We all know SEO. And we all know social media. Well….what happens when we stop choosing between the two and smoosh them together? This begs the question: How can SEO and social media work together?
They do it by creating a closed-loop system of visibility, authority, and audience engagement. While social media links do not directly pass traditional “link equity” to boost rankings, social channels drive branded search volume, rank in search results, and distribute content, (it can even help with pesky indexing issues!). Simultaneously, search engine keyword research informs what your social audience is actively looking for. Unifying both under an integrated SEOcial strategy helps your brand show up across Google, social search bars, image search, AI overviews, and AI assistants. Okay, but howwwww does this actually turn into more leads and clients for you? Let’s dive in.
Let’s Start Off Over Easy Here: What’s SEOcial?
If you have been treating your SEO team and your social media team like two coworkers who awkwardly pass each other by the coffee machine without speaking, we need to talk.
Welcome to SEOcial at Red Egg, where us eggs talk way too much at our coffee machine. SEOcial: our custom blend of search strategy and social storytelling at Red Egg Marketing. It is the art of getting your search and social teams to work in total harmony. Digital marketing channels do not live on isolated islands anymore. Seriously, it’s time for everyone to move into the same office. We don’t even have to meet at the coffee machine anymore!
Search engines are constantly looking for authentic brand signals, while social platforms have quietly evolved into search engines of their own. When you fry the two together that’s where the magic happens.
[Pop out quote with Lucas headshot: “It’s getting harder and harder to tell where social ends and search begins. People are using TikTok like Google, and Google is pulling answers straight from Reddit and video feeds. You can’t treat them as separate strategies when the line between them has essentially disappeared.” – Lucas, Social Media Coordinator at Red Egg Marketing]
Why We’re Going to Continue to See a Rise in SEO and Social Media Working Together
The way people look for information online has officially flipped on its head. Research shows that over 40 percent of younger users now turn to social media platforms first when searching for information instead of starting with a traditional search bar. If a Boomer read that sentence they’d probably have a heart attack.
People are searching TikTok for restaurant recommendations, Instagram and Pinterest for visual style inspiration, and LinkedIn for professional tools (and bragging rights). At the same time, traditional search engines and AI assistants are indexing public social media posts, short-form videos, and community discussions directly on search engine results pages. If your brand is only showing up on one side of the equation, you are missing half the party.
And this is my party. Here’s your official invite! Please bring deviled eggs.
So, How Can SEO and Social Media Work Together?
Ready to see how the magic actually happens? Here are four ways how SEO and social media work together to scramble ya up something great:
1. Social Signals Feed AI Answer Engines (Hello, Reddit and TikTok!)
AI agents like Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity devour real-time conversations from Reddit, LinkedIn, and social feeds to cite authentic user experiences. When your brand generates buzz and active discussions across social media, AI models treat those mentions as real-world proof of authority. The result? Your brand gets cited directly inside AI-generated search answers.
Here’s an example of this IRL:
I searched “best places to get an engagement ring Denver” and wa-la! AI Overviews has cited Red Egg’s long-term client Mark’s Diamonds as #1 in their list!
This super awesome ranking could be from a few things: Our SEO team being the absolute best and the fact that people love Mark’s and talk about them organically.
As you can see, the Reddit thread for r/Denver immediately gets pulled for this query. Told ya! Google loves some social proof. Not to mention an awesome shout out from The Knot mentioning them in the top 3. So as you can see, even without a backlink to their site, just getting people talking about you and your brand is a win.
2. Social Content Drives Branded Search Volume and Trust
When a reel catches fire or a post maintains steady engagement on social media, people do not just scroll past and forget it. They head right over to Google to search for your brand by name. High branded search volume sends an unmistakable signal to search algorithms that your business is legitimate, popular, and trusted.
We recently posted a video of an eggcellent prank we pulled on our head egg, Ryan, to our socials. In 7 days, we had a 65% increase in first time website visitors, all from organic social!
Here’s the video if you want to see our boss make the best dad IT joke known to man. My favorite is Ryan asking “Can you hear me?” and someone responding “No!!!”
3. SEO Keyword Research Guides Social Content Strategy
Stop guessing what to post on Tuesday afternoon. Our SEO team shares real-time search intent data, trending queries, and high-value keywords directly with our social media team. We even share a content calendar. It may seem like a lot of moving parts (it kinda is!) but this ensures every video, carousel, and caption answers the exact questions your ideal clients are typing into search bars. Because hey, your social posts can still show up when people are searching traditional SERPs. Why not be everything, everywhere, all at once?
In case you were wondering (of course you were) here’s a fun example:
I Googled a long-tail query that small businesses may be wondering: “Why do most Denver businesses’ websites still fail at SEO?”
You can see many different agencies cited here in the AI Overview answering the question! And I know we all see Red Egg Marketing right there, front and center.
But wait, there’s more!
Check out what happens when you feed search data straight to your social team! For a single high-intent question, Red Egg landed in the AI Overview, grabbed the #5 spot with a social video post, and snagged the #10 spot with an optimized blog post. That is three separate pieces of prime Google real estate owned by one strategy. Not too shabby, right?
But there you have it. We showed up in the AI overview and 2 other spots on the SERPs. And with limited spots on page 1, I say we’re doing pretty dang good at our SEOcial.
4. Social Media Platforms Function as Search Engines
Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube run on keyword-based indexing algorithms. By optimizing your social captions, video text overlays, and profile bios with strategic keywords, your brand shows up right at the top when users search inside those app search bars instead of traditional search engines. But you know who runs on an even more keyword-driven platform? Pinterest! Yep, bet ya didn’t see that one coming.
This is just a lil overview of not even a full year’s worth of data from our SEO Pinterest strategy for our jewelry client, Mark’s Diamonds. Seriously raking in those impressions!
And again, there’s more. I’m not sorry about it.
Here you can see we’re showing up for “expert jewelry repair in Denver” in the AI overview. How we got this keyword:
- Included it as a service on Google Business Profile (GPB)
- Have a well-optimized landing page on the subject
- Have blog topics talking about jewelry repairs
- Have a social strategy that includes repair-type content (like our Pinterest!
5. Content Cross-Pollination Maximizes Your Return on Investment
Turning a comprehensive, keyword-rich blog post into a series of engaging social carousels and short-form videos expands your reach without starting from scratch. On the flip side, embedding YouTube videos and social reels inside your website articles keeps visitors engaged longer, sending glowing dwell-time signals to search engines.
I have another amazing example of how we slayed this for one of our clients. I searched “mermaid facial Denver” (into my incognito browser, of course) and BOOM! Our fav Denver studio (and client), Mooi, shines bright!
As you can see above, Mooi is #2 on the AI Overview, #4 for their instagram post, and #7 for a blog we wrote for them.
Just like that, we crossposted the heck out of this mermaid facial service by dissecting the blog into bite-size social slides!
How We’re Hatching These Results
When it comes to building modern brand authority, showing off the real humans behind your company is the ultimate secret weapon. And yeah, I’m about to quote myself because it’s MY blog and I can do what I want.
“Social proof and proof of life is everything right now. Reviews and stuff like being talked about on Reddit are things you can’t fully control, but proving you are a real team of awesome humans doing your thing: that’s in your full control. So when your social media team and SEO team work together to build a unified strategy driven by keyword research, hot topics, and cross-platform linking – that’s perfect SEOcial, baby! In the land of mass generated AI slop, the people are beggggging for authenticity! Like I never thought I would miss spelling errors!! But yeah, SEO can look boring to those who don’t get it (couldn’t be me!), but when you add things like YouTube, real people, real thoughts, real perspectives, and real authenticity that social media brings, you can make a huge difference in showing up where it matters like on AI Overviews, AI assistants, and the SERPs.” — Morgan, AI SEO Manager at Red Egg Marketing
We see this play out every single day across our recent client work. When a potential customer sees your authentic personality on Instagram and then finds your detailed, helpful guides on Google, and an AI overview (and showing up on the map on the SERPs!) you’ve gained their trust a little more. This is how you become the go-to expert in your space. Mic drop.
What We Think the Future of SEOcial Will Look Like
SEO and social media are moving fast, and AI-powered engines are leading the stampede. Modern search platforms crawl video clips, social sentiment, community discussions like on Quora and Reddit, and brand mentions across the web to synthesize direct answers for users.
The future belongs to brands that maintain a lively, connected presence across every digital touchpoint. By unifying your search visibility with a vibrant social presence, you ensure your business stays discoverable no matter where your audience decides to look.
Hatch Your SEOcial Strategy with Red Egg
If you were having trouble picturing how SEO and social media work together or maybe even deciding between the two, let this blog be your sign!! Don’t think of it as a business expense, think of it as an investment into your business. Reach out today to chat AI, SEO, social media, and/or the best wine at Postino and lets get started!