{"id":5128,"date":"2025-10-24T10:30:46","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T09:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onechocolate.fr\/blog\/seo-smo-sso-how-to-boost-your-impact-on-social-media\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T12:17:58","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T11:17:58","slug":"seo-smo-sso-how-to-boost-your-impact-on-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onechocolate.fr\/en\/blog\/seo-smo-sso-how-to-boost-your-impact-on-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"SEO, SMO, SSO: how to boost your impact on social media"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a02025 marks a period of major transformation for digital marketing, as the boundaries between SEO<\/strong> (Search Engine Optimization), SSO<\/strong> (Social Search Optimization) and SMO<\/strong> (Social Media Optimization) are blurring due to the joint effects of artificial intelligence (AI), conversational search engines and the rise of video content. If you want to fully understand this evolution and develop your social media strategy, this blog post offers a few practical tips <\/em>\ud83d\ude09.<\/p>\n

The transformation of social media, which has evolved from a simple personal communication tool to a key pillar in strengthening brand content online<\/strong>, has radically changed the way businesses interact with their target audience.<\/p>\n

This evolution, driven by the rise of the Internet and smartphones, offers them instant connectivity and a wide range of features, enabling more direct and engaging interaction with their target audience.<\/p>\n

What is SMO or social referencing?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Let us first define what SMO is.<\/p>\n

SMO<\/strong> refers to the use of social media such as X, LinkedIn Facebook or Pinterest, to optimise online visibility, i.e. boosting the impact of a brand or a person on social platforms. It involves adopting strategies aimed at increasing engagement, creating quality content and efficiently using the features offered by social media.<\/p>\n

The changing role of social media in natural referencing<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The social platforms of 2025\u2013 namely TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube Shorts, Threads, Instagram, Pinterest <\/strong>and X<\/strong> \u2013have become powerful semantic and visual search tools. Just like on Google, users simply enter queries, and algorithms prioritise content that matches their search intent.<\/p>\n

According to Reuters Institute\u2019s Digital News Report 2024<\/a>, social media is now the main way of finding information online<\/strong>, outperforming both search engines and media applications.<\/p>\n

Brands must therefore ensure that their social media posts are<\/strong> optimised as rigorously as their web pages<\/strong>, from keywords to captions, metadata, contextual hashtags and consistency of tone.<\/p>\n

The impact of GenAI on SEO and SMO<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The integration of GenAI into search engines (via Google SGE – Search Generative Experience), Bing Copilot and ChatGPT Search) has deeply changed the way content is analysed and displayed. These tools now favour content that is contextually rich, reliable<\/strong> and contains strong signals such as quotes <\/strong>and social interactions<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

SMO drives credibility<\/strong>. The more content is shared, commented on or used by opinion leaders, the more likely it is to be included in AI engine results. Brands must therefore produce content designed to be naturally reshared by generative engines.<\/p>\n

Leveraging new platforms and formats<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In 2025, the boundaries between search engines and social media progressively disappear. Social platforms are becoming spaces for organic discovery<\/strong>, where users are no longer consuming content, but actively searching for information, just as they would on Google.<\/p>\n

This evolution thus unlocks new opportunities for brands, provided they adopt a \u2018\u2018Search Everywhere\u2019\u2019 approach<\/strong>, i.e. optimising every piece of content, whatever the platform.<\/p>\n

Here is an overview of the top four environments<\/strong> to focus on: TikTok Search, YouTube Shorts, LinkedIn Articles 2.0 & Newsletters <\/strong>and Instagram SEO.<\/strong><\/p>\n

TikTok Search <\/strong><\/h3>\n

As the built-in search feature for the TikTok platform, TikTok Search allows users to enter keywords into the search bar (via the magnifying glass), explore results for videos, users, hashtags, sounds etc., and discover content that relates directly to their search intent<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

TikTok no longer relies on a \u201cFor You\u201d feed based on preferences and recommendations: users can now perform an active search to find specific content. TikTok Search\u2019s role is thus becoming increasingly central in content discovery.<\/p>\n

YouTube Shorts <\/strong><\/h3>\n

YouTube Shorts is YouTube\u2019s short video format (less than 60 seconds, in a 9:16 vertical format). Launched in 2021 to compete with TikTok, it has become a key pillar of the platform\u2019s content strategy.<\/p>\n

Nowadays, more than 2.5 billion monthly users<\/a> watch Shorts on a monthly basis; YouTube claims that more than 70% of active creators use this format in their overall content strategy, and 55% daily active users<\/a> now interact with Shorts. This feature has undeniably become a core element of the YouTube Experience.<\/p>\n

LinkedIn Articles and Newsletter <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Both formats benefit from improved indexing on Google<\/strong>, with a high authority score. It is therefore in the brands\u2019 best interest to publish content regularly on this platform and focus on their optimisation.<\/p>\n

SEO & Instagram: entering a new social visibility era<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Since July 2025, Meta has been more flexible with its policy<\/strong>: public posts from Instagram business accounts, including photos, videos, and Reels, can now be indexed on Google, as long as the account is public, business-related<\/strong>, and managed by an adult user<\/strong>. This change applies retroactively to all content posted since 2020 and turns Instagram into a truly SEO-friendly platform<\/strong>\u2013 provided certain best practices are followed.<\/p>\n

This change offers brands a great opportunity to generate organic traffic directly from their social media posts<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Social SEO or SSO: the new face of social referencing <\/strong><\/h2>\n

SSO consists in optimising content to ensure it can be<\/strong> found both on external search engines and social platforms<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

To do so, you need to:<\/p>\n