Social interactions and recommendations like Twitter mentions and retweets, Facebook likes, etc. are called social signals.
Social signals impact search engine rankings and Google has been elevating the importance given to social signals as part of its ranking algorithm for several years now.
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 its web spam team Matt Cutts has stated that Google takes a cautious approach when it comes to social media, as so many things change quickly on social media. Without a perfect ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign more importance to the social sphere 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 websites that Google naturally wants to display higher in its search results.
Social Signal Sources
Social 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 network on the planet. It has been estimated that a single 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, you should not be quick to dismiss the importance of Facebook in your business strategy, as Google processes data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems to have the most influence on search rankings of all social media sites, like Twitter andGoogle+.
(Number of 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 each day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence online and places great emphasis on tweeting posts that provide great value to readers over the number of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent every day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
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+ each month. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big three listed above, there are a number of other social sites that provide important social metrics, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, Digg, StumbleUpon, and Reddit.
(Social media sites provide important signals to search engines that could affect your rankings)
Social Signals – Which Ones Should You Pay Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines include the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook likes, comments, and shares you have, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets your web page has, how influential the person sharing your information is, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many people are following you, amount and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on Reddit, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious signals that can indirectly influence search engine rankings and traffic. These include positive and undesirable factors, such as age and authority of your social media account [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by other users [negative].
As a business owner, it’s important to not only develop your social media presence, but also to be able to monitor, measure and analyze social signals in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media to improve your business results)
Social media monitoring allows you to find insights into what people are saying about your brand, products, or company on social media, take preventative measures if you detect negative comments or feedback by online users, identify opportunities for engagement, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, and spy on your competition. It can also provide you with vital information about emerging trends and what consumers and clients think about specific brands, products, businesses, or topics.
As a tool for business intelligence, social 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 people including market research, marketing professionals, digital reputation managers, social engagement and community staff, professional sales reps, and agencies. Typically, small businesses don’t can’t afford to pay social media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately a number of providers have made available tools and solutions that facilitate the monitoring of a broad range of social media channels, allowing companies to track what is being said online about their brands or products allowing them to respond to conversations and engage with online users in a timely manner.
We have written a detailed article where we explore several social media monitoring tools that will help you manage, measure, and analyze your social media marketing initiatives. More information:
(Are you measuring social signals effectively?)
This article discusses a simple, yet effective plugin for WordPress users for monitoring social media signals and growing your social media influence online.
Let’s Review …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social media analytics WordPress plugin that is designed to help users grow their social media influence in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple premise – the plugin tracks how each signal is performing and displays either a red or green indicator. The user’s task is to change red squares into greens.
(A standard operating procedure that anyone can operate … turn all the reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics. Posts that get shared the most are colored green. Posts with low social media activity display amber or red.
The plugin developers tested SocialMetricsPro on a network of over two thousand 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 they also experienced a 310% increase in revenues.
(According to Social Metrics Pro developers, focusing on improving your social marketing campaigns can result in higher search rankings, increased web traffic and more revenue!)
Learn more about this plugin here:
Plugin Benefits
Here we have listed just some of the benefits of using SocialMetricsPro to track Tweets, Likes, +1s, Pins and more from your WordPress Dashboard on your web site:
Fast And Simple To Install And Configure. Ready To Go To Work In No Time.
Social Metrics Pro is very easy to install. Just upload it to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, your job is to turn all reds into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social signals so you know which social campaigns require more effort and which campaigns need to be better optimized.
Select Only Social Signals From The Networks You Care About
Social Metrics Pro lets you centrally track and monitor social activity from networks like Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Digg, StumbleUpon, and Pinterest directly from your WordPress dashboard.
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 are my most popular posts?
- And more …
With SocialMetricsPro, all this information is available on-demand, with just one click.
(Social Metrics Pro constantly monitors the social media sites that you care most about!)
SocialMetricsPro Features
SocialMetricsPro offers many unique features to WordPress users. Here are a few of these:
- Fast and simple to install and use. Be up and running in minutes.
- Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using external and built-in widgets. Social Metrics Pro displays updated information right on your WP dashboard, display popular content on your sidebar or anywhere in your site using widgets.
- One-click updating. You can update SocialMetricsPro in one click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update the manually manually. You can also opt to receive email notifications when a new version is released.
- Low-resource consumption. The plugin generates reports fast, consuming very little hosting resources. Report generation also includes the amount of time used to retrieve the information and the server resources consumed when gathering and compiling data.
Additional features include:
- Sorting, Searching & Filtering Features: SocialMetricsPro allows you to sort, search and filter the information as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by category, post type, post authors, or publishing date.
- 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 simple to use … just convert more reds into greens!)
Feedback From Users
Below are a few of the testimonials and comments that plugin customers have published about the SocialMetricsPro plugin:
”Our entire marketing strategy relies on social media. Each post on the site has viral potential, but we needed one place to see which social networks are performing the best for us…We went ahead and got the PRO Version of Social Metrics.” Syed Balkhi, Founder of List25 and WPBeginner.com
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“Social Metrics Takes WordPress Stats to the Next Level.” Lorraine Ball, Creative Director, Roundpeg
Social Metrics Pro Plugin – Tips
SocialMetricsPro comes with a practical guide on how to optimize your campaigns and improve your social media strategy (i.e. turn reds into greens).
Support
The plugin is well-supported, and users get lifetime upgrades and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, 60-day, full refund guarantee.
Plugin Cost
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License – This option enables you to configure SocialMetricsPro on one domain only. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This license option lets you run Social Metrics Pro on unlimited domains that you own. Includes free lifetime updates and free support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: Pricing details of the SocialMetricsPro product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. When we last checked, the software retails for the prices shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing set by the product author when you visit the plugin website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing details here:
Additional Product Information
SocialMetricsPro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Install The Product
As mentioned earlier, with the growth of social sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Google and Bing are now taking into account a range of social signals to help determine a site’s ranking.
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 you immediate feedback on the success of your social marketing strategy and guides you how to improve your results.
Social Metrics Pro is ideal for beginners and advanced users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WordPress dashboard.
We recommend Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to improve social visibility and see more of your keywords getting ranked on search engines.
To learn more, check out the plugin here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin
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