You check in here. You post a picture there. You follow him, and you share her video. Social media strategy can seem this simple, but when the goal is to market your brand, the do’s and don’ts of social media best practices can get pretty confusing, pretty fast.

What’s more, rules and rules and regulations on social media platforms are constantly evolving. The way your message is spread, who receives it, and even what you can or can’t post is always in flux. For an everyday user, it doesn’t really matter, but to a social media marketer, the wrong methods can turn things upside down. So what do communicators need to know to get their messages across social media platforms as effectively as possible?

Take a look at:

Facebook: Users face penalties if they post from time-saving management tools rather than directly from the Facebook platform. Facebook has gone so far as to say they’ll reduce your organic exposures if the post comes from a management tool. Additionally, Facebook shares content more widely based on engagement with it, which means that to reach your entire fan base, marketers need to advertise or boost their post—at a fee.

LinkedIn: Graphics from LinkedIn posts may or may not populate if posted off of the platform. This tactic encourages users to post from the LinkedIn platform or app, rather than a management tool like HootSuite or TweetDeck.

Google+: When posting to company pages, Google+ allows for a limited number of off-platform tools. But posting to personal profiles still requires the G+ app or platform. Initially, G+ developers were able to sell content creators on the value of its platform by touting “authorship” credibility in search results, but this has since gone away. Link benefits are still offered if you add the link to your profile or page in the “About” section, but special treatment in search is no longer an option.

In addition to social media platforms, search engines also have an impact on what gets seen and by whom. Writers have to effectively and appropriately weave keywords into content that lives on and links to company websites. Content has to be fresh and relevant to meet the requirements of the search bots to rank highly, and duplicate content is penalized.

And while knowledge is definitely power, seeing is believing. Making these changes should result in better search engine rankings, while also generating a more effective marketing outcome for your overall message.