Social interactions like +1s on Google+, Facebook shares, comments, and likes, 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, 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 assessing social media signals, as so many things change quickly on social media. Without a full ‘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 websites that provide real value tend to develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signals – Which Sites Matter?
Social sites that search engines like Google and Bing look to when measuring social signals include:
With more than 1.5 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the largest social network in the world. It has been estimated that a single post on Facebook can reach over 100,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving droves of customers to your site, you should not be quick to dismiss the power of leveraging Facebook, as Google processes social data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems to have the most influence on search engine rankings of all social media sites.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second biggest social media site in the world, with over half a billion tweets sent out every single day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer on the cybersphere and places great emphasis on tweeting posts that provide value to followers over the number 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, GooglePlus 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 interacting socially on Google+ every week. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big three social sites listed above, there are a number of other social sites that should not be ignored, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Digg, and Reddit.
(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 like Bing and Google 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 your site has, the authority of the person sharing your information, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (influential users), how many people follow you, amount and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on Reddit, etc.
- Not so obvious signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious signals that can indirectly influence search rankings. These include desirable and undesirable factors, such as improving clickthrough rate (CTR) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be of poor quality by visitors [negative].
As a business owner, it’s not only important to find ways to grow your social media presence, but also to be able to monitor and analyze social signals in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media to help improve your results online)
Monitoring social media activity allows you to find insights into your company’s overall visibility on social media, measure the impact of campaigns, spy on your competitors, spot potential opportunities for engagement, and avert disasters. Additionally, monitoring social media can also provide you with vital data about emerging trends and what clients and consumers think about specific businesses, products, topics, or brands.
As a business intelligence tool, the ability to track social media channels like blogging, internet forums, social networking platforms, micro-blogging platforms, discussion boards, video/photo sharing websites, 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 groups that include marketing teams, market researchers, digital reputation management (ORM) agencies, sales teams, social engagement and community staff, and agencies. Typically, smaller businesses don’t can’t afford to pay a social media monitoring service to track their coverage in the and actively monitor their online reputation.
Fortunately many technology companies have developed a range of affordable and even free tools to facilitate the tracking of a variety of social media channels, enabling companies to identify consumer behavior around their products or brands allowing them to react to conversations and interact with online users in a timely fashion.
We have written a comprehensive article on social media tracking tools and technologies that will help you identify new trends and opportunities, track competitor activity, see what online conversations are taking place that affect your business,etc. Go here to learn more about this:
(Are you tracking your social signals effectively?)
In this article, we review a simple social media tracking plugin for your online presence and increasing your social media presence.
Let’s Review …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
Plugin Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social analytics plugin that is designed to make increasing your social media influence uncomplicated. It is built on a simple premise – SocialMetricsPro measures and tracks how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. The user’s objective is simple … change all reds into greens.
(Social Metrics Pro provides a system that anyone can operate … turn all the reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts with the highest number of shares show up green. Posts with low social media activity are colored amber or red.
The developers of Social Metrics Pro tested their plugin on a network of 2,000+ sites over a period of three 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 their revenue increased by 310%.
(According to Social Metrics Pro developers, focusing on improving your social media marketing can can have a significant impact on your search rankings, traffic and revenue!)
For more details go here:
Plugin Benefits
Here are just some of the many benefits of using SocialMetricsPro to track Likes, Tweets, +1s, Pins and more from your WordPress Dashboard on your site:
Fast Installation
SocialMetricsPro is quite easy to install. Just upload a zip folder that contains the plugin to your Plugin folder via your WP administrator section and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, your task is to convert red squares into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social media signals the way Google sees it so you know where to put more effort and where to optimize.
Select Only Social Signals From The Networks You Care About
Social Metrics Pro allows you to monitor social media activity from networks like Twitter, Facebook, GooglePlus, LinkedIn, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, and Digg.
SocialMetricsPro helps you get answers to questions like:
- Which social 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 SocialMetricsPro, all of this information can be accessed with just one click.
(SocialMetricsPro actively tracks social signals from the social sites that you care most about!)
Features
SocialMetricsPro offers WordPress users with many features. Below we have listed just some:
- Quick and easy to install and implement. Be up and running in minutes.
- Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality using built-in and external widgets. Access updated stats right on your WordPress dashboard, display popular content on your sidebar or anywhere on your site using point-and-click widgets.
- One-click updates. You can update the plugin in one click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update it manually. You can also opt to receive email notifications whenever new versions are released.
- Plugin uses minimal resources. Reporting is fast, using little server resources. Reports also include the amount of time spent retrieving information and the server memory consumed when gathering and compiling the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sorting, Searching And Filtering Features: Social Metrics Pro lets you sort, search and filter your data however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by publishing date, post type, category, or post authors.
- 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 turn reds into greens!)
Testimonials From Users
Below are just a few of the testimonials and feedback plugin users 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
SocialMetricsPro Plugin – Useful Tips
A step-by-step, practical guide on how to optimize your campaigns and improve your social media strategy (i.e. how to turn reds into greens) is also included.
Plugin Support
Social Metrics Pro is well-supported, and comes with free support and free lifetime updates, backed by a risk-free, 60-day, full money-back guarantee.
Software Price
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This option enables you to install Social Metrics Pro on a single website. Includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This license option lets you configure SocialMetricsPro on unlimited sites that you own. Includes free lifetime updates and support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: Pricing for the Social Metrics Pro plugin depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The above reflects the price when this article was published. This may or may not be the actual price set by the software seller when you visit the plugin website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing details:
Additional Information
SocialMetricsPro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Download This Plugin
As mentioned earlier, with the rising importance of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, search engines are now taking 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. SocialMetricsPro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives you instant feedback on the success of your social media marketing strategy and shows you how and where to improve your results.
Social Metrics Pro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WP dashboard.
We recommend getting Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to monitor which network are working for your business.
To learn more, check out the plugin here: SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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