Content is king. We can’t emphasize this fact enough. No matter how the Internet evolves, content will still remain as its key driver. That’s why to future-proof your business and your website, you always need to come up with content that is worthy not only of people’s attention, but also of the time they take to share it.

Indeed, the Internet has come a long way. Gone are days when all you need to rank your site well in search is to properly optimize the on-page and off-page factors. Now, for your site to be able to rank even better, your content needs to be more social, and the more your content is shared, the better it is for your site’s ranking. Today, the line that seemed to separate SEO from social is slowly blurring.

To understand how creating a share-worthy content can rank you higher in search, we must first understand that there two sides to creating content. One is creating content from our intended audience’s point of view and the other is from an SEO standpoint.

Creating content from your audience’s point of view

Generally, there are two steps to content production; one is actually writing or coming up with the content, and the other has to do with promoting it. These days, the more social your content is, the better its chances for success. That’s why some of the most successful content is published as a blog post, repurposed for video sites, and shared on your social media profiles.

Keeping these three social channels, i.e., blogs, video sites and social media profiles, in mind is crucial for your success. That’s because by promoting your content on social media, you will make it easier for your content to be share.

But also keep in mind that your content shouldn’t be overly promotional. Be careful. People share content that they find interesting, helpful, informative and humorous. They’d take your content for granted at the first hint of it being too promotional.

When writing or creating content, be sure to research what your audience wants. Focus on what applies to your specific audience. What are their pains? What are their problems? How can you help them increase their pleasure?

And when you’re done writing your content, before publishing it, assess it thoroughly and ask yourself “Is it valuable enough to warrant social shares?”

Creating content from an SEO standpoint

On the SEO side of things, remember that since the explosion of social media, search engines now put more value into content shared via social media channels.

Social signals are now part of the search engines’ ranking algorithm. Social signals refer to the social interactions your content has gained. Some of the metrics included are the number of times your content has been liked and shared on Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+. It also includes the number of times your content has been shared on Twitter and the number of times your tweet has been re-tweeted.

Social signals may also include the level of activity your social channels have. The more active your social media profiles or channels are, and the more number of people following your social media channels, the more authoritative you are in the eyes of the search engines.

So when creating social media profiles or channels where you share your content, be sure to keep those channels active. It will increase your chances of ranking higher not only your content, but also your social profiles.

Conclusion

If your content isn’t getting enough exposure and shares on social media, your marketing efforts could be missing out on a lot of opportunities in terms of SEO. With social media, you can gain more links for your content, and it also helps elevate your status as a credible and authoritative author.