Social interactions and recommendations like Facebook 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 since late 2010.
Note: Google encourages businesses to build their brand on social media as a long-term investment to drive qualified traffic, instead of 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 media, as so many things change quickly on social media. Without a reliable ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign too much importance to social signals 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 real value develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google wants to display higher in its search results.
Social Signal Sources
Social sites that search engines like Google look to when measuring social signals include:
With more than 1.5 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most dominant social media community on the planet. Research shows that a single post 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 Facebook as an important part of your business strategy, as Google uses social data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems influence search engine rankings more than other social media sites.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the next largest social media site in the world, with over half a billion tweets sent out each day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer on the cybersphere and places great emphasis on tweeting posts that provide great value to readers over the amount of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent each day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google Plus
As Google’s own social media site, GooglePlus naturally carries a significant degree of authority online, even if it has not reached the same level of growth and take up as Facebook and Twitter.
(More people are starting to interact socially on Google+ every week. 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, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and Digg.
(Social media sites provide important signals to search engines that can affect your rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Pay Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines like Bing and Google 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 URL has, the number of people sending a tweet, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many people follow you, authority of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. number of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on StumbleUpon, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious factors that can indirectly influence search rankings and traffic. These include desirable and negative factors, such as links from authority sites (backlinks) (not as relevant as they once were, but still a factor) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by visitors [negative].
As a business owner, it’s not only important to develop 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)
Monitoring social media activity allows you to gain insights into your company’s online visibility on social media, spy on your competition, identify opportunities for engagement, measure the impact of campaigns, and take preventative measures if you detect negative comments or feedback by disgruntled customers. It can also provide you with valuable information about emerging trends and what clients and consumers are thinking about specific topics, businesses, brands, or products.
As a tool for business intelligence, the ability to track activity on 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 market researchers, digital reputation management companies, marketing professionals, social marketing agencies, professional sales reps, and social engagement and community staff. Typically, smaller businesses do not have the budget to pay a social media monitoring service to continually track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately a number of service providers have made available affordable tools and solutions that facilitate the tracking of a wide range of social media channels, enabling companies to identify and even predict consumer behavior around their brands or products allowing them to respond to conversations and interact with online users in a timely manner.
We have written a detailed article listing several social media monitoring tools and technologies that are worth checking out and knowing about. More information:
(Do you know how to effectively monitor social signals?)
In this article, you will learn about a simple, yet effective social tracking tool for WordPress and improving your social media presence online.
Announcing …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics For WordPress
Plugin Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-use social media analytics premium WordPress plugin that is designed to help you increase your social media influence in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple premise – Social Metrics Pro measures how each signal is performing and returns either a red or green indicator. The user’s objective is to turn all reds into greens.
(SocialMetricsPro provides a standard operating procedure that anyone can follow … turn all the reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts that get shared the most display 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 a 360% improvement in traffic for their top 10 performing sites, 410% more keywords ranked in the first page of Google and their revenue increased by 310%.
(According to SocialMetricsPro developers, improving your social media marketing campaigns can significantly can have a dramatic effect on your search engine rankings, web traffic and revenue!)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Benefits
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits of using SocialMetricsPro to track Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WP Dashboard on your website:
Easy, Fast And Simple To Install
SocialMetricsPro installs like every plugin. Simply upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the user’s objective is to turn all reds into greens. Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures social media signals so you know where to apply more effort and which need to be better optimized.
Track Signals From The Networks You Care About
Social Metrics Pro lets you monitor social media activity from networks like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Digg, LinkedIn, and StumbleUpon.
Social Metrics Pro lets you easily answer questions like:
- Which social networks work best for my site?
- Which social campaigns 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 a single click.
(SocialMetricsPro actively monitors social signals from the social sites that you care most about!)
SocialMetricsPro Features
Social Metrics Pro offers a number of great features to WP users. Below we have listed some:
- Quick and simple to install and set up. Ready to start using in no time.
- SocialMetricsPro Is Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality with built-in and external widgets. Access updated information right on your WP dashboard, display popular content on your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using point-and-click widgets.
- 1-click upgrades. You can update Social Metrics Pro in a single click via the WordPress Updates page, or update the manually manually. You can also choose to be notified via email when new plugin updates are released.
- Minimal usage of resources. The plugin can generate social metrics reports fast, using minimal hosting resources. Report generation also displays the amount of time it took to retrieve the information and the server memory consumed when gathering data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sorting, Searching & Filtering Features: Social Metrics Pro allows you to sort and filter the data as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by post type, post authors, publishing date, or by category.
- Export Data To Excel: You can export filtered 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 convert more red squares into greens!)
Feedback From Users
Here are a couple of the testimonials and feedback 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
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”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
SocialMetricsPro – Useful Tips
SocialMetricsPro comes with a step-by-step guide on how to optimize your campaigns and improve your social media strategy (i.e. how to turn reds into greens).
Social Metrics Pro Plugin Support
SocialMetricsPro is well-supported, and users get lifetime software updates and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, sixty-day, complete money-back guarantee.
Product Cost
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This edition allows you to set up Social Metrics Pro on a single domain. Includes free lifetime updates and support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multiple Sites Licensing – This edition lets you configure SocialMetricsPro on unlimited web sites that you own. Includes free lifetime updates and free support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: The price of the Social Metrics Pro product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. When we last checked, the product sells for the prices shown above. This may or may not be the actual price charged by the product developer when you visit the product website 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
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Download This Plugin
As mentioned earlier, 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. Social Metrics Pro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives users instant feedback on the success of their social marketing campaigns and guides them how and where to improve their results.
SocialMetricsPro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WP dashboard.
We recommend SocialMetricsPro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to shave years off your social media marketing learning curve.
For full details, visit the plugin website here: SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics Plugin
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