Social shares: A ranking factor or not?
-
Open Site Explorer lists them and every so-called SEO expert says social signals/shares are a ranking factor. Everyone but Matt Cutts, it would seem.
So if they're not a ranking factor, why show them in Open Site Explorer?
-
If you follow someone on Google+, content they share will be biased higher in your search results, if you're logged in to Google yourself and don't have personal search results disabled. That's the only definite. Here's more: http://moz.com/blog/using-google-plus-to-appear-in-the-top-results-every-time-whiteboard-friday
As for showing other social signals on OSS - they're a useful metric to know, and will probably become more of a ranking factor in future. Shares from established Facebook/Twitter accounts with lots of followers will probably carry more weight.
See Moz's Ranking Factors survey for more info: http://moz.com/search-ranking-factors
-
I do believe that social signals are not really the ranking signals but they do affect links indirectly so, when doing a research or backlink analysis for this website, this data is important to better understand their link profile and maybe that’s why the data is available in Open Site Explorer.
Hope this helps!
-
This may not answer your question completely, but I'll take a shot at it. I saw Eric Enge speak at the 2013 State of Search conference in Dallas. The topic was Google+ as a ranking factor. His conclusion was 'Not really'.
What about Facebook and Twitter? Google has total control of +. They don't have total control of many other social networks. A lot of social networks are too fast for Google. Their understanding is incomplete because relationships change.
How a person is connected can change in a second. Indexation takes longer than that. Perfect, up to the second, knowledge of some social networks appears to be beyond them. At least that's what I gather from Cutt's video.
The devil is in the details, social networks are a great way to get your brand/message/content out there. If something 'works' it's likely to result in organic links. But let's stop worrying about ranking factors for a moment.
The ancients in our industry existed before most of the search engines. Thus there wasn't an algorithm to worry about. They thought about link building the way it should be done. They approached link value with the question; "How much traffic can this link drive to my site, and thus convert?"
So if you have a link with a lot of visibility/traffic potential, wouldn't you like to know about it?
-
Yes, social media signals are a vital search marketing component. If you've written some great informative content, the best way to share is via social media, which may or may not draw your followers, and more to your site.
Remember most marketing tools will not give you a full (100% accuracy) overview how well your site is performing.
Sorry if I have stated the obvious here. Michael is correct regarding employees from Google expressing "quality" signals from Panda.
-
Loaded question.
There have been G employees going public saying they are Panda Indicators. These are something that are present in the profiles of quality websites. Your goal should always be to emulate the best of the best so I do not think it is something anyone should ignore.
My data shows they are an influence on certain elements and due to that I am comfortable saying that they are a necessary element to any seo campaign.
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 rank videos in YouTube higher
I have a question regarding the ranking of YouTube videos. What are the ranking factors and how we can use them in our favor to rank our videos higher in search results within YouTube.
Social Media | | Sakshamk117ue0 -
Diving into Social Media...
Hi Our company has a Facebook page - it's pretty outdated and barely used. I want to change that, but wondered if anyone had any advice on how to start it up again? It hasn't been used for a while, so how do you start off with your first post? Or do you act like you have been there the whole time... probably not the best idea. We don't want to confuse people or look stupid with the first post. I want it to be regularly used for content, community building and demonstrating the personality of the company. Thank you 🙂
Social Media | | BeckyKey0 -
Article previews on social media not showing
Hi there, hoping for some help. I have a hunch but I can't be sure. Whenever I go to publish a link on social media, I no longer see previews with the featured image or relevant meta. We have changed servers lately so I think maybe somethign has gone wrong with OpenGraph? Happens on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Social Media | | Whittie0 -
Knowing audience through social share
Is there any way I can search on Google or use any tool to find my audiences who have shared my blog post on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn or anywhere else? If Moz provides this functionality then where can i find it. Also, How can i find the same information on competitors blog?
Social Media | | musigma0 -
Do having social sharing icons such as Twitter and Pinterest slow down site speed?
We are debating a redesign of a travel site and wondering whether having social sharing buttons including Pinterest and Facebook above each image would slow down site speed and therefore have a negative impact on our rankings. We are deciding between having the icons above each image or just in the side bar of all pages. Many thanks, Penny
Social Media | | Pday0 -
Are Social Links on Home Page Good for SEO
Hi, I have removed the Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn and G+ links from the top of our home page so as to try and stop users leaving the page. Is this bad for SEO? Thanks
Social Media | | Studio330 -
Social Media and Outbounds...
I have two sites I can get a link to my site on. The first has 10 outbounds all to facebook. The other has ten links to ten different sites. Assuming the sites are in every way equivalent apart from in that way which site gives me more juice if I add a link to my own site?
Social Media | | Turkey0 -
Social Media and Reporting
Hello All, I am looking for some opinions regarding social media plans. We are looking to provide plans as follows: plan a Facebook/Twitter setup 1 hour training Google Local set up Slideshare 4 facebook posts/mo 4 tweets/mo (original, not syndicated) content brief 2 downloadable objects (slideshows, pdfs, brochures ect) and submitted to slideshare 2 press releases and submitted to pr outlets Plan b Acct set up 1 groupon or living social deal squidoo scribd. flickr setup 2 hour training on tools 8 facebook posts/mo 8 tweets/mo google local 3 press releases 2 downloadable pieces submission to slideshare (with lead generation) content brief Plan C Acct set up 1 groupon or living social deal squidoo hubpages scribd. flickr setup 2 hour training on tools 12 facebook posts/mo 12 tweets/mo google local yahoo local 4 press releases 2 downloadable pieces submission to slideshare (with lead generation) content brief Plan D Choose your own adventure this will be where a client can choose up to 4 of the aforementioned services with a 2 hour training session and the price will be custom. I really appreciate your assistance and look forward to your wise responses!!
Social Media | | imageworks-2612900