Social recommendations like Facebook comments, Twitter mentions and retweets, 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 since late 2010.
Note: Google encourages website owners to build their social media presence 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 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 summary, Google’s strategy is to “wait and see” how things develop over time, as sites that provide value normally develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signal Sources
Social media sites that search engines like Google look to when measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most influential social media network in the world. Research shows that a single post can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving a ton of sales on your website, don’t be quick to dismiss the importance of Facebook in your online business strategy, as Google processes data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, research indicates that Facebook seems to have the most influence on search engine rankings of all 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 each 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 number of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent each day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google+
As Google’s own social media site, GooglePlus 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 interacting socially on GooglePlus every year. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big 3 social sites listed above, there are a number of other social sites that provide important social metrics, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Digg, StumbleUpon, and Reddit.
(Social media sites provide important signals that can affect your search engine rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Pay Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines like Google and Bing include:
- 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 a site has, the authority of the person tweeting, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many followers on Google+ your site page has accrued, number and growth rate of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. number of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on Digg, etc.
- Not so obvious signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious social media-related factors that can indirectly influence search traffic and rankings. These include positive and negative factors, such as links from authority sites (backlinks) (not as influential as they once were, but still a factor) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be of low quality by other users [negative].
As a business owner, it’s important to not only grow your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to monitor and analyze your social media in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media can improve your results online)
Tracking social media activity allows you to find insights into what people are saying about your company, brand, or products on social media, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, identify new market opportunities, avert disasters, and spy on the competition. Additionally, monitoring social media can also provide you with valuable information about emerging trends and what consumers and clients are thinking about specific brands, businesses, topics, or products.
As a tool for business intelligence, the ability to monitor social media is invaluable. Using social media monitoring as a form of business intelligence, however, is a complex undertaking, often carried out by various groups that include marketing professionals, PR companies, market researchers, social engagement and community personnel, professional sales reps, and agencies. Typically, smaller businesses do not have the budget to pay social media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately various technology providers have developed a range of affordable and even free tools that facilitate the tracking of a variety of social media channels, allowing companies to identify what consumers are saying about their products or brands allowing them to respond proactively to conversations and interact with consumers in various social media platforms.
We have written a detailed article about social media monitoring tools and technologies that you may want to check out. If you are interested in learning more here:
(Are you looking for an effective tool to help you measure social signals?)
This article discusses a simple, yet effective social media tracking plugin for WordPress and increasing your social media influence.
Our Recommended WordPress Plugin …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
Plugin Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social analytics premium WordPress plugin that is designed to help you increase your social media influence online in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple concept – SocialMetricsPro tracks how each signal is performing and displays either a red or green indicator. Your job is simple … turn more red squares into greens.
(A standard operating procedure that any user can operate … turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics with Excel-like conditional color formatting. Posts with the highest number of shares display green. Posts with low social media activity are colored amber and red.
The developers of Social Metrics Pro tested their plugin on a network of 2,000+ websites over a period of three months. During this period, all they focused on was turning the “reds” to “greens” and then keeping their metrics on “green”. According to the plugin developers, 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 the plugin developers, focusing on improving your social marketing campaigns can affect your search rankings, traffic and revenue!)
Learn more here:
Plugin Benefits
Below are just a few of the benefits and advantages of using SocialMetricsPro to track Likes, Tweets, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WordPress Dashboard on your web site:
Installation Is Easy
Social Metrics Pro installs like any WP plugin. Simply upload it to your Plugin folder via your WP admin user account and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the user’s task is to change all the reds into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social media signals so you know where to invest more effort and which need to be better optimized.
Track Signals From Social Networks You Care About
Social Metrics Pro provides a powerful dashboard to centrally monitor social activity across leading networks like Twitter, Google+, Facebook, Digg, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.
SocialMetricsPro 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 Social Metrics Pro, all of this information is available on-demand, with just one click.
(Social Metrics Pro actively monitors social signals from the sites that you care most about!)
SocialMetricsPro Features
SocialMetricsPro offers WordPress users with many features. Here are a few of these:
- Fast and easy to install and use. Be up and running in minutes.
- SocialMetricsPro Is Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using external and built-in widgets. SocialMetricsPro displays the latest stats right on your WP admin bar, add socially popular content to your sidebar or anywhere in your site using widgets.
- One-click updates. Update SocialMetricsPro with a single click via the WordPress Updates page, or update the manually manually. You can also choose to be notified via email whenever new versions are released.
- Minimal usage of hosting resources. The plugin generates social metrics reports in seconds, consuming minimal server resources. Reports also include the amount of time used to retrieve information and the server resources used to compile the data.
Additional features include:
- Sort, Search & Filter Features: Social Metrics Pro allows you to sort and filter the information as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by post type, category, publishing date, or by post authors.
- Export Data To Excel: 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 really simple to use … just convert more reds into greens!)
User Feedback
Below are a couple of the testimonials that plugin customers have provided for Social Metrics Pro:
“Social Metrics Pro is the essential plugin we use to monitor how our content performs on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. It’s simple, neat and works precisely as you would expect it. When we work with our clients such as T-Mobile, the .Me domain name registry and others, Social Metrics Pro is the plugin we use to create reports as well as keep track on each bit of content to optimize it for future performance.” Ivan Brezak Brkan, Editor of Netokracija.com, TechCrunch EU Contributor
***
”I give Social Metrics a big thumbs up and I recommend it to anyone who’s serious about tracking their social sharing analytics.” James Johnson, Senior Editor at The Inquisitr
Product Tips
Social Metrics Pro comes with a step-by-step guide containing useful advice on how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. turn reds into greens).
Social Metrics Pro Support
Social Metrics Pro is well-supported, and comes with free lifetime updates and support, backed by a no-risk, sixty-day, complete money-back guarantee.
Product Licensing Cost
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License – This license enables you to set up SocialMetricsPro on a single web site. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites License Edition – This license enables you to install SocialMetricsPro on multiple sites that you own. It includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: The cost to purchase SocialMetricsPro depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The price shown above was current when this content was written. This may not be the actual price set by the product seller when you visit the plugin website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing here:
Additional Info
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Get The Product
As mentioned earlier, social signals impact search engine rankings and Google has been elevating the importance given to 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 you instant feedback on the success of your social media marketing strategy and shows you how and where to improve your results.
Social Metrics Pro is ideal for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WP admin area.
We recommend getting Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to see measurable results.
For complete details, check out the plugin here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin
***
***