Social interactions and recommendations like Facebook shares, Twitter mentions and retweets, etc. are called social signals.
Google has been elevating the importance given to social signals as part of its ranking algorithm since late 2010.
Note: Google encourages businesses to build their brand on social media 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 social signals, as so many things change quickly on social media. Without a reliable ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign more 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 real value tend to develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google naturally wants to display higher in its search results.
Social Signal Sources
Social sites that search engines look to for measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most dominant social media network on the planet. Research shows that one great 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 processes data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems influence search rankings more than other social media sites.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the next biggest social media site in the world, with over 600 million tweets sent out every day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence online and places great importance on the authority of tweets posted to readers over the number of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent every day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google+
Google’s own social media site naturally carries great authority online, even if it has not reached the same level of growth and take up as Facebook and Twitter.
(More people are interacting on GooglePlus every month. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big three listed above, there are a number of other social sites worth paying attention to, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Digg, Reddit, and StumbleUpon.
(Social media sites provide important signals that could affect your search rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Search engines like Bing and Google track various social signals, including the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook shares, likes, and comments you have, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, how influential the person sharing the information is, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (influential users), how many people are following you, number and growth rate of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on StumbleUpon, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious social media-related factors that can indirectly influence search engine 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 site reviewers [negative].
As a business owner, it’s not only important to find ways to develop your social media presence, but also to be able to monitor and analyze your social campaigns in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media to help improve your results online)
Monitoring social media activity allows you to gain insights into your company’s overall visibility on social media, be alerted to disasters, spot opportunities for engagement, spy on the competition, and measure the impact of campaigns. It can also provide you with valuable data about emerging trends and what clients and consumers are thinking about specific topics, products, brands, or businesses.
As a business intelligence tool, social monitoring is invaluable. Using social media monitoring as a form of business intelligence, however, is a complex undertaking, typically carried out by a cross-section of people including market researchers, digital reputation managers, marketing professionals, social marketing agencies, social engagement and community staff, and professional sales reps. Typically, many small businesses do not have the budget to pay a social media monitoring service to track their coverage in the and actively monitor their online reputation.
Fortunately various technology companies have developed affordable tools that facilitate the active tracking of a wide spectrum of social media channels, enabling companies to identify what is being said online about their brands or products allowing them to react to conversations and interact with consumers in a timely fashion.
We have written a comprehensive article about social media measurement tools that you may want to check out here:
(Can you measure social signals effectively?)
In this article, you will learn about a simple, yet effective social tracking tool for your WordPress-based site and increasing your social media influence online.
Presenting …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics WordPress Plugin
Plugin Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social analytics premium WordPress plugin that is designed to help you grow your social media influence online in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple concept – Social Metrics Pro tracks how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. The user’s goal is simple … convert red squares into greens.
(SocialMetricsPro provides a system that anyone can operate … turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts that get shared the most display green. Posts with low social media activity are colored amber and red.
The plugin developers tested Social Metrics Pro 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”. From these tests, they noticed a 360% improvement in traffic for their top 10 performing sites, 410% more keywords ranked in the first page of Google and their revenue increased by 310%.
(According to SocialMetricsPro developers, improving your social marketing campaigns can result in better search rankings, more web traffic and an increase in revenue!)
Go here to learn more:
Benefits
Here are just some of the many benefits and advantages of using SocialMetricsPro to track Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more from your WordPress Dashboard on your website:
Fast And Easy To Install And Implement. Ready To Go To Work In Very Little Time.
SocialMetricsPro is quite easy to install. Simply upload a zip file containing the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Really Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the user’s objective is to change reds into greens. Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures social signals so you know which campaigns need more effort and which social marketing campaigns need to be better optimized.
Track Only Social Signals From Social Networks You Care About
SocialMetricsPro provides a powerful dashboard to track and monitor social media activity from social media networks like GooglePlus, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Digg, StumbleUpon, and LinkedIn directly from your WordPress dashboard.
Social Metrics Pro 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 of this information can be accessed with just one click.
(SocialMetricsPro actively monitors social signals from the social sites that you care most about!)
Plugin Features
Social Metrics Pro provides WP users with many unique features. Below we have listed just some:
- Quick and simple to install and use. Ready to start using in very little time.
- SocialMetricsPro Is Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using external and built-in widgets. View the latest stats right on your WP admin bar, add social content to your blog sidebar or anywhere on your site using point-and-click widgets.
- One-click updating. You can update Social Metrics Pro in a single click via the WordPress Updates page, or update the manually manually. You can also choose to receive email notifications when a new version is released.
- Minimal hosting resources use. Social reports are compiled in seconds, consuming very little hosting resources. The tool also includes the amount of time used to retrieve the information and the server resources used to gather and compile the data.
Additional features include:
- Sort, Search And Filter Features: Social Metrics Pro allows you to sort and filter data as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by post authors, publishing date, post type, or category.
- Export Data To Excel: You can export data 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.
(SocialMetricsPro is simple to use … just convert reds into greens!)
Testimonials
Below are a few of the testimonials and comments users have written about SocialMetricsPro:
“Social Metrics Pro is the essential plugin we use to monitor how our content performs on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. It’s simple, neat and works precisely as you would expect it. When we work with our clients such as T-Mobile, the .Me domain name registry and others, Social Metrics Pro is the plugin we use to create reports as well as keep track on each bit of content to optimize it for future performance.” Ivan Brezak Brkan, Editor of Netokracija.com, TechCrunch EU Contributor
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”I give Social Metrics a big thumbs up and I recommend it to anyone who’s serious about tracking their social sharing analytics.” James Johnson, Senior Editor at The Inquisitr
SocialMetricsPro Plugin – Useful Tips
SocialMetricsPro includes a step-by-step guide on how to optimize your site for social media success (i.e. how to turn reds into greens).
Product Support
Social Metrics Pro is well-supported, and users get lifetime updates and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, sixty-day, complete money-back guarantee.
Plugin Price
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Edition – This license option lets you activate Social Metrics Pro on a single web site. Includes free lifetime updates and support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites License – This edition enables you to use SocialMetricsPro on all the websites that you own. Cost includes free lifetime updates and support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: The cost of purchasing Social Metrics Pro depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The price above was correct when this content was written. This may not be the actual price set by the product developer when you visit the product site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Info
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Our Recommendation
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. SocialMetricsPro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives WordPress users instant feedback on the success of their social media marketing campaigns and shows them where and how to improve their results.
Social Metrics Pro is ideal for beginners and advanced users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WordPress admin area.
We recommend getting this plugin if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to reduce your social media marketing learning curve.
For more information, check out the plugin here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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