Social recommendations like Facebook comments, likes, and shares, +1s on Google+, etc. are called social signals.
Social signals impact search engine rankings and 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. 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 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 value develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google naturally wants to rank higher in its search results.
Social Signal Sources
Social sites that search engines look to for measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion active users, Facebook is the most influential social media network in the world. It has been estimated that one great post on Facebook can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving droves of customers to your site, you should not be quick to dismiss the power of leveraging Facebook, as Google uses social data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems influence search engine rankings more than other social media sites, like Twitter orGooglePlus.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the next biggest social media site in the world, with over 600 million tweets sent out every day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence online and places great importance on the authority of tweets posted to readers over the number of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent each day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google Plus
Google’s own social site naturally carries great authority online, even if it has not reached the same level of growth and take up as Twitter and Facebook.
(More people are starting to interact socially on GooglePlus each year. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big three listed above, there are a number of other social media networks that should not be ignored, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Digg, StumbleUpon, and Reddit.
(A number of social media sites provide important signals to search engines that can affect your rankings)
Social Signals – Which Ones Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines include the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook likes, shares, and comments a person has, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets your site has, how influential the person sending a tweet is, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many people are following you, number and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on Reddit, etc.
- Not so obvious signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious social media-related signals that can indirectly influence search rankings and traffic. These include positive and negative factors, such as improving clickthrough rate (CTR) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by other users [negative].
As a business owner, it’s not only important to find ways to grow your social media presence, but also to be able to monitor and analyze social signals in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media can improve your business results)
Social media monitoring allows you to gain insights into your company’s overall visibility on social media, take preventative measures against the spread of negative comments or feedback by disgruntled customers, spot potential opportunities for engagement, spy on your competitors, and measure the impact of campaigns. Additionally, social media monitoring can also provide you with valuable information about emerging trends and what clients and consumers think about specific businesses, brands, products, or topics.
As a tool for business intelligence, being able to track social activity on social media channels like blogs, internet forums, social networking sites, micro-blogging platforms, discussion groups, video/photo sharing sites, and user-generated content 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 digital reputation management (ORM) companies, marketing professionals, market researchers, social marketing agencies, social engagement and community personnel, and professional sales reps. Typically, many small businesses don’t have the budget to pay media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately different technology providers have developed affordable tools that facilitate the active tracking of a broad spectrum of social media channels, enabling you to identify and even predict what is being said online about your brand allowing you to react to conversations and engage with consumers in various social media platforms.
We have created a comprehensive article listing a number of social media tracking tools and technologies that are worth checking out and knowing about. Go here for more information:
(Are you looking for an effective tool that can help you monitor social signals?)
This article explores a simple, yet highly effective WordPress plugin for tracking social media signals and increasing your social media influence online.
Our Featured WordPress Product …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics WordPress Plugin
Description Of Plugin
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-use social analytics premium WordPress plugin that is designed to help you grow your social media influence in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple concept – the plugin tracks how each signal is performing and returns either a red or green indicator. The user’s goal is simple … convert more red squares into greens.
(A system that any user can operate … turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts that get shared the most are colored green. Posts with low social media activity display amber and 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”. From these tests, 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, focusing on improving your social media marketing can can have a significant impact on your search engine rankings, traffic and revenue!)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Benefits Of Using SocialMetricsPro
Here are just a few of the benefits and advantages of using SocialMetricsPro to track Likes, Tweets, +1s, Pins and more directly from your WordPress Dashboard on your website:
Ready To Go To Work In Very Little Time
Social Metrics Pro installs like every WordPress plugin. Just upload a zip file that contains the plugin to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, your objective is to turn all red squares into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social signals so you know which social marketing campaigns need more effort and which ones need to be better optimized.
Track The Signals You Care About
Social Metrics Pro provides a powerful dashboard to centrally monitor social media activity from social media networks like Google+, Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, Digg, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.
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 of my posts are the most popular?
- And more …
With SocialMetricsPro, all of this information is available on-demand, with a single click.
(Social Metrics Pro actively monitors the social media sites that you care most about!)
Product Features
SocialMetricsPro provides many great features to website owners. Below we have listed just a few of these:
- Fast and simple to install and implement. Be up and running in minutes.
- SocialMetricsPro Is Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using built-in and external widgets. View updated stats right on your WordPress admin bar, add social content to your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using point-and-click widgets.
- One-click updating. Update Social Metrics Pro with one 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 server resources. Reporting is fast, consuming little hosting resources. Report generation also includes the amount of time it took to retrieve information and the server resources used to compile the data.
Additional features include:
- Sort, Search & Filter Features: Social Metrics Pro lets you sort and filter your data as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by post authors, category, post type, or by publishing date.
- Export Data: 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 the spreadsheet application of your choice.
(SocialMetricsPro is really simple to use … just turn more red squares into greens!)
User Feedback
Below are a few of the testimonials and feedback plugin customers have submitted regarding the SocialMetricsPro plugin:
”As with any cool plugin, it solves a very simple problem – how to view how well your WordPress posts are being promoted.” Adam Small, Marketing Tech Blog
***
“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 campaigns and improve your social media strategy (i.e. turn reds into greens) is also included.
Support
SocialMetricsPro is well-supported, and users get lifetime upgrades and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, sixty-day, complete refund guarantee.
Software Price
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Edition – This edition enables you to activate SocialMetricsPro on a single domain. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site Licensing – This enables you to use SocialMetricsPro on unlimited domains that you own. It includes free lifetime updates and support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: Pricing details of the product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Currently, the software sells for the amounts shown above. This may or may not be the actual price charged by the product author when you visit the plugin site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Information
SocialMetricsPro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Get The Product
As mentioned earlier, Google has been tracking 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 you instant feedback on the success of your social media marketing campaigns and guides you where to direct your efforts in order to improve your results.
Social Metrics Pro is ideal 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 shorten your path to success with social marketing.
For full details, check out the plugin here: SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics Plugin For WordPress
***
***