Social interactions like Facebook comments, shares, and likes, +1s on GooglePlus, 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 businesses 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 assessing social media signals, as so many things change quickly on social media. Without a perfect ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign more importance to social signals 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 real value develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google wants to rank higher in its search listings.
Social Signal Sources
Social sites that search engines look to when measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion active users, Facebook is the most dominant social media network on the planet. Research shows that an average post can reach over 100,000 users, so even if no one seems to be buying your products or services on Facebook, don’t be quick to dismiss Facebook as an important part of your online business strategy, as Google uses data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, research shows that Facebook seems influence search rankings more than other social media sites, like GooglePlus and Twitter.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second biggest social media site in the world, with over 600 million tweets sent out every day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer online and places great importance on tweeting posts that provide value to followers over the volume of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent every single day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google+
As Google’s own social media site, Google+ naturally carries a significant degree of authority online, even if it is still a fledgling online community compared to sites like Facebook and Twitter.
(More people are interacting on GooglePlus every day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big 3 social sites listed above, there are a number of other sites that provide important social metrics, like 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 Be Paying Attention To?
Search engines like Bing and Google track a number of social signals, including the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook comments, shares, and likes you have, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, how influential the person tweeting is, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many people follow you, amount and growth rate 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 signals that can indirectly influence search engine 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 find ways to grow your social media presence, but also to be able to monitor, measure and analyze your social media in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media marketing can help improve your business results)
Social media monitoring allows you to find insights into your brand’s overall visibility on social media, spot opportunities for engagement, avert impending crises, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, and spy on your competitors. Additionally, social media monitoring can also provide you with valuable information about emerging trends and what clients and consumers are thinking about specific topics, brands, products, or businesses.
As a tool for business intelligence, being able to track social media 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 online reputation management companies, marketing professionals, market researchers, social engagement and community staff, sales teams, and agencies. Typically, many small businesses do not can’t afford to pay social media monitoring professionals to continually track their coverage in the and actively monitor their digital reputation.
Fortunately many technology providers have developed a range of affordable and even free tools that facilitate the monitoring of a variety of social media channels, allowing you to identify and even predict what is being said online about your brand so you can respond to conversations and interact with consumers in various social media platforms.
We have created a detailed article where we explore many social media monitoring tools and technologies that will help you manage, measure, and analyze your social media marketing initiatives. Go here for more details:
(Are you measuring social signals effectively?)
This article discusses a simple social media monitoring plugin for WordPress and growing your social media influence online.
Presenting …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
Plugin Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-use social analytics plugin that is designed to help users increase their social media influence in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple concept – SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures how each signal is performing and displays either a green or red indicator. Your task is to convert red squares into greens.
(SocialMetricsPro provides a system that anyone can operate … turn 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 Social Metrics Pro on a network of 2,000+ sites over a period of three 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 noticed 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 their revenue increased by 310%.
(According to the plugin developers, focusing on improving your social marketing campaigns can dramatically impact your search rankings, web traffic and revenue!)
More info:
Plugin Benefits
Below we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Social Metrics Pro to track Tweets, Likes, +1s, Pins and more directly from your WP Dashboard on your website:
Quick And Easy To Install And Use. Be Up And Running In Minutes.
Social Metrics Pro is quite easy to install. Just upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Really Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the user’s objective is to turn more red squares into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social signals so you know which campaigns need you to invest more effort and where to optimize.
Track Only Social Signals From The Networks You Care About
Social Metrics Pro lets you track and monitor social activity across leading social media networks like Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Digg, and Pinterest.
SocialMetricsPro 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 Social Metrics Pro, all this information is available on-demand, with just one click.
(Social Metrics Pro constantly monitors social signals from the social media sites that you care most about!)
Social Metrics Pro Features
Social Metrics Pro provides web site owners with many features. Here are some of those:
- Quick and easy to install and set up. Ready to start using in no time.
- Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality using built-in and external widgets. Social Metrics Pro shows updated stats from your WP admin bar, display social content on your sidebar or anywhere on your site using point-and-click widgets.
- 1-click upgrading. You can update the plugin with a single click via the WordPress Updates page, or update it manually. You can also choose to be notified via email whenever a new version is released.
- Minimal server resources use. Social metrics reports are compiled in seconds, consuming minimal hosting resources. Report generation also includes the amount of time used to retrieve the information and the server resources used to gather and compile the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sorting, Searching & Filtering Features: SocialMetricsPro lets you sort, search and filter information as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by publishing date, post authors, category, or post type.
- Export Data To Excel: You can export and plot filtered, sorted data and custom queries in 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 very simple to use … just convert more red squares into greens!)
Feedback From Users
Here are a couple of the testimonials and comments that users have provided for 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
Useful Tips
A step-by-step guide containing useful advice on how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. turn reds into greens) is also included.
Social Metrics Pro Plugin Support
The plugin is well-supported, and users get lifetime upgrades and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, sixty-day, complete money-back guarantee.
Software Pricing
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This license allows you to use SocialMetricsPro on one website only. Cost includes free lifetime updates and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites License Edition – This license lets you run Social Metrics Pro on unlimited domains that you own. Price includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: Pricing details of the SocialMetricsPro product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. When we last checked, the software is being retailed for the prices shown above. This may not be the actual pricing set by the software seller when you visit the site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing information:
Additional Info
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Download The Product
As mentioned earlier, social signals impact search engine rankings and Google has been tracking social signals as part of its ranking algorithm.
No website owner can afford to ignore how important social media is to their online success. SocialMetricsPro 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 guides them where and how to direct their efforts in order to improve their results.
Social Metrics Pro is ideal for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WP dashboard.
Get SocialMetricsPro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to track your social signals automatically.
For full details, visit the plugin website here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics For WordPress
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