SEO vs Social Media: Which is Better?

If you’re looking for a both-sides article that talks about “the unique benefits of both SEO and social,” this is not that article. This is an opinion piece, and here’s my opinion:

SEO marketing is better.

This doesn’t mean that social media is a waste of time. It means that in my opinion, if you’re a brand with little to no presence on social media or Google and you want to know which one you should focus on to promote your content marketing strategy, I will tell you:

Focus on SEO strategy first.

Focus your marketing efforts where people already are

When your business is looking for a new service provider for team collaboration software, do you search Twitter or Facebook for “team collaboration software”? 

No; you will go to Google.

You might post on your personal social media account asking your network for a recommendation. When you get suggestions, where will you go to research their recommendations?

Google.

When you want to compare different offerings side by side, where will you go?

Google, or perhaps Duck Duck Go—a search engine. 

That’s why search engine optimization is such a crucial part of content marketing. Like the Little Mermaid, you want to be where the people are. 

It might be tempting to focus on social media marketing first because you know there are a lot of people on each platform. But if you don’t have a large presence already, sharing your latest blog posts with 10 followers will net you nothing. Unless you already have a large audience that has proven their interest in your content, you will see very little from your social media channels. 

When organic traffic visit’s your site, you know you’re grabbing them when they’re looking for a topic that relates to you. When they see you on social media, your post is likely between a pregnancy announcement, a political screed, and other promotional posts.

SEO marketing ensures you get people when they’re looking for relevant content.

Build on a channel you own

You own your website and can put what you like on it. As modern politicians have shown, you don’t own your social channels and can lose access if you violate rules. Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp can go offline in the blink of a router. 

While your search rankings can be and are affected by search engine algorithm changes, dedicating a bit of thought to SEO ranking and optimization can net you many long-term returns. Just one optimized can net you years of organic traffic—I’ve seen it happen many times.

The more authority you build on search engines, the more visible your site becomes. When your target audiences search for a keyword you rank well for, they’ll find you. And when they visit your site, you can control what they see. On social media, that’s much harder to control.

SEO and social media can be mutually beneficial…

The larger your following, the more beneficial your social media is to your SEO. When you pair consistent social network interactions with authoritative SEO, search engines will continue to index your site higher.

That is not to say that social media directly impacts your rankings; it does not. Social media draws attention to your article, which, if you have the right audience and the right post, can draw in more page views and backlinks, which do directly impact your rankings.

So yes, SEO and social work in tandem, but here’s the key: You want to have a foundation of some SEO authority for social to enhance SEO benefits.

Social media content is not content marketing

It’s easy to fall into the assumption that social media marketing falls under the umbrella of content marketing (or vice versa). While these two digital marketing strategies work together, they are distinct practices.

Content marketing focuses on educational and persuasive content that entices people to buy. With content, you optimize it, publish it, see how it performs, and adjust it over time. Social media marketing is an immediate, interactive practice that varies by social channel. Social media management requires publishing posts, responding to comments, building a community, and interacting with that community. 

Social media has an ongoing immediacy and connection to the zeitgeist that content simply does not.

SEO is an extension of content marketing

While SEO is its own practice and field of expertise, it relies on quality, optimized content from the content team. Most content creators have at least a baseline knowledge of SEO best practices and are generally thrilled to work closely with an SEO expert.

Ask a content creator to also manage social media, and most of them will give you a look of confusion and, potentially, fear. It’s just a different beast. But ask a content creator for some keyword research and optimization, and a good one will say, “I always do.” 

SEO or social media marketing?

While this will always depend on the client, their current social following, and their target audience, I will almost always recommend focusing more intently on SEO than social media marketing—in the beginning. 

Here’s what that approach looks like: We spend most of our time defining an SEO strategy, identifying target keywords, and creating optimized content around all of that. When the content is published, we share it on social media. If you don’t have a dedicated social media person, we recommend you spend at least 15 minutes a day on each channel liking, sharing, and commenting on content that your target audience and/or industry engages with.

After we’ve had a few months to build up your content, observe trends, and fine-tune optimization, then we recommend adding more to your social arsenal with a dedicated social marketing specialist (we are not social media experts, but we love to work with them!).

So, if we’re going to pit search engine marketing vs social media marketing, this content marketer will almost always side with SEO.