Do Social Signals Actually Help a Site Rank?

[Jez123]

I keep hearing that Socal is everything now. I don't see it though. I can see that it's a viable way to get alternative traffic but I can't see that it actually helps a site do well in the SERPs - in Google at least. Anyone swear by it or against it?

[netmeg]

Indirectly. Maybe. Who knows? We'll never know for sure. But I'm of the opinion that the more happy users I can bring on the site by whatever reasonable means are probably overall good for me. I'm not sure that Google cares as much about where they came from as what they do once they're there.

[Jez123]

Thanks for your reply Netmeg. So you use Social quite a bit then to bring traffic?

[frankleeceo]

I see it as chicken and egg. They help fuel each other's growth, indirectly.

A highly social and sticky site, having it to boost traffic will help it rank. If the site is non social at all, having social signals (forced and fake) will most likely do nothing. My thought is that social -> traffic -> rank -> traffic -> more social -> loops.

But social does not result in rank directly, and higher rank generally does not necessarily mean better social signal. The "traffic volume" is the glue connecting the two.

[engine]

Here's the thing - if you communicate via social media, and somebody finds your message of interest, besides sharing it again, they may generate a link somewhere. The value of that link on its own is questionable, but, if you get enough of them, over time, it has to be beneficial, imho.

Is it worth the effort? I would say, as long as it's part of your ongoing marketing program then it is worthwhile.

[NikolasSEO]

I've had a very analytical long form article go viral on a social network (Facebook to be precise) and within a few hours it was ranking #7 for a very competitive keyword (tech related). Usually what happens afterwards is that google tracks CTR, dwell time etc and compares against the other sites.

If the site doesn't have a very strong link profile it will usually shift about for a while until it sticks somewhere (according to the CTR, dwell time etc) and if it's really really good you will gain some natural links shooting you into the top #5+.

[EditorialGuy]

Google has said in the past that "social signals" don't affect search rankings. On the other hand, Google+ posts sometimes show up in personalized search results, and Twitter results may show up for certain types of queries.

[martinibuster]

and within a few hours it was ranking #7 for a very competitive keyword

That's the topical boost. Topical means that something is of interest at the moment. It's a temporary boost awarded because a web page is of interest at the moment.

Social Signals are not ranking factors.

As netmeg and engine noted, social activity can indirectly help a site rank better by getting the word out which sometimes results in links. But there is a caveat to this.

The big caveat
Not all social activity results in the right kinds of links from the right kinds of sites. If the page that is of topical interest attracts links from irrelevant sites to a single page that is not your money page, then there will be no effect on the ability of the rest of the site to rank. This is typical of viral linking strategies. Viral linking strategies that are based on non-relevant content (like a contest, a stunt, a humorous image) fall into this category where the links do not help a site rank better and often results in zero sales.

[NikolasSEO]

If it makes any sense here is a screenshot. The drop was due to a redesign and me forgetting to add the GA code.

Social boost then good google rankings
[postimg.org...]

Initial spike was the Facebook virality and then basically flatline from google search volume.

I also have an article that had a topical boost if you would like the screenshot. The graph is very very different.

Topical Boost screenshot with social virality
[postimg.org...]

I think it's better to have actual data than to just state your opinion or mention "that's what google said"

[martinibuster]

I think it's better to have actual data than to just state your opinion or mention "that's what google said"

I agree. Everything I noted is grounded in my personal experience and observation. When I am guessing or expressing an opinion I note it as such, particularly when it's speculative.

As far as going by what Google says, it depends on who is saying it and the context of what was said. Certainly they don't tell everything and details are left out. And some spokespeople do not work directly with the engineers (and have degrees totally unrelated to search) and in my opinion are less trustworthy sources of information.

Speculation and theories can be a waste of time if done poorly
Speculation can be a waste of time, especially when there are no citations to any scientific research or patent that would demonstrate that a particular phenomenon is within the realm of possibilities. The idea that social signals might be a ranking factor is a case in point. It was proposed based on observations that many top ranked sites have active social profiles or likes. It was proposed that maybe social signals were affecting the SERPs.

But the downside of that theory is that there was no research or patents at all surrounding social signals for the purpose of improving the search results. It was non-existent. No search engine or scientist had proposed using social signals as a ranking factor. Couple that with the denials from Google that social signals were not a ranking factor then it's pretty clear that the entire theory was nonsense and many businesses could have saved themselves the trouble had they considered whether or not it was within the realm of possibilities.

Social signals could be used as a way to verify authority, but that's not a ranking factor. :P

Social signals versus social activity
It's important to make a distinction between signals and activities. Social signals as a ranking factor is discredited. It's malarkey. ;) Social activity however can be beneficial for driving traffic, building awareness and indirectly can help build links (among other things).

[EditorialGuy]

Social activity however can be beneficial for driving traffic, building awareness and indirectly can help build links (among other things).

Also, the definition of "social" isn't always obvious. Google Analytics, for example, regards Blogger and TripAdvisor as social networks.

[deuces]

I dont even see how Google can use social signals directly in their algo. Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't facebook, for example, not really make it possible for Google to get all the data?

[timemachined]

The question is does social help your pages rank, so let's forget about traffic and instead look at reach, authority and G's view and weight of a particular social account.

In my view, yes. Why?

1. Authority accounts that like or retweet can help with staying power, forget any actions that might result from that occurring.
2. Also as mentioned above, the actual social post can show now too, so a secondary knock on effect is you have two of your own showing in the index.

I find social isn't just a topical boost but helps rank so there must be social profiling in the G algo. I don't know why some of you are so certain G doesn't have a social weighting algo for social accounts.

My priority after crafting an above average reading content page (I know most of the SEO gauge sites suggest most on it are dumb people with ADD but...), plus SEO'd images and % kw count is to gain an authority social account action. I don't care if others see it and it's not for traffic (that would be the bonus). So I'm either crazy or it helps.

[EditorialGuy]

I don't know why some of you are so certain G doesn't have a social weighting algo for social accounts.

Don't ask us. Ask John Mueller of Google:
[seroundtable.com...]

[timemachined]

I'm crazy, what's new...

We tell our children stories about monsters and evil lurking in the dark, as while the characters foretold are not true, in the end humans should be wary of the dark and what lurks. So if it's not not working and not causing any harm, why stop. Some believe in fairies, I believe in authority social nods.