How Social Media Helps SEO

 

The impact of social media on SEO has, and probably always will be, one of the most talked about topics in the search industry. Specifically, whether social media really helps your SEO efforts.

So does it?

Short answer: yes.

For the longer answer, however, you really should read the rest of this post.

Social media doesn’t help SEO in the way many people think it does.

Let’s answer this question by digging into some data, evidence from Google employees, and personal insights.

Social Media ≠ Ranking Factor

First off, in reality, it’s highly unlikely we’ll ever know exactly what’s in Google’s algorithm unless someone works at Google, doesn’t sign an NDA (good luck!), and decides to share that information with us. No shocker here — that isn’t likely to happen.

So we’re left to infer based on what Google employees have said and what we have in case studies/data. Google has repeatedly told us that social signals aren’t a direct ranking factor.

How Social Media Helps SEO

Although social media isn’t a direct Google ranking factor, here are four ways social media actually does help your SEO efforts.

1. Potential for Links

The more shares on social media you have, the more opportunities people have to see your content and link to it.

In this case study, a company achieved over 130,000 Facebook shares to a web page and shot up the rankings for keyword phrases that were competitive. It still ranks #1 (as of this writing) and is a really good example of a good content creation and promotion strategy.

2. Build an Audience

You can have the best product or service out there, but if people don’t know about it, you can give it up. “Build it and they will come” doesn’t cut it in today’s competitive marketplace. You have to be proactive and reach people where they are.

And where are the majority of people? Social media. In fact, Facebook has nearly 2 billion users.

With the number of people on social media, its worldwide reach, and its ease of sharing, social media is a great way to build your web presence and quickly build an audience. If you want to be found among the millions of sites on the web (and the 571 new websites being created each minute), you’re going to have to up your social game.

3. Branded Searches

When consumers Google your brand name plus a keyword phrase, it can help you rank for similar keyword phrases.

An example of this would be if you have a horde of consumers searching “[Your Brand Name] Jeans” and they interact positively with your content, Google would think that since your web page ranks well for “[Your Brand Name] Jeans”, it would also be a good result for “Jeans” and place you higher for the keyword phrase “Jeans”.