What are Social Signals in SEO & How Does Social Media Impact SEO?

Want to improve your search engine optimisation (SEO) ranking? Curious to understand what role social media plays in optimising your website? Social signals on social media are becoming increasingly important when it comes to successful SEO and can play a vital role in helping websites get noticed by potential customers and clients.

In this blog post, we'll cover:

• What social signals are and how they influence SEO
• The importance of social media and how it can affect your rankings  
• The different types of social signals
• How to best use social media and social signals to help maximise your SEO returns
• How social media can be another powerful tool to drive traffic to your website

Read on for more insights on how you can leverage the power of social media for SEO success!  

What are Social Signals and How Do They Influence SEO?

Social signals refer to the measures of a website or webpage's engagement on social media platforms. These signals include likes, shares, comments, followers, and even inbound links, which indicate that the content of the website is resonating with the audience.  

When a website or page receives a significant amount of social signals, it indicates that it is valuable, relevant, and trustworthy to its audience. As a result, search engines deem the page as important, and rank it higher in the search engine results pages (SERPs). As social media is the go-to platform for people to share and discover information, receiving more social signals is crucial in increasing a website's visibility, traffic and rankings.  

The Power of Social Media in SEO and How it Affects Your Rankings  

Over the years, social media has become an indispensable part of our lives and has turned out to be an essential tool for businesses looking to boost their online presence and visibility.  

Social media's role in SEO is more than just a "feel good" metric, it can directly impact search engine rankings. Interactions on social media can drive traffic to your website, amplify your brand’s exposure, and build credibility and trust with your audience.

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn have a considerable user base. By sharing relevant and valuable content on these platforms, you can build a loyal fan base, increase your social signals, and in turn, enhance your search engine rankings. The more people engage with your content, the more likely it is you will appear at the top of SERPs.

The use of social media also provides a direct channel for businesses to interact with their customers. Regular interaction and engagement with your customers on social media creates a positive impression about your brand, which enhances customer loyalty and retention in the long run.

The Different Types of Social Signals That Affect SEO

Likes:

One of the most common social signals, likes are generated when users appreciate certain content by clicking the ‘like’ button on platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. The number of likes a piece of content gets can indicate the popularity and relevance of the content, which can influence the search engine rankings of the website it's hosted on.

Shares:

Sharing content on social media encourages others to check it out, creating a ripple effect that can amplify visibility and engagement metrics. When users share content, they signal to search engines that it's informative, valuable, and entertaining, which can lead to improved search rankings.

Comments:

Comments are another crucial type of social signal. They appear when users engage in conversations around the content of a post, video, or image. Comments can indicate the extent to which the content resonates with audiences, which can lead to improved search engine rankings.

Followers:

Followers refer to those who have subscribed to a brand or social media account to receive its content. Followers can serve as an indicator of credibility, trustworthiness, and authority, telling search engines that the content is trustworthy, respected, and noteworthy.

Inbound Links:

Inbound links, also known as backlinks, are one of the most important social signals for SEO. They are created when other websites link to your content, indicating to search engines that your content is valuable, trusted, and authoritative. With more quality backlinks, the website is likely to rank higher in search results.

Best Practices for Increasing Your Visibility Through Social Signals  

Having a strong media presence is essential if you want to improve your online visibility, and the combination of social signals and social media is a sure-fire way to help you do it. To help you get started, the best practices for increasing your visibility through social signals includes:

• Create engaging and informative shareable content designed to attract attention
• Optimise your social profiles to include your company’s name, website, and relevant keywords
• Make use of social media management tools like Hootsuite and Buffer to help you schedule posts, monitor engagement, and track metrics
• Engage with your followers by responding to comments and answering questions to build a strong relationship with your audience  
• Use hashtags to improve visibility of your posts  
• Leverage influencers to promote your content and endorse your brand  
• Monitor and analyse your metrics to help you understand what’s working and what’s not to help make better strategy decisions  

Final Thoughts

To summarise, social signals play a crucial role in SEO, and their use brings great potential for businesses that take the time to spread their message on social media. By managing your own social media profiles, writing fresh content and using good SEO practices, you can promote your brand and become the top result on SERPs. Remember not to put too much emphasis on any one thing – a combination of SEO techniques ultimately guarantees better results in this fast-paced and constantly evolving industry.  

If you have any further questions about how to make the most out of social signals for SEO or would like insight into how our award-winning strategies can help your business, why not get in touch today?