Search beyond Google: social media is changing visibility
“Searching” is no longer an action that begins and ends on Google, but an intention that manifests itself everywhere and lives wherever you spend your time, whether it’s in a video on TikTok, a discussion on Reddit, or a Pinterest board.
In Italy, almost 90% of the population is online and over 70% has active social media accounts; on average, you use six platforms per month and spend more than two hours a day on social media—TikTok alone totals thirty hours per month per user, not only for dances or trending music, because today the social media platform developed by ByteDance is also a real search engine, especially for Gen Z.
With these numbers, visibility is inevitably fragmented and distributed, and as a marketer, you govern it with a single direction: this is the logic of Search Everywhere Optimization, which brings together SEO, content, paid and social commerce, and SEOZoom is the support that helps you track it all, from SERPs to social feeds, to transform every digital space into a point of discovery and choice.
Where the attention of online users in Italy is focused
The digital habits of Italians are clear and tell the story of an audience that is connected almost without interruption: over 90% of the population accesses the Internet, more than seven out of ten people have at least one active social media profile, and on average we spend almost six hours a day online, of which over two are dedicated solely to social media.
This means tens of millions of identities that feed feeds, communities, algorithms, and internal platform engines every day. Within these environments, there is entertainment, of course, but increasingly you find opinions, comparisons, reviews, product discoveries, and decisions. And Gen Z, more than anyone else, considers social media to be real engines of discovery.
For you, this means changing slots, formats, and frequencies: TikTok for short recurring sequences; YouTube for series and in-depth content; Instagram for the hybrid Reels+carousels.
The figures for recent months show real shifts in time spent, formats, and purchasing paths. This is where the focus lies, and for those who work with brands, it becomes inevitable to ask how to cover all these spaces, not just Google SERPs.
Most used platforms and time spent: the dominance of video format
A detailed analysis of how time is spent on social media reveals that TikTok is the undisputed leader, dominating the attention rankings with an average of nearly 30 hours per month per user. YouTube follows at a distance, with about 17 hours per month, and Instagram with 15 hours.
These figures don’t just tell you about a platform, but about a format: video, especially short, vertical video, has become the main catalyst for engagement and the language through which users prefer to inform themselves and be entertained. But they also tell you that your editorial strategy must respect different times and languages: on TikTok, you engage with short, frequent sequences; on YouTube, you create depth and seriality; on Instagram, you alternate quick content with visual formats designed for retention.
Such prolonged permanence on these platforms indicates that the attention span has not simply decreased, but has been transformed, rewarding content capable of capturing interest in a few seconds and maintaining it with a continuous flow of stimuli. Furthermore, the centrality of vertical and short formats defines the moments when users discover a brand, listen to advice, and decide to explore further: these are visual fragments that become the first step in a broader journey.
While time spent indicates intensity, the number of monthly active users describes the vastness of the landscape. Here, the Meta ecosystem maintains a huge presence, with WhatsApp used by 90% of Italians, followed by Facebook and Instagram (both at 75%); in addition, advertising impressions are up 11% and the average cost per ad is up 9% in the second quarter of 2025—here too, organic and paid are not alternatives, but levers to be used together.
Furthermore, the strategic data for your planning is that, on average, an Italian user is active on six different social platforms every month.
This fragmented behavior clearly tells you that a single-channel strategy is doomed to fail. You cannot afford to be excellent on a single platform and ignore the others, because your audience is constantly moving between apps, looking for answers and solutions in ever-changing contexts. Your visibility depends on your ability to create a consistent and recognizable presence across the entire spectrum of channels where your potential customers choose to spend their time. You need to think in terms of content everywhere, bringing together conversations, communities, and formats and adapting to the context in which the user encounters you. The difference is made by your direction, i.e., how you coordinate the tracks to make your brand’s visibility scalable.
Search moves beyond Google: social media as discovery engines
The real novelty, however, lies in the use of platforms: until a few years ago, each social media platform had a specific “purpose,” but none of them affected the fundamentals of online navigation. In particular, Google was the main—if not the only—point of access to information available on the web.
The Google bar was a search engine and an engine for action. Today, everything is different: users, especially younger generations, no longer start their journey of discovery with Google, but increasingly turn to TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube to find information, inspiration, opinions, and solutions. Search is a widespread intention, a need that is met on a multitude of platforms and formats, building visibility piece by piece, even before a query reaches Google.
It is a structural shift in consumer behavior that is forcing Google into a defensive position and requiring you to radically rethink your visibility strategy, which is distributed across feeds, communities, and engines. Today, the journey can start from many different points, each with its own logic and language, and Search Everywhere Optimization becomes the necessary response to a scenario in which your potential customers “search” for content, products, and brands in video, visual, and conversational contexts.
In this context, SEO conducts the orchestra: it coordinates short videos and long forms, social commerce and editorial content, and oversees searches that originate elsewhere and return to SERP. It helps you build an authoritative presence where intent takes shape, from TikTok’s For You to YouTube searches, from Pinterest’s visual archives to Reddit and Quora communities, to the Meta ecosystem and LinkedIn for B2B.
The signals of Gen Z and the new information ecosystem
How do you search for something online? For Millennials, the answer is perhaps still Google, but those who belong to subsequent generations (or are in close contact with them) know that things are different and that social media has effectively become a search engine.
In short: people in their twenties and thirties turn to TikTok or Instagram to read the news (young adults use TikTok regularly for news and to follow creator-journalists, above all), search for up-to-date information, and discover reviews or suggestions on restaurants or local activities.
This is based on direct experience and confirmed by data: recent research conducted by WARC reveals that 86% of Gen Z users search on TikTok weekly, a figure that almost equals the use of traditional search engines (90%). More specifically, 74% of them use it to find information and 51% prefer it to Google for their searches. The process itself has become fluid: 38% of users start their search on Google and then continue it on TikTok, while 34% do the reverse.
This overturns the classic model, moving from “search engine → social media” to a continuous cycle in which users seek perspectives and inspiration, not just straightforward answers.
The implications for your content strategy
For digital natives, “search” is no longer a blank field to fill in or text to enter in a box, but a visual and conversational flow. Alongside (and in place of) classic text queries, requests formulated as natural questions, combined with hashtags, sounds, and trends, prevail.
This new behavior requires you to adapt your content to make it “findable” even outside of Google.
You need to start thinking in terms of “Social SEO,” evaluating all potential entry points and applying optimization principles to video and social formats—a fifteen-second video can have the same value as an optimized page if it captures the right intent and is positioned in the right feed.
Working with SEO for TikTok or Instagram Reels means translating the principles you already know—relevance, pertinence, authority—into an immediate and fluid language. Optimization extends beyond text: you need to curate video titles, insert on-screen keywords in the first few seconds, use descriptions and hashtags as you would with meta descriptions and keywords, leverage speech-to-text to make your speech indexable, and, in general, work on your brand’s entities so that they are recognizable even within video content.
Your content strategy must become multi-format, combining blog articles with native video assets, which effectively become snippets that compete for attention in a new SERP, the one within social media. Immediate support comes from SEOZoom’s Social Opportunities, which allows you to discover which keywords your social content is already ranking for on Google, giving you a clear indication of where to invest to capture these new search intents.
Operational KPIs to measure visibility on new channels
The metrics you use to measure success must also evolve. On YouTube, for example, with the exponential growth of Shorts (which have reached around 200 billion daily views), you need to consider the duality of metrics: on the one hand, total views, which are useful for measuring reach and awareness, and on the other, engaged views, which indicate deeper interaction and are essential for assessing the quality of your audience.
On TikTok, especially with the explosion of TikTok Shop, KPIs are even more concrete and business-related: the watch-through rate tells you if your content is interesting enough to be watched until the end, while the add to cart and purchase lift metrics (which, according to TikTok data, can double if you integrate Search Ads into your campaigns) measure the effectiveness of your sales funnel within the platform.
Finally, on Instagram, where Reels have significantly higher organic reach than static posts, the advice is to go beyond general benchmarks, which are often fragile, and focus on internal testing to define your performance KPIs, measuring how your video reach translates into profile visits, clicks on the link in your bio, and, ultimately, conversions.
From like to purchase: the era of integrated social commerce
The other field invaded by social media is online shopping: here too, the paradigm has changed, and you can no longer limit yourself to using social media primarily to drive traffic to your online store, because today you have to consider it as a true integrated sales channel.
Modern users no longer want to interrupt their browsing experience: they discover a product in a video, find out more through comments, and expect to be able to purchase it with just a few clicks, without ever leaving the platform.
For you, this is a huge opportunity to reduce friction in the purchase journey, shortening the distance between inspiration and conversion and intercepting customers at the exact moment when their interest is at its peak. Content no longer has only narrative or brand awareness value, but becomes the element that guides the user from the like to the shopping cart.
The user discovers, evaluates, and buys without leaving the app: your leverage is to design shoppable content and measure native e-commerce funnels (view → click tag → Add to Cart → purchase).
TikTok Shop and Pinterest, the new protagonists of online shopping
There are two platforms that are standing out for their ability to transform engagement into sales.
TikTok Shop has experienced explosive growth, doubling its global sales volume in the first half of 2025 alone ($5.8 billion in the United States alone) and driving verticals such as beauty, fashion, and tech accessories. Its real strength, however, is loyalty: over 80% of sales in the United States come from returning customers, demonstrating a unique ability to create repeat purchases within the app. The lever that makes the difference is the use of creators: native content and UGC (user-generated content) that drive trust, reviews, and impulse purchases. Here, the cycle closes in a single environment: entertainment, inspiration, and conversion. For you, the lever is to design native assets that entertain but also drive action, measuring retention, clicks on shop tags, and Add to Cart. GMV growth confirms that integrating products into short-form content and scheduled live streams is now one of the most effective strategies for turning engagement into recurring sales.
Just recently, a GWI study on the Italian TikTok community was released, confirming international trends: there are almost 24 million users here, and most of them use the platform as a commercial driver—75% recognize it as the birthplace of trends, and almost 80% say they have been inspired to make a purchase after browsing it. In just six months since the launch of TikTok Shop in Italy in March 2025, over 8,000 Italian sellers are already active, with fashion, beauty, and electronics among the most popular categories, proving how this social network drives shopping directly in-app, making every piece of content a potential purchase trigger.
Pinterest, on the other hand, confirms itself as the visual search engine for purchase planning. In the second quarter of 2025, it reached 578 million monthly active users (+11% year-on-year) and $998 million in revenue (+17%). Significantly, its audience has a very high commercial intent: 85% of weekly users have purchased a product after seeing it on the platform. Your biggest opportunity on Pinterest lies in the fact that 96% of top searches are unbranded: here you can intercept users who already know what they want to buy but have not yet decided on a brand.
If you are just starting out, you will find fertile ground here: planning pins optimized for generic keywords and product categories allows you to enter the decision-making phase before established competitors. Discovery does not happen through loyalty, but through inspiration, and this opens up unique competitive opportunities.
How to integrate social commerce into your strategy
To take advantage of this trend, you need to go beyond simply publishing content. Your strategy must include optimizing your social profiles as if they were real digital storefronts, with clear product information and direct links to purchase.
You need to create “shoppable” content that natively integrates products into videos, Reels, and Pins, using the tags and shopping features provided by the platforms.
It is essential to minimize friction by ensuring that the path from post to cart is as short and intuitive as possible. Finally, you need to constantly monitor your competitors’ strategies: analyze which products they promote, which formats they use, and how they structure their offers on social media. Want to analyze your social competitors to keep track of their activities? Use SEOZoom’s brand new Monitor Social Profiles feature to understand what works in your industry and find new ideas for your sales and positioning strategy.
Communities that drive trust: E-E-A-T social
While large generalist platforms compete for mass attention, niche communities are emerging, perhaps more discreet but strategically fundamental.
Platforms such as Reddit and Quora, often underestimated or considered simple forums, have become true hubs of trust, where users seek authentic answers, unfiltered opinions, and demonstrations of expertise. Here, building E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) takes on a “social” dimension: it’s not just about what your brand says, but what users say about you and how you interact with their questions.
Being present in these communities means intercepting crucial conversations, demonstrating thought leadership, and influencing the perception of your brand in highly qualified contexts, where credibility is generated and amplified by the community.
For you, this means two things: you can use these platforms as a radar for language and pain points, and you can bring out expert content that can appear in SERPs and AI answers. Specifically, on Reddit, you can participate in the threads your audience uses to make decisions; on Quora, you can publish how-to answers with proof (cases, screenshots, links for further information).
Reddit: growth, engagement, and influence on AI
Reddit has seen impressive growth, reaching 110.4 million daily active users, up 21% year-over-year, and quarterly revenues of $500 million (+78% year-over-year).
These numbers speak not only to size, but also to deep engagement: the average user spends nearly 25 minutes a day on the platform, interacting with thousands of thematic communities.
For your strategy, Reddit is a useful channel for Q&A (questions and answers), real-time brand monitoring, and direct influence on AI responses. The most voted discussions and answers on Reddit are increasingly cited by Google’s AI Overview as authoritative sources. Being present in these conversations and providing competent and transparent answers means building reputation and visibility in a context that Google considers increasingly reliable. It is a crucial channel for understanding the true sentiment of the public and anticipating emerging trends.
Quora: vertical B2B spaces and purchase intent
With estimates exceeding 400 million monthly active users in 2025, Quora remains a strategic platform, especially for expert content and B2B.
Here you will find a highly motivated audience, with a strong concentration in the 25-34 age group, looking for specific and in-depth answers. Quora is an “intent-rich” channel par excellence: users ask direct questions, expressing a clear need for information or a latent purchase intention.
For you, this translates into the opportunity to position yourself as an authority in your industry by providing high-quality answers that can intercept informational queries and, in many cases, end up being cited in AI Overview answers. Deploy expert, long-form content: articulate answers, proof of expertise, and links to useful resources that reinforce your positioning as an authoritative and reliable voice.
Vertical video, the dominant language of online visibility
Short and vertical: with fragmented search and integrated shopping, the dominant language for capturing your audience’s attention has these specific characteristics, which are necessary to cross all platforms and define the first contact between user and brand.
TikTok’s “For You” feed, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, or Facebook videos: their immediacy, unparalleled ability to capture and maintain engagement, compatibility with smartphone use, and immersive nature make them the primary vehicle through which users discover, learn, and interact.
For you, this means that content can no longer be simply adapted: it must be designed natively, with precise attention-grabbing logic and specific metrics for each platform. Otherwise, you speak a language that your audience no longer fully understands, and you miss crucial opportunities for visibility and connection.
Engagement figures: why reels and shorts outperform images
Shorts and reels are the real “front doors” of visibility—and once again, the numbers “speak for themselves.”
YouTube Shorts exceeds 200 billion views per day, while reels continue to grow as a driver of reach on Instagram and Facebook, generating an average engagement of 0.50%, surpassing photo posts (0.45%) and reaching an average of 125% more users than a post with a static image.
This is no coincidence: platform algorithms reward content that maximizes user retention time, and vertical video, with its concise and impactful storytelling, is designed precisely for this purpose.
Operational implications: publishing is not enough, you need to optimize (and know how to measure)
Your strategy must reflect this reality, shifting resources and creativity towards formats that guarantee a significantly higher return on investment in terms of visibility and interaction.
In concrete terms, refer to some simple best practices: the hook must come in the first three seconds, with titles or graphics that immediately anticipate the value of the content, and the audio must also be of high quality for an immersive experience. You need to integrate musical trends and viral audio, which act as a real algorithmic reach factor.
Semantic captions are essential for providing textual context and promoting both indexing and comprehension, while chapters, hashtags, and natural keywords help the algorithm place the video among the relevant results. For you, the rule is simple: think of the short video not as a reduction of a long form, but as a standalone format that must capture, explain, and lead to action.
The new monetization of YouTube Shorts, which provides a 45% share of advertising revenue for creators, has also professionalized the industry, further raising quality standards. And the update introduced by YouTube on March 31, 2025, changed the way views are counted: today, every start or replay is counted as a view, but engaged views remain the most reliable metric for measuring quality. That’s why it’s not enough to look at the total number: always separate raw reach from deeper indicators such as retention, CTR on overlays, click-outs, and interactions in the comments. This is the only way to understand if the video is not just being viewed, but is actually driving behavior.
In short, you need to produce videos with the same attention to SEO and performance that you would devote to a blog article. Monitor smart cutdowns and the formats that work best for your niche, as you can do with SEOZoom by analyzing your competitors’ performance, and optimize your investment by working to ensure that your videos don’t get lost in the flow but become a real asset for your visibility.
Social media trends: FAQs and latest doubts resolved
We’ve explored the key trends that are redefining the online visibility landscape, from search fragmentation to the explosion of social commerce and the dominance of vertical video. In such a dynamic scenario, it’s natural for doubts and questions to arise. This section is dedicated to providing quick and clear answers to some of the most common questions, to help you consolidate your understanding and best apply what you’ve learned to your daily strategy.
- Why should I care about social media for SEO in 2025?
Search is no longer confined to Google. A high percentage of users, especially Gen Z, use social media as their primary discovery engines. Ignoring these channels means losing a significant portion of potential traffic and visibility, as well as important signals for E-E-A-T.
- Do social media “steal” traffic from Google?
It depends on the search intent. For discovery queries or short how-to guides, users are increasingly turning to TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube Shorts. For structured insights, transactional searches, and complex content, Google remains the primary reference point.
- How can AI Overviews influence my social media strategy?
AI Overviews, even on Google, draw on sources considered authoritative. High-quality content from niche communities such as Reddit or Quora, or discussions on LinkedIn, may be cited. Optimizing your presence on these channels helps build your authority and influence AI responses.
- Is social commerce also relevant for B2B brands?
Absolutely. Although direct sales volumes are higher in B2C, platforms such as LinkedIn are enhancing their e-commerce capabilities. In B2B, social commerce often translates into generating qualified leads, selling services or courses, and building direct relationships with prospects.
- Does TikTok Shop work outside the US?
Yes, growth is rapid in other markets as well, but maturity varies. Today, the most advanced ecosystems are in the United States and Southeast Asia, while in Europe and other countries, the path is still being consolidated. If you sell online, it’s a good idea to start experimenting early with shoppable formats and creatives, and measure Add to Cart and conversions to understand where the channel delivers ROI.
- How much should you invest in short videos compared to long-form videos?
Think of short videos as your front door: they capture attention, stimulate curiosity, and expand your reach. Long-form videos remain the hub of value, where you build authority, consolidate expertise, and explain in depth. The two are not mutually exclusive, but feed off each other: short videos bring qualified traffic, while long-form videos consolidate trust and turn attention into leads.
- Do I have to produce videos for every platform?
Not necessarily. The key is optimization and adaptation—content repurposing. You can start with a main video and then “cut” and optimize shorter versions (cutdowns) for TikTok, Reel, and Shorts, adapting the language and calls to action to the specifics of each platform. Intelligent reusability is key.
- Is it worth monitoring Reddit/Quora in Italy?
Yes, especially on technical and B2B verticals. Reddit threads and Quora answers enter SERPs and even AI-generated answers. Use these platforms for authoritative Q&As, listening to pain points, and continuous brand monitoring, constantly checking the signals emerging from the communities.
- How can I measure the ROI of my social activities from an SEO perspective?
Measurement becomes more complex but is crucial. Use consistent UTMs to track traffic from social media to your site and check branded queries in GSC. Monitor brand awareness signals, engagement, and direct conversions on platforms. With Social Opportunities and Social URL Analysis on SEOZoom, you can see which social content enters SERPs and where it’s worth pushing, connecting social performance to the impact on SEO and your brand’s overall visibility.
