Social signals refer to the impact of social media activity on search engine rankings. They include actions such as likes, shares, comments, and overall engagement with content on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others.

While there’s ongoing debate among SEO experts about the direct impact of social signals on search engine rankings, there are several ways in which social media activity can indirectly influence SEO:

1. Increased Visibility: When content gets shared and engaged with on social media, it can reach a wider audience, leading to more traffic to the website. This increased visibility can result in more backlinks from other websites, which is a known ranking factor for search engines.
2. Brand Awareness: Social media activity can help increase brand awareness and recognition, which can lead to more branded searches. Search engines may interpret branded searches as a sign of trust and authority, potentially impacting rankings.
3. Influencer Marketing: Collaborating with influencers on social media can expose your brand to their followers, increasing engagement and potentially driving traffic to your website. This can indirectly impact SEO by generating backlinks and increasing brand mentions.
4. Social Profile Rankings: Social media profiles often rank well in search engine results pages (SERPs). Maintaining active and optimized social media profiles can help ensure that your brand occupies more space in search results and maintains a positive online presence.
5. User Engagement Signals: While not directly related to social media, user engagement metrics such as click-through rate (CTR), bounce rate, and dwell time can be influenced by social signals. Higher engagement metrics can indicate to search engines that your content is valuable and relevant, potentially leading to improved rankings.

It’s important to note that while social signals can indirectly impact SEO, they are just one of many factors that search engines consider when determining rankings. The quality of your content, website structure, backlink profile, and other traditional SEO factors still play a significant role in determining your website’s visibility in search results.