Does Facebook Help SEO is a question we’ve been getting over the last year or so.
Understanding the connection between social media marketing and search engine optimization can help your website push “stubborn” page 2 and 3 keyword rankings into page 1 positions.
SEO Signals from Social Media Platforms
Leveraging dwell time and Facebook Ad traffic to your website can help send the right social signals Google and other search engines like to see. Content remains king but social media can drive the right social signals that Google likes.
Social signals can come from social media sites such as:
- Facebook – Likes, shares, follows, comments, views.
- Instagram – Follows, likes, shares, comments, favorites, saves.
- X.com (Twitter) – Follows, tweets, retweets, quote tweets, replies.
- Pinterest – Follows, pins, repins, views.
- TikTok – Follows, likes, shares, comments, views.
- Reddit – Members, upvotes, comments, shares.
- YouTube – Views, likes, comments, shares.
Social signals, such as likes, shares, and comments, though not direct ranking factors, significantly influence search engine visibility and traffic.
Moreover, maintaining an active social media strategy is advantageous for direct traffic, emphasizing the importance of integrating social media into your overall SEO efforts.
Does social authorship affect search rankings?
As of May 2024, around 5.07 billion people worldwide are social media users, which accounts for over half of the global population with an average daily usage of 2h 23m.
In the past, Google mentioned it relied on over 200 ranking factors when determining how to rank web pages but stated social signals were not one of them.
With the recent Google Leak, there are over 14,000 attributes that could possibly impact rankings with social media reputation as a quality indicator.
Social media posts that are attached with author schema markup language will help strengthen the ties that a brand has within Google. It helps Google better understand the people behind the content – authorship.
Who are they, where have they worked at, what schools did they attend – Google wants to make sure that the content that is written by professionals and experts in their fields.
Authorship via social media algorithms can influence keyword rankings in several ways, primarily through enhancing content credibility, driving engagement, and building authority.
Here’s how it works:
Content Credibility and Trustworthiness:
- Authorship signals from reputable and active social media profiles can enhance the perceived credibility and trustworthiness of content. Google’s algorithms may use these signals to assess the quality of the content, which can indirectly influence rankings
Increased Engagement and Traffic:
- When an author with a strong social media presence shares content, it can lead to increased engagement such as shares, likes, and comments. This higher engagement can drive more traffic to the website, which Google may interpret as a positive user experience, indirectly boosting keyword rankings
Authority Building:
- Consistent and authoritative contributions from recognized authors on social media platforms help build a strong online presence. Google’s algorithms take into account the authority of content creators, and a strong social media presence can be a part of this evaluation. This is particularly relevant for topics classified under “Your Money Your Life” (YMYL), where expertise and trustworthiness are crucial
Brand Signals:
- Authorship that reinforces a brand’s identity on social media can improve brand signals. Google uses these signals to assess brand authority and relevance, which can impact keyword rankings. A recognized author associated with a strong brand can enhance the overall authority of the content
Social Media Mentions and Backlinks:
- High-quality content shared by reputable authors on social media can attract backlinks from other sites. These backlinks are critical ranking factors, and social media can amplify the reach and visibility of content, increasing the likelihood of earning valuable links
Social media authorship does not directly impact Google’s keyword rankings, it contributes significantly through indirect factors such as enhanced credibility, increased engagement, authority building, and the generation of backlinks. These elements collectively help improve a website’s SEO performance and keyword rankings.
How to Use Social Signals to Boost Keyword Rankings
Open up Google Search Console and search for a URL that has high impressions and low clicks with keywords in position 15-40 (page 2 to 4 on Google).
Download the last 90 days from that URL via Google Search Console and sift through the various keywords. Look for two-three word clusters and open up another Google Sheet.
Google 3-5 keywords and see what Google is showing you.
Are there ads? Google Business Profile listings? Generative AI showing? What are the top 20 results? Big brands, local, e-Commerce, legacy, etc? Understanding the user intent and what Google shows on its search result pages is the most important process for any successful SEO campaign.
Social Signal Measurement
We mostly look at Facebook, Pinterest, Reddit social signals when it comes to doing SEO for Social Signals. You can use Facebook’s debugger tool or visit this link to view social signals.
- Analyze with Google Search Console: Identify URLs with high impressions and low clicks, focusing on keywords in positions 15-40.
- Research Keywords: Google 3-5 keywords to understand what appears in search results.
- Understand User Intent: Analyze the top 20 results to see the type of content and user intent.
- Measure Social Signals: Use tools like Facebook’s debugger to assess social signals of competing URLs.
- Develop a Strategy: Aim to surpass competitors’ social engagement metrics, especially for local businesses competing with larger brands.
After doing this for many years, you will see that many brands are not putting any emphasis on individual URL marketing to drive social signals locally.
This is the opportunity that local businesses, small marketing budgets, and companies competing with massive brands like Home Depot or Amazon can use to increase their search results.
Social SEO Strategy
If a competitor shows 10 likes on Facebook, your goal is to at least match them or generate more likes on that piece of content or URL you are trying to “bump”. This strategy works really good for local business owners going up against franchises or larger brands with limited local visibility.
- Competitive Analysis: Compare your social engagement with competitors.
- Local Business Focus: Highlight the advantage for local businesses to outdo larger brands in social engagement.
- Engaging Content and Ads: Create engaging posts and run targeted local ads to boost social signals.
- Use Hashtags: Utilize relevant hashtags to enhance the discoverability of your social media engagement.
Having engaged social media channels helps but running Facebook Ads to that URL or piece of content and make your social media posts are engaging enough to have the user like, comment, share, and / or click the URL. We believe using hashtags helps Google better understand your social media posts along with the copy and could influence Google search results.
Facebook and Google analytics will see these “social signals” going to relevant content coming from a specific city or area code.
Integrating Social Media and SEO
Incorporating social media into your SEO strategy is crucial for enhancing online visibility, driving traffic, and building authority.
By leveraging social signals from platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, you can boost engagement, attract valuable backlinks, and reinforce your brand’s presence.
This integrated approach not only improves your search engine rankings but also ensures a local marketing approach to maximize your content’s reach and impact.
Start optimizing your social media visibility today to achieve superior SEO results.
