Social interactions like Facebook likes, +1s on Google+, etc. are called social signals.
Social signals impact search engine rankings and Google has been tracking social signals as part of its ranking algorithm since late 2010.
Note: Google encourages website owners to build their social presence as a long-term investment to drive qualified traffic, instead of aiming for short-term benefits like search ranking placement. Google’s own head of its web spam team Matt Cutts has stated that Google takes a cautious approach when it comes to assessing social media signals, as social trends and relationships can change at a moment’s notice. 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 short, Google’s strategy is a sensible one - “wait and see” how things develop over time, as websites that provide true value tend to develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google wants to rank higher in its search engine.
Social Signals – Which Social Media Sites Matter?
Social sites that search engines like Google look to when measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion active users, Facebook is the largest social media community on the planet. It has been estimated that an average post on Facebook can reach over 100,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving a massive amount of sales on your website, don’t be quick to dismiss Facebook as an important part of your business strategy, as Google processes data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, research indicates that Facebook seems influence search rankings more than other social media sites, like GooglePlus and Twitter.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the next largest social media site in the world, with over 600 million tweets sent out every day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer online and places great importance on the authority of tweets posted to readers over the amount of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent each day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google+
Google’s own social media site naturally carries a significant degree of authority online, even if it is still a fledgling social community compared to sites like Facebook and Twitter.
(More people are actively using Google+ every year. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big 3 listed above, there are a number of other sites that should not be ignored, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and Digg.
(A number of social media sites provide important signals that can affect your search engine rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines like Google and Bing include the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook comments, likes, and shares you have, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets a URL has, how influential the person retweeting your posts is, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many people are following you, number of adds and shares, 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 rankings and traffic. These include desirable and undesirable factors, such as improving clickthrough rate [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by site reviewers [negative].
As a business owner, it’s not only important to grow your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to monitor, measure and analyze social media marketing performance in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media marketing can improve your results online)
Monitoring social media activity allows you to find insights into what people are saying about your services, company, or brand on social media, avert crises, spot opportunities for engagement, spy on your competition, and measure the impact of your marketing campaigns. It can also provide vital information about emerging trends and what clients and consumers are thinking about specific topics, brands, products, or businesses.
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, typically carried out by a cross-section of people including market research, marketing professionals, digital reputation management (ORM) specialists, professional sales reps, agencies, and social engagement and community personnel. Typically, smaller businesses do not 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 that facilitate the monitoring of a variety of social media channels, enabling companies to identify and even predict consumer behavior around their brands or products so they can respond to conversations and engage with consumers in various social media platforms.
To learn more about social media monitoring tools and technologies that are worth checking out and knowing about, refer to this article:
(Do you know how to effectively measure social signals?)
This article explores a simple, yet effective social monitoring tool for a WordPress-based digital business presence and increasing your social media influence.
Presenting …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
Description Of Plugin
SocialMetricsPro is an easy-to-install social media analytics plugin for WordPress that is designed to help you increase your social media influence online in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple premise – the system tracks and measures how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. The user’s goal is to turn all reds into greens.
(A standard operating procedure that anyone can follow … turn all the 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 SocialMetricsPro tested their plugin on a network of over two thousand websites over a period of three 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 Social Metrics Pro developers, focusing on improving your social marketing can result in better search rankings, more web traffic and an increase in revenue!)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Benefits
Below are just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Social Metrics Pro to track Likes, Tweets, +1s, Pins and more directly from your WP Dashboard on your site:
Fast And Easy To Install And Use. Ready To Use In Minutes.
SocialMetricsPro is very easy to install. Just upload the plugin file to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Really Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, your goal is to turn all the red squares into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social signals so you know where to invest more effort and which need to be better optimized.
Track Only Social Signals You Care About
SocialMetricsPro provides a powerful dashboard to track and monitor social activity across leading social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, StumbleUpon, Pinterest, Digg, and LinkedIn directly from your WP admin area.
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 are my most popular posts?
- And more …
With Social Metrics Pro, all this information is available on-demand, with a single click.
(SocialMetricsPro actively tracks the sites that you care most about!)
Features
Social Metrics Pro provides a number of great features to WP users. Below we have listed a few:
- Fast and simple to install and set up. Ready to use in minutes.
- Social Metrics Pro Is Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using external and built-in widgets. Access the latest information from your WordPress dashboard, display social content on your blog sidebar or anywhere on your site using widgets.
- One-click upgrading. 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 an email notification when new plugin updates are released.
- Utilizes minimal hosting resources. Reporting is very quickly, consuming very little hosting resources. Reports also display the amount of time it took to retrieve information and the server resources consumed when gathering data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sort, Search & Filter Features: SocialMetricsPro allows you to sort, search and filter the data however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by post type, post authors, category, or publishing date.
- Export Data: You can export filtered, sorted data and custom queries to Excel for further analysis. Data can be exported in tab-delimited and comma-separated file formats, and imported to Excel or the spreadsheet application of your choice.
(SocialMetricsPro is very simple to use … just change more reds into greens!)
User Feedback
Below are a couple of the testimonials that customers have submitted regarding the SocialMetricsPro plugin:
”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 containing useful advice on how to optimize your site for social media success (i.e. turn reds into greens).
SocialMetricsPro 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 money-back guarantee.
Plugin Cost
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This edition allows you to configure Social Metrics Pro on one web site only. Cost includes free lifetime updates and free support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites Edition – This edition enables you to use Social Metrics Pro on unlimited sites that you own. Cost includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: The cost to purchase SocialMetricsPro can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The price shown above was correct at the time this review was published. This may or may not be the actual price set by the software author when you visit the plugin website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing:
Additional Product Info
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Install This Plugin
As mentioned earlier, with the increased importance of social sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Google and Bing are now taking into account a range of social signals to help determine website ranking.
No website owner can afford to ignore the importance of social media. 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 marketing campaigns and shows them how and where to direct their efforts in order to improve their results.
Social Metrics Pro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WordPress dashboard.
Get this plugin if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to save time and resources by focusing on under-optimized social media marketing campaigns.
For more details, check out the plugin here: SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics Plugin
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