How Does Social Media Affect Rankings? Is it a SEO Factor?

[Kakashi2020]

It is said that Social Media like Facebook and Twitter is not a SEO Factor, does this mean Social Media has no effect in Google Rankings?

What is your take on this?

[Nathan]

Hmm...I'm not sure I believe that.  The platforms where your links to your site when shared and not public I'd agree, but any public backlinks can't hurt.

[WisTex]

Search engines are working on ways to use social media as indicators of content people want to consume. How much influence social media posts have on your search engine ranking is a closely guarded secret though. But it is one of a multitude of factors they use.

So, posts on social media will help search engines find new content and will influence rankings slightly, however, there are a lot of other factors that come into play too.

[Kakashi2020]

On 3/16/2018 at 3:52 PM, Nathan said:

Hmm...I'm not sure I believe that.  The platforms where your links to your site when shared and not public I'd agree, but any public backlinks can't hurt

Yep that's quite right, quality backlinks are quite important in SEO and here's an additional fact did you know that even without backlinks an article or content shared by your site in Facebook would help your rankings depending on the number of shares made by others on Facebook?

Edited March 20, 2018 by Nathan
Fixed quote

[Kakashi2020]

6 hours ago, WisTex said:

Search engines are working on ways to use social media as indicators of content people want to consume. How much influence social media posts have on your search engine ranking is a closely guarded secret though. But it is one of a multitude of factors they use.

So, posts on social media will help search engines find new content and will influence rankings slightly, however, there are a lot of other factors that come into play too.

Yep you're right.

The secret is on the number of people who shared your content on Facebook.  The more unique shares your content gets, will help you site rank faster. 

[Nathan]

On 3/18/2018 at 1:16 PM, Kakashi2020 said:

Yep that's quite right, quality backlinks are quite important in SEO and here's an additional fact did you know that even without backlinks an article or content shared by your site in Facebook would help your rankings depending on the number of shares made by others on Facebook?

I don't know that it would help your Google rankings based on # of shares, but I could be wrong.  I could see it increasing your ranking on Facebook itself in user's post feed view though.

[foxprojects]

It's definitely a ranking factor now. This is why you should create profiles for your business on the main social platforms, like Facebook and Twitter. By adding links to your website in your profile and regularly sharing content on your timeline, you can help boost your website's overall ranking. It seems like being active on social media sends search engines the message that your business is legitimate and ready to interact with its customers.

[mhingnhormz]

How does social media affect rankings? Is it a SEO factor?: Yes social media is not a SEO factor but for me it will also affect your ranking in some other ways especially if you do shared backlinks in public but then it not that big maybe but it also has an effect not directly but in its own way.

[Corzhens]

I am also confused even if I had read several discussions about the social signals which are your links that you posted in social media. But lately there are discussions that say social signals are now considered by search engines as legitimate backlinks which means the links of your site that you posted in social media has a positive effect in the SEO of your site that it can increase the ranking in the search engines. 

[alexjames]

Social media gives referral traffic. If you’re adding links to your website on your social media posts, and have certain links on your social media profiles, you are directly your audience to your website. Most times you can get good referral traffic and Search Engine Optimization helps you to rank organically for relevant keywords by adding the relevant keywords as well as optimizing the website.

[Gohar Ilyas]

Social media and SEO work together to give audiences relevance and value, both directly and indirectly.

[taylor_jackson]

Social media may not be a ranking factor for Google, but it can amplify the ranking factors that Google does consider. Social media gives referral traffic.

[Nathan]

I guess it also depends on the social media platform.  If it's not public then you wouldn't get any link juice from the backlinks as well.

[srilatha28]

Social media indirectly impacts SEO rankings. While not a direct factor, it can increase website visibility, enhance brand reputation, facilitate link building, and drive traffic. Sharing content on social media expands its reach, attracting backlinks and citations. Brand awareness and recognition through social media can lead to more branded searches. Social media profiles appearing in search results occupy space and push down negative results. Additionally, social media generates website traffic, indicating content value to search engines. By leveraging social media effectively, businesses can improve their SEO performance indirectly.