Social recommendations like Facebook comments, +1s on Google+, 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, instead of aiming for short-term benefits like search ranking placement. Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s web spam team has stated that Google takes a cautious approach when it comes to social signals, as so many things change quickly on social media. Without a perfect ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign more importance to the social sphere 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 value normally develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google naturally wants to rank higher in its search listings.
Social Signals – Which Social Sites Matter?
Social sites that search engines like Google and Bing look to for measuring social signals include:
With over 1.5 billion active users, Facebook is the largest social media community on the planet. Research shows that an average post on Facebook can reach over 100,000 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 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, like Twitter andGoogle+.
(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 every day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence online and places great emphasis on tweeting posts that provide value to followers over the number of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent each day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
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 GooglePlus every week. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big 3 social sites listed above, there are a number of other social media networks that provide important social metrics, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Digg, Reddit, and StumbleUpon.
(Social media sites provide important signals that can affect your search rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Pay Attention To?
Search engines like Bing and Google track various social signals, including:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook comments, likes, and shares you have, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, the authority of the person tweeting, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (influential users), how many followers on GooglePlus a URL has, amount of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. number of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments 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 rankings. These include positive 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 grow your social media presence, but also to be able to monitor and analyze social signals in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media to help improve your business results)
Monitoring social media activity allows you to find insights into your brand’s online visibility on social media, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, spot opportunities for engagement, spy on the competition, 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 consumers and clients think about specific topics, products, businesses, or brands.
As a tool for business intelligence, social media monitoring 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 market research, online reputation specialists, marketing teams, social engagement and community personnel, sales teams, and social marketing agencies. Typically, small businesses do not can’t afford to pay media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately different technology companies have developed a range of affordable and even free tools to facilitate the active monitoring of a wide range of social media channels, enabling companies to identify what consumers, competitors, supporters, and critics are saying about their brands allowing them to respond proactively to conversations and engage with online users in a timely manner.
Go here if you would like to learn more about social media monitoring tools that are worth checking out and knowing about:
(Are you searching for an effective tool that can help you track social signals?)
This article discusses a simple WordPress plugin for monitoring social media signals and improving your social media exposure online.
Introducing …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social analytics WordPress plugin that is designed to help users increase their social media presence online in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple concept – Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. Your task is simple … convert all the red squares into greens.
(Social Metrics Pro provides a system that any user can operate … turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts that get shared the most display green. Posts with low social media activity are colored amber or 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 their metrics on “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 they also experienced a 310% increase in revenues.
(According to Social Metrics Pro developers, focusing on improving your social marketing campaigns can significantly affect your search engine rankings, web traffic and revenue!)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Plugin Benefits
Below we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using SocialMetricsPro to track Tweets, Likes, +1s, Pins and more right from your WordPress Dashboard on your web site:
Ready To Use In Very Little Time
SocialMetricsPro installs just like any other WP plugin. Simply upload it to your Plugin folder via your WP admin user account and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s goal is to change all red squares into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social media signals so you know where to invest more effort and which social marketing campaigns need to be better optimized.
Track Only Social Signals You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you centrally track and monitor social activity across leading social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, GooglePlus, Pinterest, Digg, LinkedIn, and StumbleUpon.
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 SocialMetricsPro, all of this information can be accessed with a single click.
(SocialMetricsPro constantly monitors the sites that you care most about!)
Features
SocialMetricsPro provides WordPress users with many great features. Below we have listed just a few of these:
- Quick and simple to install and configure. 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 shows the latest stats from your WordPress admin bar, add popular content to your sidebar or anywhere in your site using widgets.
- 1-click updating. Update SocialMetricsPro with a single click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update it manually. You can also opt to be notified via email whenever a new version is released.
- Low-resource consumption. The plugin can generate reports fast, using little server resources. Report generation also includes the amount of time spent retrieving information and the server resources consumed when gathering and compiling data.
Additional features include:
- Sort, Search & Filter Features: Social Metrics Pro lets you sort, search and filter the data however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by post type, publishing date, category, or post authors.
- Export Data: 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 Excel or the spreadsheet application of your choice.
(Social Metrics Pro is simple to use … just convert all the red squares into greens!)
Feedback From Plugin Customers
Below are some of the testimonials plugin users have submitted regarding Social Metrics Pro:
”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
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”Social Metrics is one of the recipes for Social WordPress. You can integrate it quickly and easily on your WordPress site to view your performance on social networks” Jean-Francois Arseneault, Arseneault Consultation
Useful Tips
A practical, step-by-step guide containing useful advice on how to optimize your campaigns and improve your social media strategy (i.e. how to turn reds into greens) is also included.
Support
SocialMetricsPro is well-supported, and comes with free support and free lifetime updates, backed by a risk-free, sixty-day, complete money-back guarantee.
Software Price
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This lets you set up SocialMetricsPro on a single website. It includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site Licensing – This license allows you to run SocialMetricsPro on unlimited sites that you own. Includes free lifetime updates and free support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: Current pricing for the Social Metrics Pro software depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. When we last checked, the plugin retails for the prices shown above. This may or may not be the actual price charged by the software author when you visit the product website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest price:
Additional Info
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
The Bottom Line
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. Social Metrics Pro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives users immediate feedback on the success of their social marketing campaigns and guides them where to direct their efforts in order to improve their results.
SocialMetricsPro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WordPress dashboard.
Get SocialMetricsPro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to avoid wasting resources on over-optimized networks.
For more information, visit the plugin website: SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
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