What exactly is 'social signal'

[creativepotion]

What exactly is 'social signal'? I see them everywhere now, BST forum, Fiverr gigs etc.
It seems to me that its just a bunch of retweeting, pinning your images, facebook likes etc.?

Do I even need those fb and google+ buttons installed on my site in order to take advantage of that?
Thanks

 

[Expertpeon]

It's a made up thing by SEOmoz that claims google can track, and does track, FB likes, Pinterest, retweets and G+ of a page and uses it to calculate that page's ranking.

Despite explicit claims to the contrary, and large body of case studies, many still hold to this mistaken belief
http://www.webpronews.com/the-google-1-button-has-no-direct-effect-on-rankings-2012-10

 

[creativepotion]

Thanks Expertpeon.
I have an old html site that I want to test 'social signals' on.

Do I need to have any social buttons installed before I buy one of these social signals service?
Or does it not matter at all?

The truth is, I am not even a social media guy much. I am so behind lol.
I am not sure if people can +1 my page if I dont have a +1 button, but at the same time, I assume people can still put my link on their FB page without liking my page neither.. I am just confused. thanks

 

[Expertpeon]

Thanks Expertpeon.
I have an old html site that I want to test 'social signals' on.

Do I need to have any social buttons installed before I buy one of these social signals service?
Or does it not matter at all?

The truth is, I am not even a social media guy much. I am so behind lol.
I am not sure if people can +1 my page if I dont have a +1 button, but at the same time, I assume people can still put my link on their FB page without liking my page neither.. I am just confused. thanks

You do not have to have any buttons, as the actual page itself is linked to FB/Twitter etc by references/FB likes etc. The general rule is never buy +1s under any circumstances.... as punishments have been dished out because of it.

 

[afrowanksta]

You don't need the buttons on your page, they are there to encourage people to give 'social signals' organically.