Social recommendations like +1s on GooglePlus, Facebook comments, shares, and likes, etc. are called social signals.
Google has been tracking social signals as part of its ranking algorithm since late 2010.
Note: Google encourages website owners to build their brand on social media as a long-term investment to drive qualified traffic, rather than 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 social trends and relationships tend to change too quickly to fully map out. Without a reliable ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign more 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 real value normally develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google naturally wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signal Sources
Social sites that search engines look to when measuring social signals include:
With more than 1.5 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most influential social network on the planet. Research shows that a single post on Facebook 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 power of leveraging Facebook, as Google uses data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, 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 second 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 on the cybersphere and places great emphasis on tweeting posts that provide great value to readers over the amount of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent each day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google+
Google’s own social networking site naturally carries great authority online, even if it is still a fledgling online community compared to sites like Facebook and Twitter.
(More people are interacting on Google+ every month. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big three social sites listed above, there are a number of other sites that should not be ignored, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, Digg, Reddit, and StumbleUpon.
(A number of social sites provide important signals to search engines that can affect your rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines include:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook likes, shares, and comments you have, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets a URL has, the authority of the person sending a tweet, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many followers on Google+ your site page has accrued, amount of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on Reddit, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious social media-related signals 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 other users [negative].
As a website owner, it’s not only important to grow your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to track and analyze social media marketing in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media can help improve your business results)
Monitoring social media activity allows you to find insights into what people are saying about your company, services, or brand on social media, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, help you take preventative measures against the spread of negative comments or feedback by dissatisfied customers, identify new market opportunities, and spy on your competition. Additionally, social media monitoring can also provide you with valuable data about emerging trends and what clients and consumers are thinking about specific brands, businesses, topics, or products.
As a business intelligence tool, social signal monitoring is invaluable. Using social media monitoring as a form of business intelligence, however, is a complex undertaking, typically carried out by various groups that include digital reputation managers, marketing teams, market research, agencies, professional sales reps, and social engagement and community personnel. Typically, smaller businesses do not have the budget to pay a social media monitoring service to continually track their coverage in the and actively monitor their digital reputation.
Fortunately various service providers have developed affordable tools to facilitate the monitoring of a wide spectrum of social media channels, allowing companies to track what consumers, competitors, supporters, and critics are saying about their brands so they can react to conversations and interact with consumers in various social media platforms.
We have created a comprehensive article where we explore several social media measurement tools and technologies that you may want to check out. More information:
(Are you searching for an effective tool that can help you measure your social signals?)
In this article, you will learn about a simple, yet effective plugin for WordPress users for tracking social media signals and increasing your social media influence online.
Our Recommended WordPress Product …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics Plugin For WordPress
Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-use social analytics plugin that is designed to make increasing your social media presence uncomplicated. It is built on a simple concept – the plugin tracks how each signal is performing and displays either a red or green indicator. Your job is simple … convert all the reds into greens.
(A standard operating procedure that any user can follow … turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts that receive the most shares display green. Posts with low social media activity display amber or red.
The plugin developers tested Social Metrics Pro 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 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 SocialMetricsPro developers, focusing on improving your social media marketing can positively impact your search engine rankings, web traffic and revenue!)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Benefits Of Using SocialMetricsPro
Here we have listed just some of the benefits of using SocialMetricsPro to track Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WP Dashboard on your website:
Be Up And Running In No Time
Social Metrics Pro installs like every other plugin. Simply upload the plugin file to your Plugins folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Really Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, your task is to convert all reds into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social media signals so you know where to put more effort and which social marketing campaigns need to be better optimized.
Track Social Signals You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you monitor social activity from networks like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Digg directly from your WP admin area.
Social Metrics Pro lets you easily answer questions like:
- Which social 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 this information is available on-demand, with just one click.
(Social Metrics Pro actively monitors social signals from the social media sites that you care most about!)
Product Features
SocialMetricsPro provides a number of features to WordPress users. Below we have listed a few of these:
- Fast and simple to install and use. Be up and running in very little time.
- Social Metrics Pro Is Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using external and built-in widgets. Social Metrics Pro shows the latest information right on your WP dashboard, add social content to your blog sidebar or anywhere on your site using widgets.
- 1-click upgrading. You can update SocialMetricsPro in a single click via the WordPress Updates page, or update it manually. You can also choose to receive an email notification when new plugin updates are released.
- Minimal usage of resources. Social metrics reports are compiled in seconds, consuming little hosting resources. Report generation also includes the amount of time it took to retrieve information and the server memory used to gather data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sort, Search & Filter Features: SocialMetricsPro lets you sort and filter your data however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by category, post authors, post type, or by publishing date.
- 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 Excel or the spreadsheet application of your choice.
(Social Metrics Pro is simple to use … just convert red squares into greens!)
Testimonials
Below are some of the testimonials that plugin users have submitted for Social Metrics Pro:
“Social Metrics Pro is the essential plugin we use to monitor how our content performs on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. It’s simple, neat and works precisely as you would expect it. When we work with our clients such as T-Mobile, the .Me domain name registry and others, Social Metrics Pro is the plugin we use to create reports as well as keep track on each bit of content to optimize it for future performance.” Ivan Brezak Brkan, Editor of Netokracija.com, TechCrunch EU Contributor
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”Social Metrics is one of the recipes for Social WordPress. You can integrate it quickly and easily on your WordPress site to view your performance on social networks” Jean-Francois Arseneault, Arseneault Consultation
Useful Tips
Social Metrics Pro includes a step-by-step, practical guide containing useful advice on how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. turn reds into greens).
SocialMetricsPro Support
The plugin is well-supported, and comes with free lifetime updates and support, backed by a no-risk, 60-day, 100% refund guarantee.
Product Price
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Edition – This option enables you to use SocialMetricsPro on a single domain. It includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites License Edition – This lets you use SocialMetricsPro on unlimited domains that you own. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: Pricing for the Social Metrics Pro product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. When we last checked, the plugin sells for the prices shown above. This may not be the actual price set by the software author when you visit the product website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest price:
Additional Product Info
SocialMetricsPro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Install This Plugin
As mentioned earlier, Google has been elevating the importance given to social signals as part of its ranking algorithm.
No website owner can afford to ignore the importance of social media. Social Metrics Pro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives WordPress users instant feedback on the success of their social 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 WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WP admin area.
Get Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to measure your social marketing results professionally.
For more information, check out the plugin here: SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics For WordPress
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