• by Tamara Weintraub , April 8, 2013

According to research, 85% of clicks go to organic links when a search is conducted. This means it’s more important than ever for your business to take up more space on the first page of the search engine results page, whether consumers are searching for product or service keywords or for your business name. But how?

In addition to your business Web site, directories, and blog, optimizing your social media sites for SEO is an easy way to ensure there is more content about your business on the search engine results page. Here are a few tips for optimizing your presence on top social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest.

Create a vanity URL

One key place to optimize for search is the URL for each social media site, if allowed. If possible, each URL should contain your business name -- but if it’s already taken, consider adding your location to the URL, such as facebook.com/davesplumbingdallas. Making your URLs as similar as possible will not only help consumers looking for your business online, but will demonstrate consistency between all your disparate pages. 

Take advantage of the "about" section

When it comes to helping your social media profiles rank well on search engines, the more relevant content you provide about your business, the better. Take advantage of the places people expect you to talk about yourself, like the “About” section. For starters, update your introductions or “About” sections to accurately describe your company, using 2-3 business keywords you think people will use when looking for your types of products or services. In addition, provide a link back to your Web site, which can help create inbound links to your Web site and boost its SEO. On Google+, you can even link a particular keyword in your introduction back to your Web site.

Include geotargeted keywords

Because most of your customers and prospects are likely looking for a business within a specific geographic area, it’s important to include geographic markers, like your physical address and cities or neighborhoods you service, in content areas like business information sections, events, or special offers. Including a geographic keyword can help your social media pages rank when people look for businesses in your target area.

Craft content that gets shared

Did you know that your social messages on your Facebook fan page, Twitter profile, and Google+ page could strongly affect how those pages rank in search? You need to create content that is entertaining and engaging for your audience, since the more users interact with your business online, the more authority you create within each social media site. Major search engines look at this authority to determine how your business’ social pages should rank in search engine results. So be sure to share various types of content such as photos, videos, infographics, events, and special offers that drives likes, comments, and shares.

Regularly post new content

It’s no secret that search engines like fresh and updated content -- so post consistently and frequently to all your social media sites to get them to rank on the search engines. Keeping your social sites updated will not only help your content rank highly in search, but will also keep your audience interested in your pages, encouraging engagement. Although posting frequently is important, you don’t want to spam your fans and followers. So, monitor and measure your social posts and their results in order to determine the times that work best for your business on each platform.

For example, many businesses see success on Facebook when they post 5-10 times per week, but posting more than 7 times per week created a 25% decrease in interaction rates, according to one study. On Twitter, you can try using hashtags, which provide a 21% increase in engagement when used a maximum of twice in a post.

There are many factors that search engines consider when ranking your social media sites organically. With these tips, you’ll be able to boost search results for your social media sites and increase the chance that consumers will find you when searching for your type of business.