Social recommendations like +1s on GooglePlus, Facebook likes, shares, and comments, etc. are called social signals.
With the increased importance of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Bing and Google now take into account a range of social signals when determining a site’s ranking.
Note: Google encourages businesses to build their social media 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 social signals, as social trends and relationships tend to change too quickly to fully map out. Without a full ‘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 sites that provide value develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google naturally wants to rank higher in its search engine listings.
Social Signals – Which Social Media Sites Matter?
Social media sites that search engines look to for measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion active users, Facebook is the most dominant social media network in the world. Research shows that one great post can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if no one is buying your products or services on Facebook, you should not be quick to dismiss the importance of Facebook in your business strategy, as Google uses data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems to have the most influence on website rankings of all 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 online and places great emphasis on tweeting posts that provide great value to followers over the number of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent every single day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google Plus
Google’s own social media site naturally carries great authority online, even if it is still a fledgling online community compared to sites like Twitter and Facebook.
(More people are actively using GooglePlus each year. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big three social sites listed above, there are a number of other social sites worth getting to know, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Digg, Reddit, and StumbleUpon.
(Social media sites provide important signals that can affect your search rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Search engines track a number of social signals, including the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook comments, likes, and shares a person has, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets your URL has, the number of people tweeting, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many followers on Google+ a web page has accrued, amount and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on Reddit, etc.
- Not so obvious signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious factors that can influence search engine traffic. These include desirable and negative factors, such as links from authority sites (backlinks) (not as relevant as they once were, but still a factor) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by other users [negative].
As a website owner, it’s not only important to find ways to develop your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to track and analyze your social media in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media marketing to help improve your results online)
Social media monitoring allows you to find insights into your brand’s online visibility on social media, spot potential market opportunities, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, take preventative measures against the spread of negative comments or feedback by online users, and assess competitor activity. Additionally, social media monitoring can also provide you with valuable information about emerging trends and what clients and consumers think about specific brands, businesses, products, or topics.
As a tool for business intelligence, being able to track social media is invaluable. Using social media monitoring as a form of business intelligence, however, is a complex undertaking, often carried out by various groups that include market research, marketing teams, online reputation specialists, social engagement and community staff, agencies, and professional sales reps. Typically, smaller businesses don’t can’t afford to pay social media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately many technology companies have developed tools and solutions that facilitate the active monitoring of a variety of social media channels, enabling companies to identify and even predict what is being said online about their brands so they can respond proactively to conversations and interact with online users in a timely manner.
We have created a detailed article where we explore over 30 social media measurement tools and technologies that will help you manage, measure, and analyze your social media marketing campaigns. Visit this page to learn more:
(Are you looking for an effective way to measure social signals?)
This article discusses a simple WordPress plugin for monitoring social signals and increasing your social media influence.
Presenting …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics WordPress Plugin
Description Of Plugin
SocialMetricsPro is an easy-to-install social analytics plugin that is designed to help users increase their social media presence online 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 objective is to turn reds into greens.
(SocialMetricsPro provides a system that anyone can operate … turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics. Posts that receive the most shares display green. Posts with low social media activity are colored amber or red.
The plugin developers tested SocialMetricsPro 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 everything “green”. From these tests, 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 they also experienced a 310% increase in revenues.
(According to SocialMetricsPro developers, improving your social marketing can result in higher search rankings, increased web traffic and an increase in revenue!)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Plugin Benefits
Below are just a few of the benefits of using Social Metrics Pro to track Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WordPress Dashboard on your web site:
Fast And Simple To Install And Set Up. Be Up And Running In Minutes.
SocialMetricsPro installs like any WordPress plugin. Just upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your administrator login and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the user’s goal is to convert more red squares into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social signals so you know which social marketing campaigns need more effort and where to optimize.
Track Signals You Care About
Social Metrics Pro allows you to monitor social media activity from social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, StumbleUpon, Digg, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.
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 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 social signals from the social sites that you care most about!)
Features
SocialMetricsPro provides many unique features to website owners. Here are just some of these:
- Fast and easy to install and implement. Be up and running in no time.
- SocialMetricsPro Is Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality with built-in and external widgets. Social Metrics Pro displays updated stats right on your WP admin bar, add popular content to your sidebar or anywhere on your site using point-and-click widgets.
- One-click updates. You can update SocialMetricsPro with one click via the WordPress Updates page, or update it manually. You can also opt to receive email notifications when new plugin updates are released.
- Minimal usage of resources. The plugin can generate social metrics reports fast, consuming little server resources. Report generation also includes the amount of time used to retrieve the information and the server memory used to compile the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sort, Search & Filter Features: Social Metrics Pro lets you sort and filter data as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by publishing date, post type, category, or by post authors.
- 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.
(Social Metrics Pro is really simple to use … just turn red squares into greens!)
User Testimonials
Here are a few of the testimonials customers have provided for the Social Metrics Pro 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
Social Metrics Pro Plugin – Useful Tips
A 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 users get lifetime upgrades and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 60-day, full money-back guarantee.
Software Cost
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This enables you to run SocialMetricsPro on 1 domain only. Price includes free lifetime updates and support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multiple Sites Licensing – This license option allows you to install Social Metrics Pro on all the domains that you own. Pricing includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: The cost to purchase Social Metrics Pro can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The price shown above was current at the time this article was written. This may not be the actual price charged by the software author when you visit the plugin website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Information
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Install The Product
As mentioned earlier, with the rise of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines are now taking into account a range of social signals when determining a site’s 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 users instant feedback on the success of their social marketing campaigns and guides them how to direct their efforts in order to improve their results.
SocialMetricsPro is ideal for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WordPress dashboard.
We recommend getting this plugin if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to avoid wasting resources on over-optimized social media marketing campaigns.
To learn more, visit the plugin website: Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin
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