by Meagan D. Saxton, Social Media Specialist, ddm marketing+communications
Just as SEO best practices require revision whenever Google’s periodic core updates take effect, so do social media best practices. We don’t traditionally think of written social media content in the context of SEO, but we should.
Social media users are increasingly using the internal search functions on LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and other sites to find information in lieu of Google. Including the most popularly searched keywords in your social posts can make the difference between getting seen by the right customers/clients or not.
Of course, Google also indexes public posts on LinkedIn and Twitter/X, as well as TikTok captions. Social media hashtags are not as functional as they were at their inception — with some exceptions — so optimizing your social marketing content for search is more important than ever.
Social Posts and Google
The text that Google indexes from the major social media sites is incomplete, but still substantial.
A brief summary is in order:
LinkedIn: Profile information that is publicly available is indexed by Google, making it searchable on the web. This can include job titles, company names, education, and summary sections. So is content shared publicly, such as status updates, articles, and posts.
Twitter/X: Tweets and replies to tweets that are public (i.e., not protected by a private account) are indexed by Google. The full text of the tweet, along with hashtags and mentions, can appear in search results. Google can also index text from public Twitter profiles including a user’s bio and location, if publicly shared.
Instagram: Google can index publicly visible Instagram posts, including text captions. Comments on public posts can also be indexed if they are visible and not hidden behind privacy settings. Stories are generally not indexed by Google since they are designed to be temporary.
Threads: Threads posts are publicly visible by default, so Google can index text-based content like status updates, comments, and replies. If a user’s profile is set to public, the text in the bio and posts will be indexed by Google.
TikTok: Videos have titles, text descriptions, and captions that can be indexed by Google, but the actual video content (e.g., visuals, audio) is not directly indexed. Hashtags can be indexed by Google and may show up in search results if they gain popularity.
With so much of our social content searchable, choosing the right words is important for attracting eyeballs. By offering a 10,000-foot view of the words people are searching for on any given day, Google Trends is a useful, free tool for informing your social keywords.
Even more useful, though, is each app/site’s internal search function. What are the actual users of social sites searching for on each site’s internal search engine, and how? As those internal search engines grow increasingly sophisticated, users are less likely to rely on Google to find anything on the internet at all. Historically, a social user could affix a popular hashtag to their post to ensure it picks up the right eyeballs. These days, the venerable hashtag is less important than ever.
Hashtags aren’t what they used to be
When was the last time you used a social hashtag to find something you were looking for? Chances are you arrived at what you were looking for another way. The internal search engines on each site/app are simply better at sifting through millions of posts to find the most relevant results to your search.
Hashtags are more harmless than harmful. There’s still a smart way to use them on each platform. LinkedIn recommends attaching five or fewer to your posts and articles. Users can view an updating list of the 50 most popular hashtags. A subsection under Twitter/X’s search tab shows the trending words and hashtags at any given moment; most will be words now.
Instagram still recommends using hashtags, but no more than 10, and it’s removing the ability to follow hashtags by the end of the month. Within that limit, be strategic. Use a couple big hashtags that a lot of people (i.e. 5 million or more) are using, a medium-sized one (5 thousand or more users), and a niche hashtag (fewer than 50 users) to capture a range of users. Simply using a popular hashtag because it’s popular doesn’t help when 5 million users are using it, too. Your post is likely to be very low in the search results under that hashtag.
Regardless of the platform, be strategic with your hashtags. For example, tagging a post with #socialmediamarketing as opposed to #socialmedia will limit the number of eyeballs, but capture a more relevant audience. Use the hashtag that targets the audience you’re trying to reach, rather than simply the most popular one.
Keep in mind that those hashtags are searchable forever, and can be used to build up a community in the long term. Even if they’re not popular today, the most relevant hashtags to your organization’s goals might be popular among your social followers in the future.
Capitalizing on trending topics on social media
Your organization should have a well-formed idea of the topics, messaging, and images that resonate with your audience offline and in non-social media settings. That’s your “lane.” If you don’t stay in that lane on social media, don’t be surprised if users remind you to stay there!
While it might be tempting to massage every trending topic and social hashtag on your organization’s channels to gain eyeballs, think a couple steps ahead. If a political candidate or polarizing issue is gaining popularity on social media in an image, video, or hashtag, it might be fun to join the trend. But you don’t necessarily want to be perceived as endorsing a political position, particularly if it isn’t germane to your industry.
If a trending topic is germane to your organization’s industry and expertise, it can be a chance for your brand to become a leading voice in the conversation. New government regulations that affect professionals or consumers might not be “trending” on social media beyond a small group of in-the-know users. Depending on your ability to inform potential consumers and clients, you might use your social channels to bring the issue to light beyond your niche. In a best-case scenario, a broader conversation might start trending because your social account started it.
The biggest challenge for social media professionals might be practicing restraint while staying on top of the trending topics, keywords, hashtags, and search terms — both inside and outside of each individual social channel. It’s a lot of information to take in, and knowing what to do with it requires wisdom that can only be gained with experience.
Meagan Saxton 
is a Social Media Specialist at ddm marketing + communications. She has several years of experience creating content and managing social media accounts for healthcare, higher education, and financial services organizations.
