Does Social Media Popularity Affect SEO?

Over the past few years, you have been very active on social media and you have gained a decent following. However, the organic traffic for search engines does not show the same growth. Something doesn’t add up. Where is all the organic traffic you should be getting? Why aren’t you ranking higher on Google? I may have a reason.

Sadly, the problem is that you may have been misled. A common misconception is that the more Facebook Likes/Friends or the more Twitter followers a business has is part of Google’s search ranking algorithm. This is not the case.

According to the former head of the web spam team at Google Matt Cutts, states that “Google does NOT use signals from social media for search ranking.” This is because Google “won’t use a signal to influence its search rankings unless they have high confidence in the meaning of that signal” (StoneTemple). Because of the volatility of social media followers, Google does not use it as part of their search engine ranking factors. Because of the volatility of social media followers, Google does not use it as part of their search engine ranking factors.

What Social Media CAN Do For Your SEO

Although not part of the Google SEO algorithm, social media can most definitely be a part of your SEO strategy. Social media is a great tool for relaying your content to interested followers. This creates an opportunity for your content to be shared and linked to on other websites. Which, depending on the quality of those websites, would increase your search engine rankings.

The content you publish on social media is a great way to form a link back strategy as well. You can share you content with other interested readers and vice versa. Social media is a great place to communicate with readers who are interested in your content and drive more quality traffic to your website.

Also, creating an established social media following can lead to more brand awareness and, in turn, more unique visits to your website. The more visitors you receive, the more trustworthy your website becomes and therefore you may receive better search engine rankings.

Social Media Pages and Popularity

There is also an argument that can be made for optimizing your social media pages for the purpose of quality backlinks. Though not every page on, let’s say Facebook or Twitter is indexed by Google, popular ones may be. If your social media pages are gaining followers and is deemed a trustworthy website, then your website will gain “ranking points” for being associated with your social media page. That is a win-win situation for your business.

SEO and Social Media Conclusion

So, there you have it. Your social media following does not directly affect your websites search engine rankings, however indirectly, the traffic, backlinks and brand awareness gained from utilizing social media to broadcast your content can be an integral part of your SEO strategy.

If you have any web inquiries or are interested to learn how your website, social media and overall presences on the World Wide Web can be optimized, feel free to send us a message or leave a comment below.

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Have a great day and as always, thanks for reading!

Steve Malott