Social recommendations like Facebook comments, likes, and shares, +1s on Google+, etc. are called social signals.
With the increase in importance of social sites like Twitter and Facebook, search engines are now taking into account social signals when determining a website’s ranking.
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 social signals, as social trends and relationships can change at a moment’s notice. Without a full ‘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 to “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 rank higher in its search engine listings.
Social Signals – Which Social Media Sites Matter?
Social media sites that search engines look to when measuring social signals include:
With over 1.5 billion active users, Facebook is the most influential social media network in the world. Research shows that an average post on Facebook can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if no one seems to be buying your products or services on Facebook, you should not be quick to dismiss the power of leveraging Facebook, as Google processes data and information from Facebook to help determine 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 600 million tweets sent out every day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer on the cybersphere and places great emphasis on the authority of tweets posted to readers over the number of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent every day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google Plus
Google’s own social site naturally carries a significant degree of authority online, even if it has not reached the same level of growth and take up as Twitter and Facebook.
(More people are interacting socially on Google+ every day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big 3 social sites listed above, there are a number of other social sites that should not be ignored, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and Digg.
(Social media sites provide important signals to search engines that could affect your rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines include the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook comments, shares, and likes a person has, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, the number of people sending a tweet, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many followers on Google+ your URL has accrued, number and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. number of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on StumbleUpon, etc.
- Not so obvious signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious factors that can indirectly influence search engine traffic and rankings. These include desirable and negative factors, such as age and authority of your social media account [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be of poor quality by visitors [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 signals in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media can improve your results online)
Social media monitoring allows you to gain insights into your company’s online visibility on social media, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, spy on your competition, take preventative measures against the spread of negative comments or feedback by embittered customers, and spot opportunities for engagement. It can also provide you with valuable data about emerging trends and what consumers and clients think about specific topics, brands, businesses, or products.
As a business intelligence tool, being able to track social activity on social media channels like blogging, internet forums, wikis, micro-blogging platforms, message boards, video sites, and user-generated content (UGC) 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 groups that include market researchers, digital reputation management companies, marketing teams, social media marketing agencies, sales teams, and social engagement and community personnel. Typically, small businesses do not have the budget to pay a media monitoring service to continually track their coverage in the and actively monitor their online reputation.
Fortunately a number of technology companies have developed affordable tools and solutions that facilitate the tracking of a wide spectrum of social media channels, enabling you to identify and even predict consumer behavior around your products or brand allowing you to respond to conversations and engage with online users in various social media platforms.
We have created a detailed article where we explore many social media monitoring tools that will help you manage, measure, and analyze your social media marketing initiatives. More info:
(Do you know how to effectively measure social signals?)
This article discusses a simple social media monitoring plugin for your WordPress-based site and growing your social media influence.
Our Featured WordPress Product Is …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
Description Of Plugin
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social media analytics WordPress plugin that is designed to make increasing your social media influence uncomplicated. It is built on a simple concept – SocialMetricsPro measures how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. The site owner’s objective is simple … convert more red squares into greens.
(A system that anyone can operate … turn all the reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts that get shared the most show up green. Posts with low social media activity display amber and red.
The plugin developers tested SocialMetricsPro on a network of 2,000+ websites 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 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 SocialMetricsPro developers, focusing on improving your social marketing can result in higher search engine rankings, more traffic and increased revenue!)
More info:
Benefits Of Using Social Metrics Pro
Here are just some of the many benefits and advantages of using SocialMetricsPro to track Tweets, Likes, +1s, Pins and more from your WordPress Dashboard on your web site:
Ready To Start Using In Minutes
SocialMetricsPro installs like any regular plugin. Just upload a zip folder that contains the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your WordPress admin section and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s objective is to convert more reds into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social media signals the way Google sees it so you know where to apply more effort and which ones need to be better optimized.
Track The Social Signals From Social Networks You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you track and monitor social activity across leading social networks like Twitter, GooglePlus, Facebook, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, Digg, and LinkedIn directly from your WordPress admin area.
Social Metrics Pro helps you get answers to questions like:
- Which social media networks work best for my site?
- Which social campaigns are performing the best on these social networks?
- Which of my posts are the most popular?
- And more …
With SocialMetricsPro, all this information is available on-demand, with a single click.
(SocialMetricsPro actively monitors social signals from the sites that you care most about!)
Social Metrics Pro Features
Social Metrics Pro provides WP users with many unique features. Below we have listed just a few:
- Fast and easy to install and set up. Ready to start using in very little time.
- Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality with external and built-in widgets. Access the latest information right on your WP admin bar, display social content on your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using point-and-click widgets.
- 1-click auto-upgrade functionality. Update the plugin in one 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.
- Low-resource consumption. Social metrics reports are generated fast, consuming little hosting resources. Reports also include the amount of time used to retrieve the information and the server memory consumed when gathering and compiling data.
Additional features include:
- Sort, Search & Filter Features: Social Metrics Pro allows you to sort and filter the information however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by publishing date, category, post authors, or post type.
- Export Data To Excel: You can export and plot data in 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 really simple to use … just convert more reds into greens!)
Feedback From Users
Below are some of the testimonials that users have submitted regarding Social Metrics Pro:
”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 step-by-step, practical guide showing you how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. how to turn reds into greens) is also included.
Support
SocialMetricsPro is well-supported, and comes with free lifetime updates and support, backed by a risk-free, 60-day, 100% refund guarantee.
Plugin Cost
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This option enables you to run Social Metrics Pro on 1 domain only. Includes free lifetime updates and support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multiple Sites Edition – This lets you set up SocialMetricsPro on unlimited web sites that you own. Price includes free lifetime updates and support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: The price of the product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The pricing above was correct at the time this article was published. This may not be the actual pricing set by the product seller when you visit the plugin website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest price here:
Additional Information
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
The Bottom Line
As mentioned earlier, with the increased importance of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, search engines now take into account a range of social signals when determining a site’s ranking.
No website owner can afford to ignore how important social media is to their online success. Social Metrics Pro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives website owners instant feedback on the success of their social marketing strategy and shows them where and 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 directly from your WP admin area.
We recommend this plugin if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to make social media marketing work for you.
For full details, visit the plugin website here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin
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