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Does social media help SEO?
Peter Cady • September 11, 2020
What an SEO expert says
The effect of social media on SEO is a question that is heavily debated.
Some staunchly say that a social media presence helps a website, while others say that it does not, citing the fact that
Google itself has said that they do not consider social media in their ranking algorithm.
Thus, the question comes down to who you believe: SEO experts or Google.
Here is my take:
I am a firm believer that keeping and maintaining social media has a positive affect on a site’s ranking in Google.
I believe this for the following reasons:
1) Having social media profiles will get you more backlinks: there is a section for your website when creating a Facebook page and Twitter and Instagram profiles. Thus by having profiles on these sites, you are creating more backlinks.
2) Being active on social media sends social signals to Google: This is something that SEO expert Adam Clarke mentions in his book, SEO 2020. On the importance of social media for SEO, Clarke says the following: “While the official stance from Google is that they do not directly use social signals in their algorithm, the SEO community pretty much agrees it is certainly a factor in achieving rankings. Disagreements aside, I can tell from my own experience, sites with large social followings consistently get higher rankings in a shorter timeframe.” Since Clarke is a highly-regarded figure in the SEO industry, you should take his word that social media is important for SEO.
On top of that, it should also be noted that social media can increase your content reach and number of referrals that your site receives.
In conclusion, while Google may say that it is not a factor, any SEO expert worth their salt will utilize social media when drawing up an SEO strategy.
Honesty and communication are key
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