Sabine says: “My insight or tip is to integrate social media into your search strategy.

More and more people, especially younger generations, are turning to these platforms to do their searches – searching for answers, inspiration, research – and we need to understand that it's not just the traditional search engines that are the main focus anymore.”

Are the younger generation turning to social for all kinds of searches or is it only a certain stage in the user journey?

“It's all kinds of searches. If you're looking at topics it's still businesses within the classic areas of fashion, beauty, technology, fitness, health, etc. Those B2C areas are still the most popular.

It can be searches that are both upper and lower funnel, looking for answers to questions and research, but it can also be very close to a conversion such as a product review and really understanding what to look for before you make that purchase.”

Is there any particular social media that we're talking about?

“It depends on the business, which social media is the most relevant for the business.

But looking at the behaviour, I'd say that YouTube and TikTok are the major players right now, looking at where that traffic is going. However, in some businesses, Pinterest is really relevant for looking at fashion and interior design, and for some specific target audiences.

However, I'd say YouTube and TikTok mostly.”

Does the same type of content get published on YouTube as well as TikTok or are they different forms of content?

“Yes and no. There are shorter formats on YouTube as well: Shorts. If you compare Shorts to TikTok, that could be a bit similar.

However, there are longer pieces of content: we're talking really in-depth product reviews, especially within tech. That works really, really well. That longer type of content is still what we're focusing on with YouTube, and then a bit shorter content on TikTok.”

When you're talking about longer content, are we talking about 10-20 minutes or any particular length?

“I'd say it's pushing towards 20/30 minutes. Some are even longer, but then it’s usually not a business account. Usually, it's a content creator that has a really engaged audience that can sit and listen for a while.

Otherwise, it’s around 20 minutes for in-depth product reviews.”

You're talking about a content creator account. Does this mean that it may not be the business itself that owns the channel?

If that's the case, are you talking about making some form of collaboration with content creators?

“I’d say that, even if you're an influencer or calling yourself a content creator, you are your own business.

My tip is really targeting both the traditional businesses and also those who consider themselves as a personal brand and want to increase their search visibility on social platforms – and not just thinking about that engagement, but also thinking one step further and thinking about search.”

Is the ultimate goal for each video to drive people back to your website?

“Well, it depends on where they are in the customer journey. For some content, it's almost brand-building. You just need to be where your customer is.

If they're looking for those answers that are very upper funnel, then you just want to introduce them to your content and make them a follower and a fan. Then there are different types of content that are closer to a purchase, where they might already know you, and then you want to send them to the webpage to purchase.”

For the upper funnel content, where your goal is to make them a follower or a fan, is the only way to measure that by looking at the number of people who are actually following you?

Are there other ways that you can actually measure the impacts of what you're doing?

“Great question. If we take a step back and look at what we are actually optimising, and we're talking about how to measure it, we need to understand what we are doing so we can follow up on those metrics.

Just like Google, social platforms have ranking factors. In order to create content that gains extra search visibility, we need to optimise for time on platform, engagement rate, click-through rate, and build that authority. We can evaluate content in the upper funnel on those.

Do people watch the whole video? Are we engaging them to feed the algorithm what they want? Is our content engaging? Then also evaluate those pieces of content that we are strategically optimising for extra search visibility and look at: what are our engagement rates? Do people like it? Do they comment on it? Do they share it? And do they become a follower from it?

Then look at that separate content that has a bit more of a focus on driving traffic to our website and convert those viewers and then look at those metrics. Do they get to the website and actually purchase the product?”

You're talking about having a look at the metrics such as the length of the video that they're actually consuming. How do you actually make the decision as to what content is likely to result in a video that is watched all the way through?

“Well, you need to obviously look at the content you have produced and evaluate what works and what doesn't. But there are a few tips and tricks in order to maximise your chances of getting the best result in terms of people watching the whole video.

A lot of people have probably heard about hooks and making people stay and really consume the whole clip or video.”

What's an example of a hook?

“There is something called pattern interrupts, where you can change different camera angles, say something unexpected, or use sound bites that are unexpected and keep the viewer engaged, not just setting up your phone, talking into the phone, and then that's it.”

Is there any trend that you're seeing in terms of the type of content that is working most effectively at the moment?

“Well, that depends on what day we're looking at. Speaking of trends, as a business especially, I think you need to understand and evaluate what trends you should jump on and not, and find your personality and your way of doing it.

When you find that personality and you have a bit of self-distance and start doing those trends, that works really well when companies have a personality.

Another trend that really works that is evergreen is to look at the comments and look at what your followers are requesting. A lot of business accounts ask their followers, ‘What recipe should we do next?’, or ‘What product should we review next?’, and then actually create videos and tag those comments like, ‘Here it is!’ That works really well.”

At the beginning of your answer there, I thought you were going to say that it depends on the category of business that you were talking about, but you said it depends on the day.

Does that mean that your content needs to change according to the day of the week? Is that what you're saying?

“No, just that social media is ever-changing. When speaking about trends, what I might recommend today might change within days. That's just how I feel.”

So, you have to keep your ear to the ground, make sure that you know what your target market is after and consuming at that moment in time, and deliver something similar to them.

“Yes. Yeah, exactly.”

How does this all fit into an overarching search strategy then? I mean, if it changes so often, is it possible to plan much beforehand?

“Well, we are talking SEO, so something that is kind of a relief is that we are still able to do traditional keyword research and make our content very data-driven.

Just like you would plan your content production on your website according to what keywords you want to gain visibility on and rank for, you can do that keyword research, using that same method, for the different channels.

For example, TikTok has Creative Centers showing different trends for different hashtags, keywords, and sounds. You can use classic tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush to also get that search volume information and use those same keyword research tactics for social platforms that you would use for your website.

Integrating it into a search strategy isn't that strange, when you look at it.”

Got you, okay. What about reporting in general? Should reports provide information about traditional SEO success and social altogether to actually provide more of a joined-up approach?

“I think that, overall, a lot of businesses still see SEO, paid search, and social as completely separate channels. I'd say that, when it comes to SEO and social media, it wouldn't make sense if every single piece of content that you publish on TikTok is optimised for specific keywords.

You will still have content that is just there to engage your target audience. Just be really strategic in choosing the pieces of content that are produced strategically to gain search visibility, follow up on those, and include those in the reporting.

How is our engagement rates on those posts and do we have a top-ranking position in the internal search engine on the platform?”

Is there a certain formula that you tend to follow for the creation of content for social media?

You mentioned that some posts should be keyword-targeted and other posts should be a little bit more reactive and focused on the audience.

“I'd say that you really need to have a close relationship with the social media team because I'm not here to take their job. I'm here to provide the data for them and also inspiration on what you can do because we all have the same goal for the business.

The social media team is still doing the creative, but I'm here to provide them the data-driven keyword research and give them tips for the content that they can produce. They are still doing the production.”

Should every type of business be using social media or is it only certain types of businesses that you're talking about here?

“I'd say that certain platforms make more sense for certain businesses.

If we're talking B2B, then maybe TikTok and Pinterest don't make sense for them, but then you should have a closer look at LinkedIn and what type of optimisation of your posts you can do to gain more organic visibility on those – or maybe YouTube for an in-depth case study or a product review of your B2B product.”

Do you have any thoughts on AI's position as part of the content production process?

“It can make the process a lot more productive, of course, just for the web production. We are talking about social media. I'm a bit on the fence when it comes to the creative part and using AI to create videos and images for organic content on a social platform.

I'd say it can make it more productive when it comes to the text production, but be careful.”

Okay. So, it sounds like you probably have more of a test-and-learn mindset where you're not against it, but you want to see evidence that it's worthwhile to use.

“Yeah, definitely. It could work for some businesses, but it's not an overall, ‘Yeah, go for it!’”

So, you've shared what SEO should be doing in 2024. Now let's talk about what SEO shouldn't be doing. What's something that's seductive in terms of time, but ultimately counterproductive? What's something that SEO shouldn't be doing in 2024?

“Well, it would be a crime not to say this tip. Speaking about social media, as an SEO, you shouldn't only focus on optimising your website. You should be very open-minded to teaming up with these other teams, like the social media team, and really see how your role might change. Understand how you can help each other, rather than working in small, divided groups.

On that topic, be really mindful of your time and think about repurposing content. Take that blog post that you're doing for your website and make that into a social media post as well, if you see that there is search volume for those platforms for the same subject.”

Sabine Ljunggren is Senior SEO Specialist and Partner at Maia Marketing, and you can find her over at MaiaMarketing.se.