The Guardian recently focused on how Substack makes bank from far-right and white supremacist content. Substack leadership has since openly stated that they “don’t like Nazis, either.” …but they’re totally fine with boosting profits by giving far-right creeps a platform. 

And now, they’ve announced a partnership with OpenMarket. As if it wasn’t creepy enough that there are people betting on real-world events, connecting a prediction market with a platform that’s supposedly driven by journalism is just gross.

I won’t keep outlining Substack’s crimes, because other people have already done it better. Instead, let’s talk about better places to start your newsletter, or move it away from Substack.

What to look for in newsletter platforms

If you’re looking for the anti-Substack, there are a few baseline boxes you’ll want to check:

• Independent tech. We’ve seen it time and again: a tool that’s backed by billionaires is just more likely to engage in shady practices.
• No cuts from your profits. Substack takes a 10% cut of your paid subscription revenue, and that’s on top of banking transaction fees. There are plenty of other tools that don’t.
• Access to your audience. You should be able to collect email addresses of all of your subscribers, and export them to another tool when you choose. Substack is already undermining that with their effort to drive readers towards their app, and then enabling in-app notifications… which effectively unsubscribes your readers from your newsletter.

Outside of that, there are a lot of options, and you’ll need to get cozy with your goals in order to know which tool serves you best.

What are the best newsletter platforms?

I’ve said it about website builders and e-commerce platforms, and it’s true here, too: the best tool for you depends on your goals, and how easy it is for you, specifically, to use. 

Ease of use is really subjective, and I believe it’s something you ultimately have to test out yourself. As far as goals in this instance, think about what matters more to you: powerful email newsletter capabilities, a strong online blog presence for your content, or control over what you’re presenting.

Strong in email and on the web: Ghost

As a Ghost user who cares about visual design, I think it splits the difference pretty well. I was able to make the web presence and email design for The Radical Marketer look up-to-standard pretty quickly, and it’s easy to preview both web and email content at different subscriber levels.

Ghost has only more recently started rolling out features like welcome emails, but I expect they’ll grow its capabilities over time. If you don’t want to wait for that to happen, Outpost already has a robust set of tools to support automation and marketing in Ghost.

Promote and monetize: Beehiiv

I had the opportunity to tool around in Beehiiv for one of my Social Shift clients, and I found the control over design there to be solid there, too. (my client did have some confusion trying to make minor changes to their email template, but, again, usability is often subjective!)

What’s most notable about Beehiiv, however, are the growth and monetization features. Most of them are only available with a paid plan, but if you have one, you can set up recommendations and referral programs, earn money with Beehiiv’s built-in(!) ads network, and more.

When blogging is your priority: WordPress

I know, I know, WordPress feels overly complex to some folks, but when it first originated in 2003, it was a blogging platform. Admittedly, I didn’t love the minor pissing contest between co-founder Matt Mullenweig and WPEngine, but as a longtime WordPress web designer and developer, I love its flexibility and extensibility.

Still, I recognize that most people aren’t WP designers, and that it’s a tough nut to crack in terms of making it look sharp. What I think is worth mentioning, though, is that WordPress is a free platform, and it gives you control over which features you want, and what resources are powering it. This means that, if your web host gets bought out by a tech megacorp, for example, you’re free to take it elsewhere.

Reliable email marketing: MailerLite

When I bring on an email marketing client who’s just getting started or looking to migrate, I usually point them towards MailerLite. It’s one of the more easily navigable email tools I’ve encountered, and their Free plan offers a solid set of email and automation tools for up to 500 subscribers.

They’ve also introduced digital product and paid subscription capabilities–the paid subscriptions are currently managed via Stripe, but they are gauging interest in selling subscriptions directly in MailerLite. While I haven’t tried these yet, they’re a promising addition for folks who want to get paid for their content.

The rabbit hole goes deep

There’s a world of possibilities and options with email and blog content, whether you want to make your business more findable, or create earnings with the content itself. I’ve barely scratched the surface here, so if you want to dig deeper, I highly suggest taking a look at Lex Roman’s roundup of newsletter and blogging tools, ranging from tip jars, to landing page builders, and beyond.

Want to get online marketing updates like these straight to your inbox? Subscribe to The Radical Marketer »

It is absolutely WILD to me how quickly TikTok went from bad to worse, in the span of just a few days. TikTok’s terms of service got even creepier, citing their right to use information such as your mental health or your physical location. Additionally, reports of censorship of political content were already mounting within 48 hours of Larry Ellison’s takeover, with new posts from left-leaning creators being held in moderation or rejected.

That’s been the final straw for a lot of users (myself included): uninstalls of the app had spiked 150% just a few days after the takeover.

It’s BAD, folks. Between recent TikTok developments, and the ongoing shenanigans at Meta, now feels like a good time to ask (again): what alternatives are out there? 

Let’s talk about a few of the photo/video-centric options–some you may know about, and some you might not.

Upscrolled wants to prioritize freedom of expression

Upscrolled bills itself as “the social platform where every voice gets equal power,” and that makes sense when you learn its story. Founder Issam Hijazi, who has Palestinian roots, reportedly created the app partly in response to the censorship of stories about Gaza that he saw taking place on other social apps. 

From a user standpoint, Upscrolled may be the most Instagram/TikTok-like of the bunch; it offers a media grid and is image- and video-friendly. It also accepts text-only posts, however, which could be appealing to creators who don’t always want to create an image or video to go with everything they want to share.

Upscrolled has also seen a bump in new subscribers over the past week-or-so since the U.S. TikTok deal took effect: they crossed the 1 million users mark just last week, and have been hustling to add the infrastructure to support all of their new users. 

When I downloaded the app a few months ago, the content in my Discover tab was pretty heavily weighted towards news about Gaza, and creators in and around that region, so I’ll be interested to see how it evolves as new users come into the space.

Flashes offers an Instagram-like makeover for BlueSky users

Flashes is pretty much what it says on the tin: a photo and video app for Bluesky. It even offers Instagram-like features like photo filters. You do need to create a BlueSky account in order to use it, but once you do, your postings go out into their network of 40+ million subscribers.

There are a couple of limitations to be aware of before you dive in: videos are limited to 1 minute in length, versus 3 minutes on Instagram, or up to 60 (?!) minutes on TikTok. Additionally, Flashes allows posting of only 4 images at a time. When you compare that to Instagram’s upper limit of 20 images per post–or 10 per post, if you’re using a 3rd-party scheduling tool–it can feel pretty constrictive.

It does make up for those constraints with noticeably fewer constraints in how users see your content, though: because it’s built on BlueSky’s framework, users can browse content with custom-built, algorithm-driven, or even (gasp!) chronological feeds. It also offers customizable profile tabs and a portfolio mode, so you can tailor your profile to better fit the types of content you’re sharing.

Is it time to make a change in your social media, but you feel paralyzed by the options? I don’t do social media management like the other guys: my team runs your feeds with a zero-jargon, AI-free, tailored-to-you approach. Learn more here.

YouTube is a natural next step for video creators

When news of the potential TikTok ban broke early last year, TikTok creators started looking towards YouTube, and it makes sense: YouTube is the OG of video-centric platforms, and it actually boasts more active users than TikTok. 

With the addition of YouTube Shorts in 2021, it offered short-form video structure that competes directly with TikToks and Instagram Reels. The view rates from YouTube Shorts reportedly lag behind Instagram and TikTok, but this could easily change as more creators, and users in general, peel off from TikTok.

Also worth considering: as I noted recently, Creator Spotlight’s recent overview of content usage rights concluded that YouTube’s terms of use were the most creator-friendly of the big three video-centric platforms.

Suffice it to say, we’re in the midst of some “interesting times” in the social media space. It’s worth considering what pivots might be in your future, and what feels aligned with the values you want to lead with in your business.

Want to get online marketing updates like these straight to your inbox? Subscribe to The Radical Marketer »

You almost certainly did NOT hear it here first. A lot of the marketing bros and self-proclaimed thought leaders are acting like this is a big revelation or a masterful prediction, too. 

However, any marketer who’s being remotely honest with you knows: of course storytelling will be vital in marketing in 2026… because every year is the year of the storyteller.

AI-generated content has become predictably predictable

As the buzz around LLMs and AI-generated content grew louder, a lot of us in creative industries predicted that AI-generated content wouldn’t measure up in terms of quality. Visual artists, in particular, say that a machine simply can’t bring the human element into the work it produces. It creates without soul.

Even the more practical-minded of us–designers, copywriters, people who create to solve specific problems–warned that AI-generated content wouldn’t bring anything new to the party. 

LLMs are trained on content that already exists–often without express permission from the original creators. It then churns out it content based on that learning… which essentially means that nothing it creates is entirely new.  

Now, at the end of 2025, the AI boosters in marketing are finally noticing: as more AI-generated content enters the online space, everything has started to sound the same. This brings us back to the same, unavoidable question that businesses and marketers have been asking for ages: how the heck do we stand out from the other guys in our field?

Storytelling in marketing never actually left

We’ve seen this before: storytelling is the hot strategy, the key tactic, the thing you must implement, unless you want to get left behind. Storytelling is far from new, though–it’s older than the internet, and older than a lot of the guys who think that AI can somehow replicate or replace it. 

How old? Well, a colleague of mine left her big agency job, armed with her knowledge of marketing, and determined to bring storytelling to small business.

That was well over a decade ago… and at the time, the big agency she left was over 50 years old. Do that math.

And yet, capitalists, and optimization wonks, and AI fanboys, and, frankly, all of us who feel too frazzled by the act of trying to survive to even think about marketing, desperately want there to be a shortcut. And, there are folks in tech spaces looking to “optimize” or build shortcuts for us to collectively latch onto.

In the end, though, this keeps happening: launching a website doesn’t make your business boom? Try storytelling! Viral social media posts don’t solve your problems? You need storytelling! AI-generated content doesn’t move the needle? STORYTELLING! 

It always comes back around to this, because storytelling has always been the fuel that powers ANY good online marketing effort. No matter what tactics you’re using, you have to share a message that your audience cares about. If the story isn’t there, your audience isn’t motivated to listen.

Fundamentals, fundamentals, victory

Back in the day, the captain of my roller derby team loved using catch phrases to remind us why we worked so hard. We’d drill out something mind-numbingly basic, because you’re never too good for the basics.

Then, when the fancy strategies didn’t gel, and the game was spiraling out of our control, my captain would say, “fundamentals, fundamentals, victory!” We’d remember what we practiced, and those basics would get us the win.

The thing is, the same thing that applies to sports also applies to, well, just about everything we strive to do in life: we have to get the fundamentals on lock before we can start winning.

That means we can’t keep grabbing at shiny objects and shortcuts, while we ignore the things that really matter.

No LLM will be able to do our storytelling for us.

No number of Likes or Shares on a social media post will bump your revenue if it doesn’t earn you any clickthroughs.

No website is going to serve your business’ growth if it doesn’t get your ideal audience to actually book you.

So, yes, 2026 will, indeed, be the year of the storyteller… and 2027 will be, too. It’s high time for us all to leave behind the shortcuts, and start actually telling our story.

“But really, how DO I stand out?”

Whether you need a whole new website, or just someone to hold your hand while you draft your next marketing email, I’m here to help you answer that question.

Originally published on The Radical Marketer, our weekly newsletter about dealing with online marketing when you’re a bleeding heart with a business. Subscribe here to receive every issue, straight to your inbox.

Still, in the interest of investigating, I made the change for one of our clients and started sharing external links in the comment section instead. Then, I included a call-to-action in the post description to send folks to the comments to get the link. 

Was this a good idea? Maybe, maybe not.

Does a link in the comments really help with LinkedIn engagement?

I was skeptical that this change would be a positive one. To me, it felt like it would just be another barrier to getting folks to click a link they may only be mildly interested in anyway. Would this practice really increase engagement?

After two months of including links in the comments, rather than the post description, here’s what happened:

1. Our client’s engagement rate actually went up! 
   
2. Their link clicks remained stable and/or decreased slightly – no significant change was seen, though. 

There are other variables that could account for higher engagement, however. Engagement could have gone up due to an unusually popular post, for example. So, I gave it more time.

Another two months passed, and our client’s engagement rate continued to increase! …but link clicks continued to slowly fall. 

What does engagement on LinkedIn get you?

When you have a healthy engagement rate on any social platform – which can often be as low as 2-5%, depending on the size of your audience – this typically gains you visibility. When a post gets more engagement, the algorithm is more likely to show it to a wider audience. 

Don’t get too caught up in on-platform metrics, though: above all, being active on social media platforms should feed our goals!… which almost always means getting your audience to leave the social platform, by clicking on one of your links. 

In other words, if your link clickthrough rate is dropping, that means fewer people are clicking through to actually buy from you.

Where should we put our links on LinkedIn? It depends.

If you want to drive folks towards your website, your email list, your webinar, you might as well put that link in the main text of your post. If someone has to make an extra click to access your link, they’re simply less likely to do it.

Website best practices support that, too: one of the guiding principles in website strategy is to make the most sought-after items accessible with as few clicks as possible. This doesn’t mean dumping everything on the homepage… but it does mean removing unnecessary steps. So, when you’re on LinkedIn, you’ll want to remove that unnecessary step, too.

If you’re specifically looking to reach new people, however, you may want to keep links out of the main text of your post, and go for that higher engagement rate. If you have a well-rounded social media strategy, you’ll be doing a bit of both: some posts will be designed for audience growth, and others will be intended to get those clickthroughs.

In short: if you want someone to click on a thing, make it as easy as possible for them to do so.

Are you at your wit’s end with the “fun” quirks of social media?

The Social Shift is here to guide you through building an approach that fits your business and your capacity. Learn more and get started.

Our businesses give us a platform to seed and amplify radical ideas on social media. That can be pretty exciting, but it can also feel scary to put yourself out there in that way. 

We’ve searched our feelings and analyzed our bounty of client data, and compiled some engaging content prompts with a social justice bent to seed your thinking:

1) A bold statement that advocates for change within your industry or community: a lot of us started our own businesses after working in corporate, and experiencing firsthand exactly how much the cultures of patriarchy, racism, and ableism hurt all of us. Say it out loud, and spark that conversation.

2) Cultural observances that matter to you: dates like Juneteenth, Pride Month, Trans Day of Visibility, Women’s History Month, Black History Month, Latinx Heritage Month, and AANHPI month give us great opportunities to uplift strategically undervalued populations, and talk about creating a more just world.

3) Book or media recommendations: share your values by telling your audience about books, articles, and even podcasts that explore important societal issues.

4) Businesses that share your values: this could mean talking about a business you partner with, but it can very easily be simply highlighting local businesses you love, especially if they’re Black-, Indigenous-, POC- and/or Queer-owned.

Content like this has consistently felt genuine and rewarding to share, both for us and our clients. They’ve also delivered measurable results, time and again!

Want to learn about other ethical ways to market your business? Join us each week for The Radical Marketer. Or if, after this year’s events, you’re looking to give your online marketing a complete overhaul, check out The Social Shift.

Now, if you’ve been following along with me these past few months, you can guess my feelings about giving Meta access to even more of our time, energy, and money. On the other hand, I DO love an efficient tech stack. The idea of one less app is pretty appealing.

Is Edits actually good enough to replace tools like Canva or CapCut, though? Before you cancel any subscriptions, here’s what you should know:

Edits is intuitive, but with limitations

Thus far, users are saying Edits is pretty intuitive for non-designers! It also lets you post directly to Instagram and gives you full access to Instagram Reels features that social schedulers don’t have.

However, it doesn’t let you stitch together multiple video clips, due to its basic editing capabilities. Edits is also not ideal if you rely on templates to make Reels – it doesn’t support them. And, if you don’t like working on tiny screens, you won’t like that Edits is only available to use on your phone. 

Compare that to tools like CapCut and Canva, where you can:

• edit videos on both mobile and desktop
• access an extensive library of templates and assets
• use more advanced editing capabilities, like combining multiple video clips

Canva is also an especially good option for small teams and organizations, because it offers easy sharing and collaborative editing. 

Keep in mind, however: Canva and CapCut require a paid plan to unlock some of their more helpful features and libraries, and non-designers may find it to be less intuitive to use.

Ultimately, it all comes down to which option best fits your style, your time, and your business needs. Your video editing skill level – and how complex you want to get with your Reels – will help determine which tool is right for you.

Over the past few months, it seems like online marketing (social media) has been turned upside down. From the latest (infuriating) Meta updates to the TikTok ban, to the possibility of breaking up Google’s search and advertising tools, major changes seem to be hiding around every corner.

For small businesses that rely on these tools to connect with clients, big shifts like this can feel overwhelming. But what’s causing these sudden changes, and how can you prepare for what’s next? Let’s break it down.

Why Are These Big Changes Happening Now?

Government Pressure

Governments around the world have been scrutinizing the tech industry for monopolistic practices and privacy concerns. In the U.S., we’ve been working to break up companies like Google to cultivate more competition in the tech industry. Similarly, TikTok has been banned in other countries like Afghanistan, India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, and Somalia due to “data security concerns” – and the U.S. is following suit. 

Politics

With tech giants like Zuckerberg and Musk getting more involved in questionable politics every day, they’ve zeroed in on social media’s ability to spread information. They’ve made it their mission to silence those speaking up, keep us isolated and in the dark, and prevent us from organizing further.

How Can Small Businesses Roll With the Changes?

1. Diversify Your Online Presence

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Do your best to show up on multiple platforms – but remember to put the most focus on where your audience is now or is headed next. 

While you’re at it, you’ll want to re-engage with or start building your email list, and make sure your website and SEO are dialed in, so your small business won’t be entirely reliant on a single external platform. Heck – maybe it’s even time to give Bluesky a go! 

2. Explore Video and Experiment With Trends 

Platforms are prioritizing short-form video, live streaming, and other content trends. If a given trend or format makes sense for your business, giving them a test drive can give you a competitive edge. 

Signs are pointing towards a video-centric social media world, so think about what video content would look like for your small business. (if the thought of video makes you cringe, we have a few tips to make it easier!)

3. Choose Community

Platforms may change, but folks will always value connection and quality content. Build a loyal online community by being genuine, telling your story, and using your unique skills and knowledge to help them through their struggles.

The Gist 

Yes, the digital landscape has been shifting faster lately. But small business owners are no strangers to adapting and being resourceful. You’ll need to mix up your strategies, try out new content formats, and focus on nurturing your audience to navigate the changes ahead effectively. Big changes are inevitable, but the silver lining is that they’re also opportunities to experiment with and nurture new ideas.

Ready to future-proof your online marketing strategy? Let’s start planning for what’s next together.

But what is social SEO?

Social SEO refers to collectively optimizing your social media profiles and content. The goal is to make your social easier to discover on a given social platform and by search engines like Google. And yeah, Google may be going through some big changes soon, which makes social SEO even more important. 

While social media platforms are certainly not search engines (you’re thinking of Pinterest), many have built-in search functionalities. This means that the content you post on social can also rank and be discovered via a Google search, just like copy on your website! 

Social SEO can give your profile and content a boost by getting your content in front of more eyes.

Some First Steps to Give Your Social SEO a Bump:

1. Optimize Your Profiles 

Polish up your Instagram and TikTok bios, select a single profile photo to be featured across all social platforms, write a headline and set up highlights on your Instagram profile. Not sure how to approach it? We’re covering all of this over on Social Media Snack Break – sign up to learn all about it!

2. Be Thoughtful With Your Hashtags 

Use a mix of trending hashtags (between 10k-1 million posts are using it), niche hashtags (specific to what you do, #WebDeveloper), and branded hashtags (#YourBusinessName) to increase the chance of your content being seen. Don’t overdo it though – focus on 5-10 relevant hashtags per post. Otherwise, you might end up looking spammy to the algorithm and your audience.

3. Post Consistently

When you regularly post content that provides real value to folks, they’re much more likely to stick around and engage with you! That results in your content being prioritized in social media searches. Note: “regularly” does not necessarily mean daily! Even once per week can work if you do it consistently.

4. Give Your Images and Videos a Description

Use alt-text to give the images in your social content a keyword-rich description. This helps search engines identify what exactly your content is about and include it in relevant searches. 

5. Cross-Promote Content

Share your social media content across different social platforms, websites, and blogs. Cross-promotion can give your content a healthy engagement boost and build backlinks that benefit both social SEO and traditional SEO.

My recommendation for busy business owners: Start with small changes, like refining your social profiles with keywords, and build from there. Over time, you’ll see these social SEO strategies increase your reach and engagement.

Maybe you didn’t even get the details, and you just heard that “something” was happening between WP Engine and WordPress.

Tech folks like me had some Big Feelings about it. (nerds having strong opinions? Who could’ve predicted?! ) For business owners, however, it all probably just sounded like another potential stressor that you don’t need!

So, let’s just get this out of the way now: no, you don’t need to panic!

…okay, now that you’re breathing a bit easier, let’s distill all the mess down into what matters for You, a human whose organization may just happen to have a WordPress website:

A longtime beef between WP Engine and WordPress came to a head.

If not, here’s the abbreviated version: the co-founder of WordPress (Matt Mullenweig) has been big mad at WP Engine, a dedicated WordPress webhost. Mullenweig doesn’t love that WP Engine is, essentially, making big bucks because of WordPress, without giving more back to the open-source community. 

(side note: if you’re like, “what’s the deal with web hosting?” here’s an oldie-but-goodie where I explain what a web host is, and what makes a good one)

After Mullenweig called out WP Engine publicly, they hit back with a lawsuit claiming defamation, and even extortion.

So, long story made very short, WordPress.org blocked WP Engine from accessing their servers. This meant that, if your website was hosted by WP Engine, all of those quick-and-easy “Update Now” buttons on your Plugins page stopped working.

If you love other people’s drama and want to know the full story, here’s the top of the rabbit hole: WordPress’ post stating that WP Engine is banned from their servers.

“Wait, do I need to quit WordPress forever now?!”

I’ve talked for a loooong time about how outdated plugins can leave your website vulnerable to hacking. Not being able to easily update plugins is a big deal! Understandably, a lot of folks wondered what they should do in response to this drama. 

Is it time to run screaming from WordPress altogether?! In my humble opinion: no, you don’t need to cut WordPress from your tech stack.

• If your web host is anyone but WP Engine (or Flywheel, which is owned by WP Engine), none of that drama affects you at all!
  
• If you are on WP Engine and still feel concerned about this dust-up, you do have the option to move your website elsewhere.
  
• Hosting aside, WordPress is still a completely FREE platform, which lets you update content without knowing how to code, and it’s a powerful, extensible platform that can offer a lot of helpful functions for your business. 

So, yeah, take a deep breath and relax. WordPress is still a reliable tool, and you don’t have to completely rebuild your website anytime soon. (well, unless you want to)

You don’t really need to worry about moving to another web host, either (yet).

If you’re on WP Engine and you’re stressed about it, never fear: WP Engine has already created and deployed a workaround so they’re able to run automatic software updates again. That means things are basically back to normal from a customer perspective.

If you still feel uneasy after hearing all of this, though, I don’t blame you. I’m a longtime Flywheel fangirl from the days before they were acquired by WP Engine, and I feel wobbly about this situation, too.

The main thing to remember is that, if you were already thinking about changing things up, this could be a good excuse to start exploring alternatives. And, better yet, you have some time to think about and test those other options, and determine if they’re the right fit.

“So wait, how do I protect my website in the future?”

I believe that your website should be YOURS once it’s built, and there’s a lot to be said for being able to take your website wherever you want. There are a couple of things you should make sure are happening, so you can move house when it’s time:

• Regular backups. Most any decent web host will do nightly backups of your website, in case anything goes wrong, so if yours doesn’t, it’s time for an upgrade.
  
• Regular plugin updates. So many websites get hacked or break down entirely because their plugins weren’t updated regularly. You’re keeping your website more stable, secure, and easier to move by doing those updates–and some web hosts will do this for you.

If reading those two bullet points made you start sweating, I’ll point you towards Kronda at Karvel Digital, who wrote up an awesome overview of updating your plugins manually, setting up backups, and even migrating your entire website. Her Automation Club is a great resource for this and other time-saving integrations in your business tech!

If you just don’t want to tangle with ANY of this, however, you can always find a website pro to handle it all for you. As a starting point, take a peek at our very affordable and all-around-awesome WordPress Website Maintenance Plans.

Overall, I’m annoyed that this kerfuffle between WP Engine and WordPress caused so many small business owners to panic over something they may not even fully understand. But, hopefully this helps you make sense of it all, and breathe easier!

Find us on DesignRush: Discover web design services here.

But what even is social SEO?

Social SEO refers to collectively optimizing your social media profiles and content. The goal is to make your social easier to discover on a given social platform and when using search engines like Google. 

While social media platforms are certainly not search engines (you’re thinking of Pinterest), many have built-in search functionalities. This means that the content you post on social can also rank and be discovered via a Google search, just like copy on your website! 

Social SEO can give you a noticeable boost by getting your content in front of more eyes.

Some First Steps to Give Your Social SEO a Bump:

1. Optimize Your Profiles 

Polish up your Instagram and TikTok bios, select a single profile photo to be featured across all social platforms, write a headline and set up highlights on your Instagram profile. Not sure how to approach it? We’re covering all of this over on Social Media Snack Break–sign up to learn about it!.

2. Be Thoughtful With Your Hashtags 

Use a mix of trending, niche, and branded hashtags to increase the chance of your content being seen. Don’t overdo it though – focus on 5-10 relevant hashtags per post. Otherwise, you might end up looking spammy to the algorithm and your audience.

3. Post Consistently

When you regularly post content that provides real value to folks, they’re much more likely to engage with it! That results in your content being prioritized in social media searches. Note: “regularly” does not necessarily mean daily! Even once per week can work if you do it consistently.

4. Give Your Images and Videos a Description

Use alt-text to give the images in your social content a keyword-rich description. This helps search engines identify what exactly your content is about and include it in relevant searches. 

5. Cross-Promote Content

Share your social media content across different social platforms, websites, and blogs. Cross-promotion can give your SEO a healthy engagement boost and build backlinks that benefit both social SEO and traditional SEO.

My recommendation for busy business owners: Start with small changes, like refining your social profiles with keywords, and build from there. Over time, you’ll see these social SEO strategies start to significantly increase your reach and engagement.