Social interactions and recommendations like Facebook likes, +1s on GooglePlus, 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 businesses to build their brand on social media 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 social 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 social signals over other aspects of their search algorithm. In short, Google’s strategy is to “wait and see” how things develop over time, as sites that provide real value normally develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signals – Which Social Media Sites Matter?
Social sites that search engines like Google and Bing look to for measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion active users, Facebook is the most influential social media community on the planet. Research shows that an average post on Facebook can reach over 100,000 users, so even if no one seems to be buying your products or services on Facebook, don’t be quick to dismiss Facebook as an important part of your business strategy, as Google processes social data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, research indicates that Facebook seems influence search engine rankings more than other social media sites.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the next largest social media site in the world, with over half a billion tweets sent out every day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer online 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: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google+
As Google’s own social site, Google+ 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 starting to interact socially on GooglePlus each day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big 3 social media giants listed above, there are a number of other sites worth getting to know, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and Digg.
(Social media sites provide important signals to search engines that could affect your rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines like Bing and Google include:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook shares, comments, and likes you have, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets a site has, how influential the person retweeting your information is, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (influential users), how many followers on Google+ your site page has, authority of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. number of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on Digg, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious social media-related factors that can influence search rankings and traffic. These include desirable and undesirable factors, such as backlinks from authority sites (not as relevant as they once were, but still a factor) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by site reviewers [negative].
As a business owner, it’s not only important to find ways to grow your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to monitor and analyze social media in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media can improve your results online)
Monitoring social media activity allows you to find insights into what people are saying about your brand, products, or company on social media, identify opportunities for engagement, assess competitor activity and market dominance, take preventative measures against the spread of negative comments or feedback by dissatisfied customers, and measure the impact of campaigns. It can also provide vital data about emerging trends and what clients and consumers are thinking about specific topics, brands, businesses, or products.
As a business intelligence tool, the ability to track conversations and social activity on social media channels like blogs, forums, wikis, micro-blogging platforms, discussion groups, video/photo sharing sites, and user-generated content 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 marketing teams, digital reputation management (ORM) companies, market research, agencies, professional sales reps, and social engagement and community staff. Typically, small businesses don’t can’t afford to pay a social media monitoring service to continually track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately different service providers have made available tools to facilitate the monitoring of a variety of social media channels, allowing companies to identify and even predict consumer behavior around their brands or products so they can respond proactively to conversations and interact with online users in various social media platforms.
We have written a comprehensive article listing over 30 social media tracking tools and technologies that will help you keep track of online trends, monitor competitor activity, see what online conversations are taking place that affect your business, etc, see what online conversations are taking place that affect your business,etc. To learn more, visit this page:
(Are you tracking social signals effectively?)
This article explores a simple, yet effective social media tracking tool for your online business and improving your social media exposure online.
Introducing …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics WordPress Plugin
Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-use social media analytics WordPress plugin that is designed to help users grow their social media influence in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple premise – Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. The site owner’s goal is to turn red squares into greens.
(A standard operating procedure that anyone can operate … simply turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics. Posts that get shared the most 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 over two thousand sites 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 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 the plugin developers, focusing on improving your social media marketing campaigns can result in higher search rankings, increased web traffic and more revenue!)
More info:
Benefits Of Using SocialMetricsPro
Here are just some of the benefits and advantages of using SocialMetricsPro to track Tweets, Likes, +1s, Pins and more directly from your WordPress Dashboard on your web site:
Fast And Simple To Install And Use. Ready To Start Using In No Time.
Social Metrics Pro is quite easy to install. Simply upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your admin login and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s objective is to convert all the reds into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social signals the way Google sees it so you know which social campaigns need you to invest more effort and which campaigns need to be better optimized.
Track The Signals You Care About
Social Metrics Pro provides a powerful dashboard to track and monitor social media activity across leading social media networks like Google+, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Digg, StumbleUpon, and Pinterest directly from your WP admin area.
SocialMetricsPro 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 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 tracks social signals from the social media sites that you care most about!)
Social Metrics Pro Features
SocialMetricsPro provides WordPress users with a number of features. Here are just a few of these:
- Fast and simple to install and use. Be up and running in minutes.
- Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using built-in and external widgets. Access updated information right on your WordPress dashboard, add popular content to your blog sidebar or anywhere on your site using widgets.
- One-click updating. You can update Social Metrics Pro with a single click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update the manually manually. You can also opt to receive an email notification whenever a new version is released.
- Utilizes very little server resources. Social metrics reports are compiled in seconds, consuming little hosting resources. Report generation also includes the amount of time spent retrieving information and the server memory used to gather and compile the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sorting, Searching And Filtering Features: Social Metrics Pro allows you to sort and filter information however 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: You can export and plot filtered data and custom queries in 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 convert all the reds into greens!)
Testimonials
Here are a few of the testimonials that users have submitted regarding Social Metrics Pro:
”Our entire marketing strategy relies on social media. Each post on the site has viral potential, but we needed one place to see which social networks are performing the best for us…We went ahead and got the PRO Version of Social Metrics.” Syed Balkhi, Founder of List25 and WPBeginner.com
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“Social Metrics Takes WordPress Stats to the Next Level.” Lorraine Ball, Creative Director, Roundpeg
Useful Tips
A step-by-step, practical guide containing useful advice on how to optimize your campaigns and improve your social media strategy (i.e. how to turn reds into greens) is also included.
Support
The plugin is well-supported, and comes with free lifetime updates and support, backed by a no-risk, sixty-day, complete refund guarantee.
Software Cost
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This license enables you to use SocialMetricsPro on one website only. Cost includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites License Edition – This allows you to install SocialMetricsPro on multiple websites that you own. It includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: Pricing for the Social Metrics Pro product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Currently, the plugin retails for the pricing shown above. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the software developer when you visit the site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Information
SocialMetricsPro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
We Recommend
As mentioned earlier, social signals impact search engine rankings and Google has been tracking 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 you immediate feedback on the success of your social marketing campaigns and guides you where to direct your efforts in order to improve your results.
Social Metrics Pro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WordPress admin area.
Get this plugin if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to monitor which social networks are working for your business.
For full details, visit the plugin website: SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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