Social recommendations like Facebook likes, shares, and comments, Twitter retweets and mentions, etc. are called social signals.
Google has been tracking 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. Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s own 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 perfect ‘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 true value tend to develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google naturally wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signal Sources
Social media sites that search engines look to for measuring social signals include:
With over 1.5 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most influential social network in the world. Research shows that a single post on Facebook can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving a ton of sales on your website, you should not be quick to dismiss Facebook as an important part of your business strategy, as Google processes social data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems influence search rankings more than other social media sites.
(Number of monthly 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 online and places great emphasis on tweeting posts that provide great value to followers over the amount of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent every day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google Plus
As Google’s own social networking site, GooglePlus 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 Google+ every week. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big 3 social sites listed above, there are a number of other sites that should not be ignored, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Digg, StumbleUpon, and Reddit.
(Social media sites provide important signals to search engines that could affect your rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Pay Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines include:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook shares, likes, and comments a person has, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, the authority of the person sending a tweet, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many followers on GooglePlus your URL has accrued, number and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on StumbleUpon, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious social media-related factors that can indirectly influence search engine rankings and traffic. These include desirable and undesirable factors, such as improving clickthrough rate [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by site reviewers [negative].
As a business owner, it’s important to not only find ways to grow your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to monitor, measure and analyze your social signals in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media can improve your results online)
Tracking social media activity allows you to gain insights into your company’s overall visibility on social media, assess competitor activity and mind share, measure the impact of campaigns, spot market opportunities, and help you take preventative measures if you detect negative comments or feedback by dissatisfied customers. Additionally, monitoring social media can also provide you with vital information about emerging trends and what clients and consumers think about specific brands, businesses, products, or topics.
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, often carried out by various people including market researchers, online reputation management companies, marketing teams, social engagement and community staff, professional sales reps, and social media marketing agencies. Typically, small businesses do not have the budget to pay social media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the and actively monitor their online reputation.
Fortunately a number of technology companies have developed tools and solutions that facilitate the monitoring of a variety of social media channels, allowing you to track what is being said online about your brand allowing you to respond to conversations and interact with online users in various social media platforms.
To learn more about social media monitoring tools that are worth knowing about, see this article:
(Do you know how to effectively monitor social signals?)
This article explores a simple social media monitoring tool for your WordPress-based web presence and increasing your social media exposure online.
Our Featured WordPress Plugin …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics Plugin For WordPress
Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social analytics plugin that is designed to help users increase their social media presence in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple premise – Social Metrics Pro measures how each signal is performing and displays either a red or green indicator. The site owner’s objective is to change more red squares into greens.
(A system that any user can follow … simply turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts with highest number of shares are colored green. Posts with low social media activity show up amber and red.
The developers of SocialMetricsPro tested their plugin 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”. According to the plugin developers, they were able to notice 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 the plugin developers, improving your social media marketing can result in better search rankings, increased web traffic and an increase in revenue!)
For more details go here:
Plugin Benefits
Here we have listed just some of the benefits and advantages of using Social Metrics Pro to track Likes, Tweets, Pins, +1s and more right from your WordPress Dashboard on your site:
Fast And Simple To Install And Set Up. Be Up And Running In Minutes.
Social Metrics Pro is quite easy to install. Simply upload a zip folder that contains the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Really Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s job is to turn red squares into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social signals so you know where to invest more effort and which campaigns need to be better optimized.
Track Social Signals From Social Networks You Care About
Social Metrics Pro allows you to track and monitor social media activity from networks like Twitter, Google+, Facebook, Digg, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.
SocialMetricsPro lets you easily answer 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?
- And more …
With SocialMetricsPro, all this information can be accessed with a single click.
(SocialMetricsPro constantly tracks social signals from the sites that you care most about!)
Plugin Features
Social Metrics Pro offers web site owners with many great features. Here are a few of these:
- Fast and simple to install and set up. Be up and running in no time.
- Social Metrics Pro Is Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using external and built-in widgets. Access the latest stats from your WordPress dashboard, add popular content to your sidebar or anywhere on your site using point-and-click widgets.
- 1-click upgrades. You can update Social Metrics Pro with a single click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update the manually manually. You can also choose to be notified via email when new versions are released.
- Plugin uses minimal resources. The plugin can generate reports in seconds, consuming minimal server resources. Report generation also displays the amount of time used to retrieve information and the server memory used to compile data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sort, Search & Filter Features: Social Metrics Pro allows you to sort and filter data however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by category, post authors, post type, or by publishing date.
- Export Data To Excel: 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 simple to use … just turn more red squares into greens!)
User Testimonials
Here are a few of the testimonials and comments that plugin users have submitted regarding SocialMetricsPro:
”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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”If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve.” Goes one of the most important sayings in business. And this is particularly true for tracking of your social mentions I found. There were two things that helped me a great deal to increase sharing after installing Social Metrics: First, I was able to see that some of my articles would perform much better on networks I wasn’t particularly using, such as StumbleUpon for example. Secondly, I could filter out the best performing content more easily and analyse what makes my readers share. Since then I have focused strongly on producing and replicating those posts that performed best.” Leo Widrich, Co-Founder of Buffer
Social Metrics Pro – Tips
Social Metrics Pro comes with a practical, step-by-step guide on how to optimize your campaigns and improve your social media strategy (i.e. how to turn reds into greens).
Support
SocialMetricsPro is well-supported, and users get lifetime software upgrades and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 60-day, full refund guarantee.
Plugin Price
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This option allows you to run Social Metrics Pro on one website only. It includes free lifetime updates and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site Licensing – This license lets you install Social Metrics Pro on unlimited domains that you own. Price includes free lifetime updates and support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: Price details for SocialMetricsPro can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Currently, the software is selling for the pricing shown above. This may or 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 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 This Plugin
As mentioned earlier, with the rising importance of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Google and Bing now take into account various social signals when determining 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 website owners immediate feedback on the success of their social media marketing campaigns and guides them where to direct their efforts in order to improve their results.
SocialMetricsPro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WordPress admin area.
We recommend getting Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to make social marketing measurable.
For more information, visit the plugin website: Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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