Do social media links help SEO rankings?
Backlinks
Directly, no—social links are usually nofollow and don’t pass PageRank. But indirectly, they matter a lot in 2025. Social platforms amplify content discovery, brand signals, and engagement, which Google and AI systems use as secondary ranking signals.
Example:
A LinkedIn post that goes viral may attract journalists who then link to your site, indirectly boosting rankings. Social mentions also feed into entity-based search and Knowledge Graph visibility.
Practical steps:
1) Share content on platforms where your target audience is active.
2) Encourage discussions that can lead to editorial links.
3) Use social to build brand queries (people Googling your name = trust signal).
Further reading:
https://moz.com/learn/seo/social-media-and-seo
https://learningseo.io