This is a question a client asked me recently, and I know it’s something a lot of people wonder about.

And as always when it comes to a digital strategy and the online world in which everything works both separately and together, the answer is yes – and no.

Let me explain

If you think about all the ‘doors’ through which people can find you (which is a metaphor I use to explain online visibility), clearly a social following and activity on these platforms are doors.

People who are following you on social media have found you and can find their way from your social platforms to your website.

So you will be getting website traffic through your ‘social doors’ and you might think ‘oh I have enough traffic now who cares about more’.

BUT I don’t actually believe any ambitious person would think they have enough traffic.

If you are anything like me, you will want more traffic regardless of how much you already have.

You see, social doors are not a ‘Google door’ per se, and do not capture those people turning to Google and searching for things that might relate to what you do and offer.

And as well know, there are a heck of a lot of Google searches every single millisecond.

How many people are Googling what you offer?

So if you think there are lots of people ‘Googling’ whatever is you offer (which there probably are) then SEO is definitely worth doing.

And as for whether or not active and popular social channels can influence a website’s ranking and remove the need for SEO – well, although a lot of people believe that it must do in some way, Google has categorically stated it doesn’t….

Although, that said, social channels like Youtube (that double up as search engines) are owned by Google, and that content will rank in a search engines result so there is an impact there. Confused?!

Taking a holistic approach

The best way to look at things is to take a holistic approach towards your online visibility, in which all sorts of factors come together. Social activity is one. SEO is another.

Yet they work together too. All your blog posts for instance are a form of content persuasion and a display of authority – which Google loves. Your blog posts also give you something to share onto social media.

So if you can’t afford an SEO company, or don’t want to learn about the technical side of SEO yourself, then blogging will improve your website’s ranking AND help your social media activity.

Your goal is to create a win win situation by developing a holistic strategy in which everything you do online, from your social media to your videos, to your website to the keywords in your blog post, compliment and work together. And SEO AND social media will be a part of that winning result.