I’ve been asked this question more times than I can count. “Does social media really affect SEO?” Some people swear it does. Others say Google doesn’t even look at likes, shares, or tweets. The truth, from what I’ve seen, lies somewhere in the middle.
I’ll be honest. I used to think social media was just noise. Fun for engagement, yes. But not serious when it came to search rankings. Then I ran a few experiments. The results made me rethink my answer.
Let me break down what I learned, backed by real cases and research.
What Google Says
Google has always been careful with this question. Years ago, Matt Cutts (a Google engineer at the time) said social signals like likes and shares are not direct ranking factors.
In other words, having 1,000 likes on a post doesn’t instantly boost your Google rank. That’s still true today. If you check Moz’s guide on ranking factors, you won’t see “social likes” listed as a direct factor.
But that doesn’t mean social has no influence. It just works differently.
Indirect Influence of Social Media
Here’s what I’ve seen happen. A piece of content goes viral on Twitter (now X.com). It gets shared, linked, and discussed. Suddenly, blogs start referencing it. Websites link to it. And guess what? Those links are direct ranking factors.
That’s the real connection. Social media doesn’t pass SEO juice directly. But it creates visibility, which often leads to backlinks and brand mentions. And those definitely move the SEO needle.
Search Engine Journal agrees. They call social media a “secondary signal” that helps amplify reach, which then supports ranking.
My Own Test
A few years ago, I published a long guide about YouTube SEO. On day one, the blog post had no traction. I shared it on Twitter. A small group engaged. One marketer with a bigger following retweeted it. Suddenly, traffic spiked.
Within weeks, a couple of blogs linked to my guide as a resource. My search ranking for “YouTube SEO tips” went from nowhere to page one in under two months.
Did Twitter directly rank me? No. But without it, I doubt those blogs would have seen my post.
Social Signals and Search Engines
There’s also the topic of “social signals.” Likes, shares, retweets, pins. Companies like UpBuild even offer services where you can boost social signals.
The idea is simple. If Google notices that a URL is being widely shared, maybe it treats it as more relevant.
Brian Dean from Backlinko points out that while Google denies using social signals directly, strong correlation exists. Pages with high social engagement often rank better. Correlation doesn’t mean causation, but the relationship is too close to ignore.
I’ve personally tested buying a small batch of social signals for a blog post. Did my ranking jump overnight? No. But I noticed the page got indexed faster, and it picked up organic backlinks quicker. Coincidence? Maybe. But I’ve seen it enough times to believe there’s a connection.
Authority Building Through Social
SEO is not just about links and keywords. It’s also about brand authority. When people see your content everywhere — Twitter threads, Instagram carousels, TikTok clips — it builds trust. And trust leads to clicks.
According to Ahrefs, even if social doesn’t directly rank you, it helps build E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness). That’s something Google definitely values.
For example, I’ve noticed that when I promote a new blog on LinkedIn and it gets engagement, I often see a spike in branded search queries. People literally type my site’s name in Google. That branded search is a strong trust signal.
Case Study: Social + SEO Together
I worked with a small local business last year. Their website was stuck on page 3 for most keywords. We created a content piece about their industry and pushed it on Facebook and LinkedIn. The post did well locally. It got shares, and a couple of local bloggers linked to it.
Within two months, their ranking improved. Not because Facebook likes pass SEO value, but because those shares led to backlinks and visibility.
This matches what Neil Patel often says: use social media to distribute content, get it in front of more eyes, and let natural SEO benefits follow.
The Debate Still Exists
I know some SEOs roll their eyes when they hear “social signals.” They point to Google’s official stance that social isn’t a ranking factor. And they’re not wrong. If you only rely on likes and shares, you won’t move in search.
But ignoring social is a mistake too. It’s like ignoring PR. No, a press release link isn’t a magic bullet. But PR creates visibility, and visibility creates links. Same story with social.
My Advice If You’re Serious About SEO
Here’s what I recommend, based on years of testing:
- Share all new content on social. Don’t just publish and pray. Amplify it.
- Encourage engagement. Ask questions, spark discussion, make people comment.
- Use visuals. Screenshots, charts, and videos get more shares. Hootsuite notes that visual posts get higher interaction rates.
- Track what works. See which platforms send real referral traffic in Google Analytics.
- Mix in social signals smartly. Services like UpBuild can give content an early boost. Treat it as seasoning, not the main dish.
- Think long-term. Social is for distribution, SEO is for ranking. Use them together.
Final Thoughts
So, does social media influence SEO rankings? Not directly. Google isn’t counting your likes or retweets as votes. But indirectly, yes, it has a big impact.
Social makes your content visible. Visibility leads to backlinks. Backlinks push rankings. Social also builds brand authority, trust, and engagement — all of which support SEO.
When I look back at my own experiments, I see a clear pattern. The content I shared widely on social had a better chance of ranking than the content I left to die in silence.
The bottom line? Don’t think of social as an SEO trick. Think of it as fuel. SEO is the engine. Social media is the gas. Use them together, and your content will go further.
