Can someone clear up social signals as a ranking factor?
-
I'm aware that Google have addressed this before and specifically said that social signals are not a ranking factor: http://searchenginewatch.com/sew/news/2325343/matt-cutts-facebook-twitter-social-signals-not-part-of-google-search-ranking-algorithms
However I came across this (admittedly great) infographic from Neil Patel, an SEO I have a lot of respect for: http://www.quicksprout.com/2014/01/31/how-social-signals-impact-search-engine-rankings/
In the post he specifically states that "both Google and Bing use data from social sites in order to determine how high to rank your website."
I have always understood that social signals help drive links by spreading your content to a bigger audience, thereby getting your content in front of people who are likely to link. I also appreciate that content that is shareable is also likely to be linkworthy.
However. Neil doesn't talk about correlation here, he talks about social signals as a ranking factor. Is he being misleading, or has the game changed since Matt Cutts said they don't use social signals?
-
I think that John Mueller confirmed that they are not using social signals as a factor as well.
I believe personally believe that to be strictly true. That doesn't mean that at good social presence can't help you rank though. A successful social presence will create other positive signals. For instance if Google considered repeat visits to be a positive signal then this is a signal that comes as a by-product of a strong social presence.
That all said, it probably isn't a brilliant use of resources to "do social" just for rankings. Social media can bring targeted traffic and conversions, build brand loyalty, increase your reach etc. These are all good reasons to use social media. If you are using it for those reasons then any benefit to rankings is a free extra.
-
I don't know the actual answer but this http://themoralconcept.net/pandalist.html implies that they are or were up until very recently.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How to Benefit from Author Rank if You Have Expert Interviews
We have several interviews with industry experts on our site. How do we get the benefits from Author Rank? If I link to the interviewee's Google Plus profile, will Google recognize that they contributed to the site. Or do I need to get them to add our site to their contributor section on their Google Plus profile to receive any Author Rank benefits? (I know Author Rank is not believed to be affecting rankings yet). Thanks!
Social Media | | ProjectLabs0 -
Can no longer access my google + profile
A marketing firm set up my google + profile for my company a year ago. They no longer have the access to the account, and i need to either shut it down, or be able to access it and make some changes. Does anyone know how to delete a google + business profile or gain access to it somehow. Any help would be appreciated, Thanks
Social Media | | JesusD0 -
How do I build author rank on Google+ ?
I have a website for one of my businesses at www.trustworthycare.com that we've been building upon for many years. On that site we have a lot of content and we publish at least two blog articles each week with solid content that is relevant to members of the market that the business wants to attract as customers. I have a second website for a new business at www.ageassistance.com that is in the same market but which operates in a different manner. That second business is very new. It also publishes two articles per week. Both sites name me as the author and I have created a Google+ page for myself. The sites identify me as the author for google+ author purposes. Both businesses also have google+ pages. The weekly articles are being pushed out to the respective Google+ business pages as well as to my own Google+ page. I think I've got all the basics established for us to take advantage of google+ for SEO purposes, then. Is that correct? If so, what do we do next? What matters? Getting others to +1 my posts? On which Google+ page, mine or the businesses? Getting others to share my posts? If so, is it better to get them shared from my personal page, or from the businesses' pages? Thanks!
Social Media | | tcolling0 -
Social Media Strategy and Tactics for sensitive counselling industry
With my business I had always intended kicking social media into gear much sooner but various other pressures put this back somewhat. Counselling is quite sensitive for a variety of reasons:- We want to disassociate ourselves from the masses of non- professional folksy type "advice" that dominates the net, People, particularly in the UK often do not talk about mental health issues nor would we always want people to if they had not protected their privacy enough. Key marketing messages such as "get the first class service you deserve" (in UK people are more likely to wait 6 months to be seen by a trainee with no choice of who they see or when they see it than pay for counselling, "there are no quick fixes for mental health and counselling can make a real difference to your life if you invest time, energy and cost into it" (in a market where read this 300 word article to never feel stressed again dominates) and "what help choosing the counsellor who is best suited to you" - are not the sort of thing many people are likely to "like" or share with friends. At the moment I am looking to focus on LinkedIn (for corporate work), Facebook, Google+ and Twitter. I have a blog which is going to be producing excellent daily content including people's positive experiences of counselling, comprehensive self help tips, counsellor advice etc. On Google+ and Facebook I am looking to autopublish some of the blog posts and there are probably some other channels I will autopublish to but I do not yet know which to go for. Initially I am going to do little else on Google+ to focus time and energy developing Facebook and Twitter. I am trying to achieve the following:- Social Legitimacy - having decent number of engaged fans will make us seem more legitimate in an industry where trust is important (only 14 FB likes so far is not a good start) Engaging with Potential Content Creators - Reaching out to people who have experienced mental health issues so that this content can be used to provide peer support to others and enable them to see benefits of counselling Creating relationships with people and organisations where we can cross promote each other's initiatives, potentially co-deliver services in the future (community counselling work etc) Bring traffic to my site that will potentially convert into counselling clients in several cities in the UK through both people finding Promote my content more widely than is happening with organic search, reach different audiences, engage with potential customers, generate links to quality content I create Develop the social infrastructure to be able to leverage it for future goals, whether promoting an article, raising awareness for good mental health initiatives (that may have no financial benefit to the business but will help people) etc. Sorry this is so long but any comments, ideas, suggested tactics etc would be appreciated.
Social Media | | LighthouseC0 -
Very interesting test on social signals, thoughts?
According to this inforgraphic I found on Unbounce, the most powerful social signal is Google-Plus followers followed by Google-Plus votes. Now these results look amazing, so if this test is correct I need to gather 100 business page followers and a shed load of plus votes and I should see big movement in the SERP's? Thoughts? http://www.tastyplacement.com/wp-content/uploads/testing-social-signals.jpg testing-social-signals.jpg
Social Media | | activitysuper0 -
Can Twitter really help your Google Rankings??
Hi Guys, Can anyone tell me if Twitter really does help with your Goolge rankings? If I go to the trouble of setting up a Twitter account for my business will it really help with me getting higher rankings? If so is it a case of me just posting tweets all the time and links to my website? Any help or guidance be grateful guys Thanks Gareth
Social Media | | GAZ090 -
Google+ Ranking Factors - Are Keywords meaningless ?
Hello Mozers! On the Conversation Marketing blog, Ian Lurie published a lengthy article called Google Plus Box Ranking Factors Report. In it, he claimed amongst other things, that "Keyword relevance of your posts: Totally meaningless. Write whatever you want. Seriously. Just make it good." What say you? Are keywords really meaningless? Thanks in advance!
Social Media | | ShivaS1 -
Social or SEO?
all, would you consider social bookmarking to be part of an SEO package or a Social Media Package? thanks
Social Media | | imageworks-2612900