SEO vs. Social Media
SEO vs. social media, where should my money go? This is one of the most common questions business owners and marketers ask.
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But the answer isn’t black and white. According to a 2023 PWC survey, 55% of customers say search engines are the first place they go to start their purchase journey. Social media accounts for 31%.
But don’t write off social media just yet. A 2025 Statista survey found that social media increased business exposure for 81% of marketers. Clearly, both options have great potential. So, how do you know which to double down on?
By understanding the strengths of each one.
In this article, we’ll analyze the strengths of SEO and social media, so you can decide where to focus your energy and how to get the best results from both.
Read on.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
So why should search engine optimization or SEO be a part of your digital marketing strategy? The answer to this question can be found in your own habits.
When you need a new plumber, a recipe for keto brownies, or the best local SEO agency, where do you go? You open Google and type in your search term. You don’t go on TikTok and hope a plumber pops up on your ‘For You’ page.
That’s SEO at work. It’s what makes your website show up for searches like these (if that’s what your business is about). When done right, it doesn’t just drive traffic, it builds authority.
Here are more reasons why SEO strategies can pay off in the long run.
1. Long-Term Traffic
One of the biggest pros of SEO is its staying power. A blog or landing page that ranks for high-intent keywords is an asset that pays dividends for months or years. That’s not speculation. It’s happening with content on the internet even today.
A perfect example is Brian Dean’s Google’s 200 Ranking Factors, which he wrote and published years ago. Till today, that guide continues to attract thousands of visitors, generating about 35,600 backlinks from 8,400 domains.
Sure, the content gets updated regularly, but the original SEO investment keeps paying interest. That’s the power of organic traffic.
2. Trust and Credibility
Then there’s the trust and credibility factor. Ranking on the first page of Google results for a competitive keyword is an automatic vote of confidence. Users see your page there and immediately think, “This company must be legitimate.” They don’t even bother to look further.
In fact, studies show that only 0.63% of searchers bother clicking beyond the first page of Google search results. They believe the first page is where the good stuff is. The message couldn’t be clearer. A strong SEO strategy makes you an authority online. Social media can drive awareness, but it’s search engine optimization that builds trust.
3. Local SEO Advantage
If you run a brick-and-mortar business, SEO can be a goldmine for you. Shoppers tend to search online for the product or service they need before checking out a physical store.
Basically, this means that if you offer plumbing services in Miami and optimize for location-specific keywords like “affordable plumbing services in Miami”, you stand a good chance of capturing customers who are actively searching for affordable plumbing services nearby.
Google has said it time and time again, a good number of people who do searches like this (near me searches) typically visit the store within a day, and more than a quarter end up doing business.
4. AI Overviews
If you’ve done a Google search recently, you probably noticed those information boxes on top of the actual results called AI Overviews that contain a snapshot or overview of the information you need. They pull quick answers from multiple sources, and they’re one of Google’s biggest updates recently.
But why should it matter to you? Remember, we said that people don’t typically click beyond number one on Google SERP? Well, a 2024 study cited on Digital Marketing Institute.com shows that 93.8% of AI overview results may not be coming from even the top ten results. This means Google can still feature your content even if you’re not ranking up there.
There’s a catch, though. That your business is cited in AI Overviews doesn’t automatically translate into traffic. So, while visibility is not exactly guaranteed, it’s still better than nothing.
To increase your chances of appearing in AI Overviews, focus on creating high-quality content that meets Google’s EEAT standard. Of course, that means SEO.
Social Media
Now, let’s look at the other side of the coin: social media marketing. Not only have social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok transformed from just being social spaces into powerful business tools, but they also have serious advantages that SEO can’t match.
1. Instant Engagement
SEO is a waiting game. You wait for weeks, sometimes months, before you start seeing results. Not so with social media. Make a post by 9 AM, and chances are you’ll get at least one response by 9.15 AM.
People spend hours and hours scrolling through their feeds every day, looking for and tapping on anything that catches their eye. That kind of quick engagement matters for certain businesses, especially if you rely on real-time feedback.
A small caveat, though.
Social media is great for engagement, but don’t build your whole strategy around it. Platforms like Instagram and Facebook have faced criticism for being intentionally addictive. The ongoing Instagram lawsuit is one example.
Case files reviewed by TruLaw suggest that there may be links between too much social media use and anxiety, depression, and other mental health concerns. It’s a reminder not to spend your entire day chasing likes and comments. Social media should be one part of your marketing efforts,
2. Brand Awareness
Not many people open their browser with a clear idea of the website they want to visit when they need something. They typically go to Google to search. Now, what are the chances of your website showing up in those results?
This is where social media excels. It puts your brand in front of people’s consciousness even when they’re not actively searching for anything.
Remember the “Ocean Spray viral video” on TikTok? All it took was a skateboard, a bottle of cranberry juice, and a Fleetwood Mac song to turn a brand into a worldwide conversation for weeks. People suddenly remembered that their favorite cranberry juice was Ocean Spray.
What makes it even more interesting is that Ocean Spray didn’t initiate the viral video. It was user-generated content. After it went viral, Ocean Spray rewarded the creator (giving him a truck).
That’s viral potential that traditional advertising simply can’t touch. You might not get a purchase right away, but people will definitely know your brand.
3. Community Building
Perhaps the biggest advantage social media has over SEO is that it allows you to build a community of loyal customers, not just a customer base.
Take beauty company Glossier, for example. They built a billion-dollar brand largely off the back of Instagram engagement and community feeds. Not just that, they also leaned heavily on user-generated content, rather than simply relying on brand messages and influencers.
According to a word-for-word quote in a Peelist article, “Glossier didn’t just sell beauty products. It sold a social movement. Customers didn’t feel like buyers; they felt like participants.”
That’s how social media differs from SEO. One fosters connection, participation, and community. The other, clicks and rankings.
Why Combining SEO and Social Media Works Best?
Now that you have seen the strengths of both options, where should you focus your energy? The short answer is both. Here’s the thing: it doesn’t have to be SEO vs. social media. The smartest brands opt for SEO and social media.
Social media can drive traffic to your SEO-optimized content (that’s what link in bio is for). And your blog or website can feed back to your social channels.
The bridge between these two worlds is your content marketing strategy.
Let’s say you create a fantastic, well-researched blog post on “The 10 Best Backpacking Tents of 2025.” That’s a huge win for SEO because it targets a high-volume search term.
But you can’t just end things there. How long before people know such an insightful piece exists on your website? Three weeks? Two months?
You take that same post and turn it into:
- A series of Instagram Stories showing photos of the tents.
- A 30-second TikTok video of someone setting up the best tent (that’s the viral potential boost).
- A LinkedIn post highlighting trends in outdoor gear and how to choose or market the right one.
Social media becomes the amplifier for your SEO efforts, and SEO gives your social media content a permanent face on the web.
Wrapping Up
If you’ve read to this point, you can clearly see that it’s neither this nor that. Your digital marketing strategy should actually be omnichannel. This means social media, SEO, email marketing, influencer marketing, and even off the internet.
That said, if you absolutely must choose, then you may want to prioritize SEO at 60% for the foundational growth it can give you. While 40% can go to social media to bring in the human, interactive element that connects with your audience.
The 60/40 split is not a hard and fast rule. Think of it as more like a guideline that you can tweak based on your goals and the results you’re getting.
