Free link inspiration: How to get backlinks from social media

Social media boosts your link building. Active participation on LinkedIn, X, and Facebook provides backlinks from authoritative platforms. It increases your brand visibility and shows Google that your business is relevant and present. Get both backlinks and brand mentions through social media easily and for free.

Backlinks from social media are often nofollow and do not directly affect Google’s algorithms. Brand mentions still have value, as they show Google that your business exists and is worth following.

Sharing links to social media articles that provide value to the reader will increase your visibility. Google values unique and relevant content. Social media makes your content visible and can lead to shares, mentions in articles, and citations that strengthen your link building and authority.

Social media activity increases your brand visibility and improves your SEO value by showing Google that your business is active and relevant.

Does Google crawl social media?

Many people think that Google does not crawl and index social media content. This is not true! Google does index social media content, so your business will be visible on Google through brand mentions and social media visibility. Here’s proof that this isn’t true.

Brand specific

1. Go to Google and search ‘site:social media platform + your brand’, for example, ‘site:linkedin.com morningscore’. If you type ‘site:’, you will only get content from that site. In this case, you will only see content from LinkedIn.com.
   

As you can see, you get a lot of results. This is proof that Google is crawling and indexing social media content. Check for yourself by adding your own brand to the search bar.

Articles

Social media posts and articles appear in Google searches even without ‘search shortcuts’ such as platform or brand delimiters.

For example, if you search for ’10 job searching tips,’ a LinkedIn post appears as the third highest-ranking result. Social media is crawled and indexed by Google. A link in your social media post indirectly boosts your SEO.

Are links harmful to your social media content?

Many people fail to share links in their social media posts because they think it will ruin their reach. This is a wrong assumption. Sharing links can have a positive effect on both your business and SEO. Link building is more about brand mentions in relevant contexts.

Sharing relevant links, such as articles, increases the credibility of your post and adds value for the reader. It attracts more visitors to your website and shows Google that your post is relevant to the visitor.

Here’s an example of how posts with links still get views.

The video shows several examples of how links in LinkedIn posts do not kill views. On the contrary, the posts get more views than usual.

Don’t be afraid to include links in your posts—do it proactively when it makes sense and adds value to the reader.

Only add relevant links

A backlink from social media is often a nofollow link. This means that it does not add direct link value to your website. However, the link can still be valuable. It allows the reader to click and be directed to your website. It tells Google that people who see the post on social media find it interesting and want to read more. The link adds value to your post, which is highly valued by Google.

Only share links when they are relevant. Don’t share links just for the sake of sharing. If you share an irrelevant link, readers will find it unnecessary, and it won’t add value to your post.

If you share a relevant link on social media, readers can share it further. Your post can be shared as a source in another post, in a news article, or as someone else’s post. This increases your brand’s visibility online and indirectly improves your SEO.

For those looking to increase their online visibility and gain brand mentions, social media links offer improved SEO value.

When is a link relevant?

A link in a social media post is relevant when it provides value to the reader. Always keep the reader in mind when creating online content. Google crawlers are complex and know what creates value for humans. They prioritise unique content that provides real value and new knowledge.

For example, adding your website address below information on Facebook or LinkedIn creates value.

If you share an article on LinkedIn or X, add a link to the article itself. This makes it easy for the reader to click and open the article. It will drive traffic to your website and engage the reader.

See your backlinks

Get a complete overview of your backlinks and see their strength with Morningscore. With our link tool, you can view new, lost and dead links, as well as see your competitors’ backlinks.

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