Do Social Media Shares Help SEO Rankings?

There’s an ongoing debate about whether social media and SEO are linked to each other and whether social media shares improve ranking on search engines. 

If you asked me, there’s no answer in Yes or No. 

Yes, social media shares help, but they don’t affect the SEO directly, nor does Google recognize social media as a ranking factor. The concept behind how it helps is a bit difficult to explain in a few words, that’s why I’ve devised this guide. 

Here’s what I’ll cover: 

• Does social media affect SEO ranking?
• How does social media affect SEO? 
• What are the social media strategies you can follow to boost SEO ranking?

So, let’s dive in without wasting a second! 

Does Social Media Shares Affect SEO Ranking?

No, social media shares don’t affect the SEO ranking of your blog directly. The biggest proof is John Mueller, a senior search analyst, who stated this fact in 2015. He replied to the question: do social signals have an impact on organic ranking on Google: 

“Not directly, no, so it’s not that there’s any kind of a ranking effect there to a large part; social networks also have a no-follow that they kind of provide when you post content. So it’s not the case that that would give you any kind of a ranking boost.”

Hence, it’s proven that you can’t get direct SEO benefits by sharing your content on social media sites. However, that doesn’t mean your social media presence doesn’t impact your SEO at all. In fact, it does help improve ranking, but not how you think.

For example, many bloggers who usually follow old SEO tactics think that the no-follow links we get by sharing content on social media channels can instantly boost your SEO. They try to post on social media as much as possible, but SEO doesn’t work like this. 

How Social Media Can Affect SEO?

The traffic from social media can affect your rankings. It’s because sometimes social channels help search engines understand what content (blogs or articles) is relevant and helps users. As a result, Google also ranked them on search engines. According to John Mueller: 

“When we recognize that there’s content on these show social networks that are relevant to the user, then we try to show that in the search results as well.”

Once you are viral on social media, more people visit your site, which can also lead to ranking your brand’s social media pages. 

Strong social media profiles build trust and prove that you’re an authority, which is an important EEAT factor. Additionally, there’s also a chance that you may get some quality do-follow backlinks if you’ve followed the Skyscraper content strategy. 

5 Best Social Media Platforms for SEO

Here are the five best social media platforms that can affect ranking and boost your visibility on search engines. 

1- Youtube

The best platform for social media marketing is YouTube. As per research, over 2.56 billion users accessed YouTube videos in 2022. You can make videos in the same niche as the blog and post them on YouTube along with the blog link in the description. By doing this, you’ll get a huge traffic from social media. 

Tip – If your blog is mainly about “how-to” topics, creating a YouTube video and embedding the link in the WordPress editor is best. It will provide a better user experience, as people can read the blog or watch the video. 

2- Twitter AKA “X”

Social media posts on X help a lot in connecting with your audience. This platform is actually Twitter; the name has just changed. However, despite this name change, millions of active users listen to, observe, and share their opinions.

You can write a blog about a relevant or trending topic, like “New Year Deals” at the end of the year, and post the link on the X platform with relevant visuals. People who’re interested in buying things will come to your website via social media. 

3- Facebook 

Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms people use. Here, you can share content in text, images, and videos. You just need to create a page or group for your website and connect with the people who are your targeted audience. 

Once you establish a strong presence, you’ll get traffic whenever you post the blog link on the page. Since it’s a big platform with numerous influencers, there’s also a chance of going viral if a strong profile shares your post. 

4- Reddit 

Reddit is a good platform if you want to target an audience from the USA, UK, Canada, or anywhere in Europe, but it’s not easy. The audience on Reddit is sceptical of brands or promotional accounts, and the subreddit also doesn’t support promotional posts. 

To gain attention there, you need to be really helpful. Always post comments that solve issues or help people. The more you’ll be relevant, the more likely the community is to trust you. 

5- Quora

Quora is the best platform to improve SEO ranking and get traffic to your sites. It’s a “forum,” a question-and-answer website where people ask questions and experts or people who’ve knowledge answer. 

The amazing thing about Quora is you can add hyperlinks and send the audience to your blog. Just make sure your answers are helpful and not too much like an ad. 

Tips for Using Social Media to Boost SEO

Here are the five social media marketing tips that will help in SEO. 

1. Optimise profile: Make sure your social media profiles are optimised, set up nicely with good and relevant information. This helps search engines understand who you are, and they show your profiles in search results. 
2. Engage with your audience: Always talk to the people who follow you. The more you communicate with them, the more they’ll trust you, and that’s good for your website.
3. Use hashtags: On places like Instagram and Twitter, use hashtags. They make your posts easier to find. Do proper research about which hashtag is working with the help of social media tools. 
4. Include links: Add blog links to social media posts to generate no-follow links. They’re not as useful as do-follow links, but such kind of forums really help in driving traffic.
5. Follow a proper schedule: Don’t post randomly on any day. Make a plan for when and what you’re going to post. You can go live with your audience, offer discounts etc to  attract more audience. 

Final Words

Social media helps SEO but not directly. The links you’ll create (no-follow links) and the audience you’ll connect to will positively affect the SEO results. People will come to your website, helping you rank higher, and the links will build domain authority, which will make Google see your site as more trustworthy.