Social interactions and recommendations like +1s on Google+, Facebook shares, likes, and comments, etc. are called social signals.
With the rise of social sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines are now taking into account various social signals when determining a site’s ranking.
Note: Google encourages businesses to build their social presence as a long-term investment to drive qualified traffic, rather than aiming for short-term benefits like search ranking placement. Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s web spam team has stated that Google takes a cautious approach when it comes to social signals, as so many things change quickly on social media. Without a reliable ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign too much importance to the social sphere over other aspects of their search algorithm. In summary, Google’s strategy is to “wait and see” how things develop over time, as websites that provide true value normally develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google naturally wants to display higher in its search results.
Social Signals – Which Social Sites Matter?
Social sites that search engines like Google and Bing look to for measuring social signals include:
With more than 1.5 billion active users, Facebook is the largest social network on the planet. Research shows that an average post on Facebook can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving droves of customers to your site, you should not be quick to dismiss Facebook as an important part of your business strategy, as Google uses data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, research indicates that Facebook seems to have the most influence on search engine rankings of all social media sites.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second largest social media site in the world, with over 500 million tweets sent out each day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence on the cybersphere and places great importance on tweeting posts that provide great value to followers over the number of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent each day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google Plus
As Google’s own social media site, Google+ naturally carries great authority online, even if it is still a fledgling social community compared to sites like Facebook and Twitter.
(More people are interacting on GooglePlus each month. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big three social sites listed above, there are a number of other sites that should not be ignored, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Digg, and Reddit.
(A number of social sites provide important signals that could affect your search engine rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Pay Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines like Bing and Google include:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook likes, shares, and comments a person has, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets your URL has, the number of people sending a tweet, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many followers on Google+ your web page has, authority of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. number of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on StumbleUpon, etc.
- Not so obvious signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious signals that can indirectly influence search rankings and traffic. These include positive and undesirable factors, such as age and authority of your social media account [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be of poor quality by other users [negative].
As a website owner, it’s not only important to develop your social media presence, but also to be able to monitor, measure and analyze social signals in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media to help improve your business results)
Tracking social media activity allows you to gain insights into what people are saying about your products, company, or brand on social media, assess competitor activity and mind share, spot potential market opportunities, avert impending crises, and measure the impact of your marketing campaigns. Additionally, social media monitoring can also provide you with vital data about emerging trends and what clients and consumers think about specific businesses, topics, products, or brands.
As a tool for business intelligence, social media monitoring is invaluable. Using social media monitoring as a form of business intelligence, however, is a complex undertaking, often carried out by a cross-section of people including market researchers, online reputation managers, marketing teams, agencies, professional sales reps, and social engagement and community personnel. Typically, small businesses don’t have the budget to pay a media monitoring service to track their coverage in the and actively monitor their online reputation.
Fortunately different technology providers have developed a range of affordable and even free tools to facilitate the active monitoring of a variety of social media channels, allowing you to track consumer behavior around your brand so you can respond proactively to conversations and interact with consumers in a timely fashion.
We have written a detailed article about social media monitoring tools and technologies that are worth knowing about. To learn more about this go here:
(Do you know how to effectively track social signals?)
In this article, we look at a simple, yet effective social monitoring plugin for a WordPress-based digital business presence and increasing your social media influence.
Presenting …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics Plugin
Description Of Plugin
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social analytics plugin for WordPress that is designed to help you increase your social media influence in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple premise – SocialMetricsPro measures how each signal is performing and displays either a red or green indicator. The user’s task is to turn reds into greens.
(SocialMetricsPro provides a standard operating procedure that anyone can operate … turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts that get shared the most are colored green. Posts with low social media activity display amber and red.
The developers of SocialMetricsPro tested their plugin on a network of over two thousand websites over a period of 3 months. During this period, all they focused on was turning the “reds” to “greens” and then keeping everything “green”. According to the plugin developers, they noticed that their top 10 best performing sites saw an improvement of up to 360% more traffic, 410% more keywords ranked in the first page of Google and their revenue increased by 310%.
(According to SocialMetricsPro developers, improving your social media marketing can result in higher search rankings, increased traffic and increased revenue!)
Learn more here:
Benefits
Below are just a few of the benefits of using SocialMetricsPro to track Likes, Tweets, +1s, Pins and more directly from your WP Dashboard on your web site:
Installation Is Easy And Quick
SocialMetricsPro is very easy to install. Just upload the plugin file to your Plugins folder via your WordPress admin section and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, your objective is to change more reds into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social media signals so you know where to invest more effort and where to optimize.
Track Signals You Care About
SocialMetricsPro provides a powerful dashboard to monitor social activity from social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Digg, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, and LinkedIn directly from your WP admin area.
Social Metrics Pro lets you easily answer questions like:
- Which social networks work best for my site?
- Which social campaigns are performing the best on these social networks?
- Which are my most popular posts?
- And more …
With Social Metrics Pro, all of this information can be accessed with a single click.
(SocialMetricsPro constantly monitors social signals from the social sites that you care most about!)
Plugin Features
Social Metrics Pro provides WordPress users with many features. Here are just some:
- Fast and simple to install and implement. Be up and running in no time.
- Social Metrics Pro Is Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality with external and built-in widgets. Access updated stats from your WP dashboard, display social content on your blog sidebar or anywhere on your site using widgets.
- 1-click auto-update functionality. You can update Social Metrics Pro in a single click via the WordPress Updates page, or update the manually manually. You can also opt to be notified via email whenever new versions are released.
- Low-resource consumption. Reporting is very quickly, consuming very little server resources. Reports also include the amount of time spent retrieving the information and the server resources consumed when gathering and compiling the data.
Additional features include:
- Sorting, Searching & Filtering Features: SocialMetricsPro allows you to sort, search and filter the data as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by post authors, post type, category, or publishing date.
- Export Data To Excel: You can export filtered data and custom queries to Excel for further analysis. Data can be exported in tab-delimited and comma-separated file formats, and imported to the spreadsheet application of your choice.
(Social Metrics Pro is very simple to use … just change more reds into greens!)
Testimonials
Here are a few of the testimonials and comments that users have provided for SocialMetricsPro:
”Social Metrics is the easiest way to see at a glance which posts have performed well on social networks.” Kevin Muldoon, Founder of WPMods.com
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“Social Metrics Takes WordPress Stats to the Next Level.” Lorraine Ball, Creative Director, Roundpeg
Product Tips
Social Metrics Pro includes a step-by-step guide on how to optimize your site for social media success (i.e. how to turn reds into greens).
Plugin Support
Social Metrics Pro is well-supported, and users get lifetime software updates and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, 60-day, full refund guarantee.
Plugin Pricing
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License Edition – This license enables you to configure Social Metrics Pro on 1 website only. Cost includes free lifetime updates and support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site License Edition – This license option enables you to activate SocialMetricsPro on unlimited web sites that you own. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: Current pricing for Social Metrics Pro depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Presently, the product retails for the prices shown above. This may not be the actual pricing set by the plugin author when you visit the plugin website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Product Info
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Download The Product
As mentioned earlier, Google has been elevating the importance given to social signals as part of its ranking algorithm.
No website owner can afford to ignore how important social media is to their online success. Social Metrics Pro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives users instant feedback on the success of their social media marketing campaigns and shows them where and how to improve their results.
SocialMetricsPro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WordPress admin area.
We recommend SocialMetricsPro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to improve social visibility and see more of your keywords getting better rankings on search engines.
For more details, check out the plugin here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
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