BUSTED
Social signals affect rankings
SOCIAL
MEDIUM Impact
INTERMEDIATE
The Myth
"Shares, likes, and social engagement directly boost search rankings."
The Truth
Social signals are NOT a direct ranking factor. Google has repeatedly stated this. The correlation people see is because great content gets both shared AND linked to. Social media can indirectly help SEO by increasing visibility, which can lead to backlinks. But the shares themselves don't boost rankings.
OFFICIAL
John Mueller
Social signals aren't a ranking factor. We can't even reliably access social data.
STUDY
Stone Temple Consulting
No correlation found between social shares and rankings after controlling for other factors.
DInsight from @dejanseo
"Social is for audience, not algorithms. Use it to build relationships that might lead to links and mentions. Don't expect Google to count your tweets."