Can Social Media/Forums Be Used for Google SEO?

using social media for SEO to rank on Google and other search engines.

[Keshera]

I would like to know if it's possible to use social media posts and forums to rank keywords faster than your own site?

I'm creating posts on social media for my website and I noticed that some of the posts that I added to reddit are ranking faster than my own website. Of course, I haven't finished optimizing my own site but I'm getting more traffic from social media and I just happened to notice this. So even though social media is considered a separate component to SEO, it seems to have a direct effect on SEO.

[edited by: not2easy at 6:41 pm (utc) on Jan 31, 2024]
[edit reason] Please see TOS [webmasterworld.com] [/edit]

[not2easy]

Hi Keshera and welcome to WebmasterWorld [webmasterworld.com]

Your site may be noticed earlier by sharing it on popular sites, but such self-created 'backlinks' are not a good way to be known as they can have a negative effect on your long term ranking. It is not considered 'SEO' and many sites consider it as spam. SEO is making sure your site is fast loading with fresh content and user friendly for visitors. I would suggest you take time to optimize your site before you start advertising it, in the long run it is more beneficial.

[tangor]

@Keshera ... glad to have you join us!

G and FB/Social have eyeballs, not only users but on each other. Both g and social know when they are being gamed. That said, some claim that social can have a beneficial aspect on g serps, but my practical experience does not suggest it is significant or repeatable over long period of time. Part of that is the ephemeral aspect of social media: that feed is "immediate, short-lived, and GONE in the noise before it can be more than a blip for g's interest/ranking.

YMMV