Social recommendations like +1s on Google+, Facebook comments, etc. are called social signals.
With the increased importance of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Bing and Google are now taking into account a range of social signals when determining a website’s ranking.
Note: Google encourages businesses to build their social media presence as a long-term investment to drive qualified traffic, rather than aiming for short-term benefits like search ranking placement. Google’s own head of the web spam team Matt Cutts has stated that Google takes a cautious approach when it comes to assessing social media signals, as so many things change quickly on social media. Without a reliable ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign too much importance to social signals over other aspects of their search algorithm. In short, Google’s strategy is a sensible one - “wait and see” how things develop over time, as sites that provide true value normally develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google wants to display higher in its search listings.
Social Signal Sources
Social media sites that search engines like Google and Bing look to for measuring social signals include:
With more than 1.5 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the largest social media network on the planet. Research shows that an average post 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 online business strategy, as Google uses social data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems influence website rankings more than other social media sites, like Google+ or Twitter.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second biggest social media site in the world, with over 500 million tweets sent out every single day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer on the cybersphere and places great emphasis on the authority of tweets posted to readers over the volume of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent every day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google Plus
Google’s own social site naturally carries great authority online, even if it is still a fledgling online community compared to sites like Twitter and Facebook.
(More people are interacting on Google+ every month. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big 3 social sites listed above, there are a number of other social sites worth getting to know, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Digg, Reddit, and StumbleUpon.
(A number of social sites provide important signals that could affect your search rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Search engines track various social signals, including the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook comments, shares, and likes a person has, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, how influential the person sharing the posts is, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many followers on Google+ a site page has accrued, amount of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on Digg, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious factors that can influence search rankings and traffic. These include positive and undesirable factors, such as improving clickthrough rate [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be of low quality by other users [negative].
As a business owner, it’s important to not only develop your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to track, measure and analyze social signals in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media marketing can help improve your business results)
Social media monitoring allows you to gain insights into what people are saying about your products, company, or brand on social media, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, identify opportunities for engagement, avert impending crises, and spy on the competition. It can also provide valuable data about emerging trends and what consumers and clients are thinking about specific topics, products, businesses, or brands.
As a tool for business intelligence, being able to monitor volume and sentiments of social conversations and social activity on social media channels like blogging, forums, news sites, micro-blogging platforms, discussion groups, video sites, and user-generated content (UGC) 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 groups that include marketing professionals, PR companies, market researchers, sales teams, agencies, and social engagement and community staff. Typically, small businesses don’t can’t afford to pay a media monitoring service to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately various service providers have made available tools that facilitate the active monitoring of a variety of social media channels, allowing companies to identify and even predict consumer behavior around their products or brands allowing them to respond proactively to conversations and interact with consumers in a timely manner.
We have created a detailed article where we explore over 30 social media monitoring tools that are worth knowing about. More info:
(Are you searching for an effective tool that can help you track your social signals?)
This article explores a simple plugin for WordPress users for tracking social media signals and improving your social media presence online.
Our Recommended WordPress Plugin …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin
Plugin Description
SocialMetricsPro is an easy-to-install social media analytics WordPress plugin that is designed to help users increase their social media influence in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple premise – SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures how each signal is performing and returns either a red or green indicator. Your goal is simple … change more reds into greens.
(SocialMetricsPro provides a system that any website owner can operate … just turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics with Excel-like conditional color formatting. Posts that receive the most shares display green. Posts with low social media activity display amber and red.
The developers of Social Metrics Pro tested their plugin on a network of 2,000+ websites over a period of 3 months. During this period, all they focused on was turning the “reds” to “greens” and then keeping their metrics on “green”. According to the plugin developers, they were able to notice 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 Social Metrics Pro developers, focusing on improving your social marketing campaigns can dramatically impact your search rankings, traffic and revenue!)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Plugin Benefits
Below are just some of the benefits and advantages of using SocialMetricsPro to track Likes, Tweets, Pins, +1s and more from your WP Dashboard on your website:
Fast And Easy To Install And Set Up. Be Up And Running In No Time.
Social Metrics Pro is quite easy to install. Simply upload it to your Plugins folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s objective is to convert all the reds into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social media signals the way Google sees it so you know which social campaigns need you to invest more effort and which social marketing campaigns need to be better optimized.
Track Only Social Signals From Social Networks You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you monitor social media activity across leading networks like GooglePlus, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Digg, StumbleUpon, and LinkedIn.
SocialMetricsPro lets you easily answer questions like:
- Which social media networks work best for my site?
- Which social campaigns are performing the best on these social networks?
- Which of my posts are the most popular on social media?
- And more …
With Social Metrics Pro, all this information can be accessed with just one click.
(Social Metrics Pro actively tracks social signals from the social sites that you care most about!)
SocialMetricsPro Features
Social Metrics Pro offers web site owners with many unique features. Below we have listed just some:
- Quick and simple to install and configure. Be up and running in no time.
- Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using external and built-in widgets. SocialMetricsPro displays the latest stats right on your WordPress admin bar, display social content on your sidebar or anywhere on your site using point-and-click widgets.
- 1-click updates. Update the plugin in a single click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update it manually. You can also choose to be notified via email whenever new plugin updates are released.
- Minimal server resources consumption. Reporting is in seconds, using minimal server resources. The tool also includes the amount of time used to retrieve information and the server resources used to gather and compile the data.
Additional features include:
- Sort, Search And Filter Features: SocialMetricsPro lets you sort, search and filter data as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by post type, category, post authors, or by publishing date.
- Export Data: You can export and plot filtered, sorted data and custom queries in 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.
(SocialMetricsPro is very simple to use … just turn more red squares into greens!)
User Feedback
Below are some of the testimonials that customers have submitted for Social Metrics Pro:
”As with any cool plugin, it solves a very simple problem – how to view how well your WordPress posts are being promoted.” Adam Small, Marketing Tech Blog
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“Social Metrics Takes WordPress Stats to the Next Level.” Lorraine Ball, Creative Director, Roundpeg
Product Tips
A practical, step-by-step guide on how to optimize your site for social media success (i.e. turn reds into greens) is also included.
Support
The plugin is well-supported, and comes with free support and free lifetime updates, backed by a risk-free, 60-day, complete refund guarantee.
Software Pricing
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This license allows you to activate SocialMetricsPro on 1 website only. Includes free lifetime updates and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multiple Sites Edition – This license enables you to use SocialMetricsPro on unlimited web sites that you own. Price includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: Pricing details of SocialMetricsPro can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. When we last checked, the product retails for the pricing shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing set by the product seller when you visit the plugin website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Information
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Download This Product
As mentioned earlier, with the increased importance of social sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Google and Bing have started taking into account a range of social signals when determining website ranking.
No website owner can afford to ignore how important social media is to their online success. SocialMetricsPro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives website owners immediate feedback on the success of their social marketing campaigns and guides them 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 directly from your WordPress admin area.
We recommend Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to measure your social media marketing results professionally.
For more details, visit the plugin website: Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin
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