Social recommendations like Facebook likes, +1s on Google+, etc. are called social signals.
With the increased importance of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines now take into account social signals to help determine a site’s ranking.
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. Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s web spam team has stated that Google takes a cautious approach when it comes to assessing social media signals, as social trends and relationships tend to change too quickly to fully map out. Without a reliable ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign too much importance to social signals over other aspects of their search algorithm. In summary, Google’s strategy is a sensible one - “wait and see” how things develop over time, as websites that provide true value normally develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signal Sources
Social media sites that search engines like Google and Bing look to when measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion active users, Facebook is the most dominant 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 a massive amount of sales on your site, don’t be quick to dismiss the power of leveraging Facebook, as Google processes data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, research shows that Facebook seems influence search rankings more than other social media sites.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second largest social media site in the world, with over 600 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 followers over the number of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent every single day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google+
Google’s own social media site naturally carries a significant degree of authority online, even if it has not reached the same level of growth and take up as Twitter and Facebook.
(More people are starting to interact socially on GooglePlus every week. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big three listed above, there are a number of other social media networks that provide important social metrics, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon,Reddit, and Digg.
(Social media sites provide important signals to search engines that could affect your rankings)
Social Signals – Which Ones Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Search engines track various social signals, including:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook shares, comments, and likes a person has, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets a URL has, how influential the person sending a tweet is, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (influential users), how many people are following you, amount and growth rate of +1s, 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 factors that can influence search rankings and traffic. These include positive and negative factors, such as age and authority of your social media account [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by visitors [negative].
As a website owner, it’s important to not only grow your social media presence, but also to be able to track and analyze social media in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media marketing can help improve your business results)
Monitoring social media activity allows you to gain insights into what people are saying about your brand, services, or company on social media, help you take preventative measures if you detect negative comments or feedback by disgruntled customers, identify potential market opportunities, spy on your competitors, and measure the impact of your marketing campaigns. Additionally, monitoring social media can also provide you with vital information about emerging trends and what consumers and clients think about specific topics, products, brands, 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 groups that include digital reputation management companies, marketing teams, market research, social engagement and community personnel, sales teams, and agencies. Typically, many small businesses don’t have the budget to pay a media monitoring service to continually track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately a number of service providers have made available many tools that facilitate the monitoring of a broad spectrum of social media channels, allowing companies to track consumer behavior around their brands or products allowing them to respond to conversations and engage with consumers in a timely fashion.
Go here to learn more about social media tracking tools and technologies that are worth knowing about:
(Do you know how to effectively track social signals?)
In this article, we discuss a simple, yet highly effective plugin for WordPress users for tracking social media signals and increasing your social media influence.
Introducing …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
Description Of Plugin
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-use social analytics plugin that is designed to make improving your social media exposure uncomplicated. It is built on a simple concept – the tool measures how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. The user’s goal is simple … turn reds into greens.
(A system that any user can operate … turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics with Excel-like conditional color formatting. Posts that get shared the most display green. Posts with low social media activity show up amber or red.
The plugin developers tested SocialMetricsPro on a network of 2,000+ 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”. 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 the plugin developers, improving your social media marketing can result in higher search rankings, more traffic and more revenue!)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Benefits Of Using Social Metrics Pro
Here are just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Social Metrics Pro to track Likes, Tweets, Pins, +1s and more from your WP Dashboard on your site:
Easy Installation
Social Metrics Pro is quite easy to install. Simply upload it to your Plugin folder via your WP admin section and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the user’s goal is to turn all the reds into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social signals the way Google sees it so you know which social marketing campaigns need more effort and which need to be better optimized.
Select Only Signals From The Networks You Care About
SocialMetricsPro provides a powerful dashboard to track and monitor social media activity across leading social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Digg, StumbleUpon, and Pinterest directly from your WP admin area.
SocialMetricsPro 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 Social Metrics Pro, all of this information is available on-demand, with just one click.
(SocialMetricsPro constantly monitors social signals from the social media sites that you care most about!)
Product Features
SocialMetricsPro offers web site owners with many features. Below we have listed some:
- Quick and easy to install and implement. Ready to start using in no time.
- SocialMetricsPro Is Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality using external and built-in widgets. Access the latest stats right on your WP dashboard, add popular content to your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using point-and-click widgets.
- One-click upgrading. Update SocialMetricsPro in one click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update the manually manually. You can also opt to be notified via email when a new version is released.
- Utilizes minimal resources. Metric reports are compiled fast, using minimal server resources. Reports also display the amount of time used to retrieve information and the server resources consumed when gathering data.
Additional features include:
- Sorting, Searching & Filtering Features: SocialMetricsPro lets you sort, search and filter the data however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by post authors, publishing date, category, or post type.
- Export Data: 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 very simple to use … just convert all reds into greens!)
Testimonials
Below are some of the testimonials and comments that plugin users have provided for 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
Useful Tips
Social Metrics Pro includes a practical guide showing you how to optimize your campaigns and improve your social media strategy (i.e. turn reds into greens).
Support
SocialMetricsPro is well-supported, and comes with free support and free lifetime updates, backed by a no-risk, sixty-day, full refund guarantee.
Product License Pricing
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License Edition – This allows you to set up Social Metrics Pro on a single site. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multiple Sites License – This allows you to use Social Metrics Pro on all the domains that you own. Includes free lifetime updates and support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: The price of SocialMetricsPro can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Currently, the product sells for the amounts shown above. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the software developer when you visit the plugin site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing information here:
Additional Info
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Download This Plugin
As mentioned earlier, with the rise of social sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines now take into account social signals to help determine a site’s ranking.
No website owner can afford to ignore how important social media is to their online success. Social Metrics Pro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives users immediate feedback on the success of their social marketing strategy and guides them where to direct their efforts in order to improve their results.
Social Metrics Pro is ideal for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WP dashboard.
We recommend getting this plugin if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to save money on outsourcing your social marketing.
To learn more, check out the plugin here: SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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