Social recommendations like +1s on GooglePlus, Facebook shares, likes, and comments, etc. are called social signals.
Social signals impact search engine rankings and Google has been tracking social signals as part of its ranking algorithm for several years now.
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 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 full ‘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 naturally wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signals – Which Sites Matter?
Social media sites that search engines like Google and Bing look to for measuring social signals include:
With over 1.5 billion active users, Facebook is the most influential social community in the world. It has been estimated that an average post can reach up to 150,000 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 the power of leveraging Facebook, as Google uses data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, research indicates that Facebook seems influence search rankings more than other social media sites, like Google+ or Twitter.
(Number of monthly 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 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 single day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google Plus
As Google’s own social networking site, Google+ 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 actively using Google+ every year. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big 3 social sites listed above, there are a number of other sites worth paying attention to, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Digg, and Reddit.
(A number of social media sites provide important signals that can affect your search 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 shares, likes, and comments you have, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets a site has, how influential the person sharing the URL is, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (influential users), how many people follow you, authority of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. number of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on Digg, etc.
- Not so obvious signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious social media-related signals that can indirectly influence search engine traffic. These include desirable and undesirable factors, such as links from authority sites (backlinks) (not as important as they once were, but still a factor) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be of low quality by site reviewers [negative].
As a business owner, it’s important to not only grow your social media presence, but also to be able to monitor, measure and analyze social media in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media marketing can improve your business results)
Tracking social media activity allows you to gain insights into what people are saying about your brand, products, or company on social media, assess competitor activity, spot opportunities for engagement, be alerted to crises, and measure the impact of campaigns. Additionally, monitoring social media can also provide vital information about emerging trends and what clients and consumers think about specific products, brands, businesses, or topics.
As a business intelligence tool, the ability to track social activity on social media channels like blogging, forums, wikis, micro-blogging platforms, message boards, video/photo sharing websites, 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 various people including marketing professionals, market researchers, digital reputation specialists, sales teams, social marketing agencies, and social engagement and community staff. Typically, many small businesses do not can’t afford to pay social media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately many technology providers have developed tools that facilitate the monitoring of a variety of social media channels, allowing you to identify consumer behavior around your products or brand allowing you to react to conversations and engage with consumers in various social media platforms.
We have created a comprehensive article where we explore over 30 social media monitoring tools and technologies that are worth checking out and knowing about. More info:
(Are you tracking your social signals effectively?)
In this article, we explore a simple, yet highly effective social tracking tool for your WordPress-based digital presence and improving your social media presence.
Announcing …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics Plugin For WordPress
Description
SocialMetricsPro is an easy-to-use social analytics plugin that is designed to make growing your social media influence uncomplicated. It is built on a simple concept – Social Metrics Pro measures how each signal is performing and displays either a red or green indicator. Your job is to change all red squares into greens.
(A system that any website owner can follow … turn all the reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts that get shared the most show up green. Posts with low social media activity show up amber and red.
The plugin developers tested Social Metrics Pro on a network of 2,000+ 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 were able to notice a 360% improvement in traffic for their top 10 performing sites, 410% more keywords ranked in the first page of Google and they also experienced a 310% increase in revenues.
(According to Social Metrics Pro developers, improving your social media marketing can result in better search engine rankings, more web traffic and increased revenue!)
More info:
Benefits
Here are just some of the many benefits of using Social Metrics Pro to track Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WP Dashboard on your web site:
Be Up And Running In Minutes
SocialMetricsPro is quite easy to install. Just upload it to your Plugin folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s job is to change all reds into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social media signals so you know where to put more effort and where to optimize.
Choose Only Social Signals From Social Networks You Care About
Social Metrics Pro provides a powerful dashboard to track and monitor social activity across leading networks like Facebook, GooglePlus, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, and Digg.
Social Metrics Pro helps you get answers to questions like:
- Which social media networks work best for my site?
- Which posts are performing the best on these social networks?
- Which of my posts are the most popular on social media?
- And more …
With SocialMetricsPro, all this information can be accessed with a single click.
(Social Metrics Pro actively monitors the social sites that you care most about!)
Plugin Features
SocialMetricsPro provides site owners with many unique features. Here are some:
- Fast and easy to install and implement. Be up and running in no time.
- Social Metrics Pro Is Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using built-in and external widgets. Access updated stats from your WP admin bar, display popular content on your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using widgets.
- One-click upgrades. Update Social Metrics Pro with a single click via the WordPress Updates page, or update it manually. You can also opt to receive email notifications when new versions are released.
- Uses minimal hosting resources. Reporting is in seconds, consuming very little hosting resources. Report generation also displays the amount of time used to retrieve the information and the server memory consumed when gathering and compiling the data.
Additional features include:
- Sort, Search And Filter Features: Social Metrics Pro lets you sort, search and filter the information however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by category, post type, publishing date, or by post authors.
- 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.
(Social Metrics Pro is very simple to use … just convert more red squares into greens!)
User Feedback
Here are a couple of the testimonials that customers have written about 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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”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
Social Metrics Pro – Tips
A practical guide containing useful advice on how to optimize your site for social media success (i.e. turn reds into greens) is also included.
Support
Social Metrics Pro is well-supported, and comes with free lifetime updates and support, backed by a risk-free, 60-day, 100% money-back guarantee.
Product License Price
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License – This license option allows you to run Social Metrics Pro on a single website. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites License – This option allows you to configure SocialMetricsPro on unlimited domains that you own. Price includes free lifetime updates and support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: Current pricing for this product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. When we last checked, the software is selling for the prices shown above. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the product author when you visit the plugin site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
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.
Download The Product
As mentioned earlier, 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 users instant feedback on the success of their social media marketing strategy and shows them how to direct their efforts in order to improve their 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 WP admin area.
Get this plugin if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to monitor which social media networks are working for your business.
For more details, visit the plugin website: SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics Plugin
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