerce solution, but Shopify is connecting well there.

#4: Identify Industry Influencers

Use a tool like BuzzSumo to identify who the influencers are in your field and what they’re talking about. Then connect with those people, talk to them and make sure you’re responding to them when they tweet you.


Beyond that, you can use BuzzSumo to find out which posts are getting the most action, discover relevant keywords you may have been unaware of andfind new Twitter chats to participate in. You can also see who shared the best content so you can target your following habits in the hope that they’ll follow you back.


Discover influential users, content and keywords.

Filter your results if you want to see what video is performing best or for details on infographics, for example. You can go back for a year, which is particularly useful if you have season-specific content.

All in all, BuzzSumo gives you insights on how to word your posts and whom to engage with for growth on which social platform. It’s a great tool for fine-tuning how you present your content on social media. Check out how your own posts rank to make sure that you’re improving over time.

#5: Determine Website Traffic Sources

With a customized landing page, you can measure many metrics, the most basic of which is just where website traffic is coming from.

Say you’re spending 10 hours a week crafting Twitter posts because you’re certain that your audience is there. If you then discover that your Facebook landing page is driving more traffic, you can streamline your efforts either by reducing the amount of time you’re spending on Twitter or by fine-tuning your efforts there to get a better click rate.

As you extend your reach, you can use custom landing pages to experiment with sales language, incentive offers and sign-up methods.

#6: Find Relevant Followers

Many social media marketers use ManageFlitter as a Twitter unfollow tool. It tells you which users aren’t following you back so you can take those people off your list and move on to folks who are more likely to engage with you. But this tool does so much more than that.


ManageFlitter analyzes tweets that match your search term.

It helps you find your ideal customers on Twitter, making it easy for you to follow them. Later, you can check whether those folks have followed you back. If you discover that a lot of them aren’t following you, it may be time to tweak your message or your bio. More relevant users are not only more likely to reciprocate your follow, but also more likely to engage with you and become customers.

#7: Examine Your Klout Score

Klout measures your influence by looking at how your social media posts drive the actions of your followers.

On Twitter, Klout takes into account the number of active followers you have and the value of those who retweet you. So, if you’re retweeted by someone with a Klout score of 75, it has more value (to Klout) than a retweet from someone with a Klout score of 35. Klout also looks at how many Twitter lists you’re on and who curates those lists.

On Facebook, Klout looks at either your page or personal profile, and how many followers or friends you have contributes to your score. According to Klout, they process 12 billion social signals a day from 620 million scored users.


Your Klout score fluctuates daily, so checking it every day isn’t particularly insightful. Instead, look for solid growth over the previous month.

If you’re not sure what your Klout score is, you can see it by logging into Klout.com and attaching your Twitter and/or Facebook account. The more social networks you connect, the better, because it’s a more accurate measure of your influence.

Final Thoughts

Measuring various social media metrics can seem like a daunting task.

If you’re overwhelmed at the thought of using multiple tools to measure these metrics, try incorporating one new method each month. That gives you time to see what kind of information you can gather. Make sure the tools you use offer meaningful information for your social strategy.

Ref: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/track-your-social-media-marketing-activities/

A Mature Digital Marketing Industry Provides SEO Opportunity For Small & Ambitious Businesses

As we approach the end of the year, I thought it would be worth reviewing 2013 — and discussing what opportunities lie ahead — from the perspective of a UK-based SEO with a diverse range of multinational clients.

This past year has unarguably been an exciting year for search marketing. We’ve seen Google take dramatic action to clean up its search result pages with its well-publicized Penguin and Panda updates, both of which are still being tweaked in ongoing updates.

This has resulted in a “clearing away” of lower quality sites using unethical SEO techniques and, therefore, a reward of greater visibility for brands “doing the right thing” online — much to the delight of ethical SEO agencies that play by the rules and focus on building relevancy, quality and long-term value for their clients.

The impact of this clearing-out, which has been particularly evident in the retail space, is profound, with better general discoverability for legitimate retailers over pure-play affiliate sites with domains to burn for short-term gain.

So, for SEOs running brand protection against knock-off retailers, life got a lot easier in 2013.

The UK has always been well positioned for technical, high-quality SEO agency support, with a number of world-class agencies rising above the substandard “SEO” of public imagination (and I do think we have a reputation issue as an industry). But European and US agencies have also really pushed the envelope in 2013, upping their game and delivering more technical, stats-led strategies using agile tools to drill down to the quick win opportunities that drive bottom-line revenue improvements for their clients.

As a result, forward-thinking businesses are particularly well positioned to take advantage of a number of multinational opportunities today that are present thanks to Google’s relentless focus on search quality.

Tools To Deliver Multinational Without Breaking The Bank

Arguably, there’s never been a better time in history to be a small brand looking to take on the big guns.

Google now offers tools (such as the hreflang sitemap) which allow small retail websites to roll out to new territories with minimal technical challenge and none of the negative SEO impact typically caused by duplication issues. (If you’re interested in the detail, I recommend this roundup on duplication.)

Of course, this advantage is by no means restricted to small sites, but small = agile, which typically means a competitive edge in getting changes implemented onsite.

So, you can now test new markets online in a way that has never been possible without significant technical and PPC budget. In fact, I’d argue that given the ease with which multinational e-commerce processing can be added to sites these days, your only question should be, “Can I reliably fulfill delivery?” If you can, there’s no reason not to be visible in a given target country right now.

I talk further about the SEO opportunity in this technique and its power to deliver a level playing ground across all brands — regardless of size — in a recent eConsultancy post.

In effect, all brands can be multinational. Smaller brands are agile enough that they can steal a march on their larger competitors by utilizing Google’s tools for huge multinational opportunity.

Challenges In Retail: Paying For Freedom

Two recent changes present a challenge to retailers using online as a key channel.

The first is Google’s migration of its shopping search service to paid-only back in February (in the UK, earlier for the US); the second is its dramatic removal of inbound search term data in its Web analytics package. Both require paid search (PPC) whereas before, they were vital tools provided to retailers for free.

Let’s take a look at the first of these.

Where Once There Was Free Traffic…

…now there is only paid.

Google Shopping was once one of the most economical search channels available. In fact, before it became Google Shopping, it was known as Google Base and inclusion could dramatically ramp up traffic for included retailers due to slow adoption.

All that was required was provision of a detailed and well-tagged feed with all items stocked for inclusion. In return, shopping results were regularly placed above #1 rankings for the highest competition search terms, driving huge quantities of traffic for the largest retailers.

Today, PPC budget must be allocated against the feed to retain inclusion. While still effective, this makes Google Shopping a more problematic feed to supply, as there is no control currently (though watch this space!), over how that spend is allocated across the feed. The unwary retailer could easily end up paying over the odds for clicks to low-value items that generate little or no profit margin.

Dynamically adjusting the feed’s listed items is a bootstrapped way of implementing control over the daily budget held against the feed, but more sophisticated bid strategies are required to really regain the power of this channel.

Ideally, stocking provisions and dynamic price control should be the only dynamic feed elements, removing items that are out of stock and synchronizing product price offers through to the SERP. Allowing standard PPC control over the feed bid strategy would allow for regional bid control, multi-device targeting options, product-specific CPCs and ad creative control and testing.

This is a challenging area for retailers, as the technical specifications are rapidly changing and no clear statement has been made by Google relating to its intentions with bid options. Watch this space is the watchword here.

Tracking Success

There are clear options when considering the second challenge, however: Google’s removal of search term data from its referral strings.

The first, and most obvious option, is to use something other than Google Analytics — an analytics package that could potentially gather keyword data from a different source. However, there are incumbent issues there: if you’ve previously been relying on Google Analytics, then you’ll be losing comparative historical data.

Think that’s no big deal? Consider how different your retail volumes are in December when compared to January and you’ll hopefully appreciate how important it is to compare like-for-like when performing analysis.

There are some options to consider to replace the data Google is now removing:

• You can replace referrer search terms (and look at your SERP CTR) using Webmaster Tools data. However, this data is not a like-for-like replacement of the original referrer data and needs to be treated as such. For big retailers, it will only be a tiny drop in the ocean of their referrer terms.
• Use third-party tools to gather search term rankings (including those of your competitors). This can be difficult if your tool isn’t up to scratch, or if you’re monitoring a significant chunk of terms.
• Use analytics based on ISP data (though this is a very expensive option and so not practicable for smaller retail brands and also doesn’t solve the referrer string issue).
• Implement thorough (and expensive) PPC campaigns replicating all traffic driving terms to date to gain the equivalent data via paid search.

It is clear that the trend from both of Google’s changes indicates a determination to push search analysis and sophisticated traffic-capturing strategies further into its paid search offering. Businesses which have traditionally stayed clear of paid search would be well advised to revisit their decision and sharpen their paid search skills over the coming months.

Online Champions

The market boasts some fantastically successful online retailers, and the general industry trend shows that retailers are planning to further expand their online marketing efforts in 2014. This is particularly likely in the mobile and tablet space, where the overall level of marketing spend is at a lower density than the traffic opportunity due to the recent  massive traffic and retail growth across both device types.

Combined with that trend, the further shift in the retail market into multi-device purchase paths (search at work on a desktop, go into a store and use a mobile for comparison, share the product pictures on the family tablet, etc) suggests that along with multinational opportunities for traffic growth, responsive Web platforms supported by a multi-device, multi-region paid search campaign will flourish in the new year.

Opinions expressed in the article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land.