Social interactions like Facebook likes, shares, and comments, +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 social presence as a long-term investment to drive qualified traffic, rather than aiming for short-term benefits like search ranking placement. Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s own 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 full ‘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 true value normally develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google naturally wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signals – Which Sites Matter?
Social sites that search engines like Google and Bing look to for measuring social signals include:
With more than 1.5 billion active users, Facebook is the largest social network on the planet. Research shows that an average post can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if no one seems to be buying your products or services on Facebook, don’t be quick to dismiss the importance of Facebook in your business strategy, as Google uses data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems to have the most influence on search engine rankings of all social media sites, like Twitter andGoogle+.
(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 on the cybersphere 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 every single day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google+
As Google’s own social networking 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 on Google+ each day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big 3 listed above, there are a number of other social sites worth paying attention to, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon,Reddit, and Digg.
(A number of social sites provide important signals that could affect your search rankings)
Social Signals – Which Ones Should You Pay Attention To?
Search engines like Bing and Google track various social signals, including:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook likes, shares, and comments you have, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, the number of people tweeting, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (influential 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 Digg, etc.
- Not so obvious signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious signals that can indirectly influence search engine traffic and rankings. These include positive and negative factors, such as improving clickthrough rate [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by other users [negative].
As a website owner, it’s not only important to grow your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to track and analyze your social signals in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media to help improve your results online)
Social media monitoring allows you to gain insights into what people are saying about your services, brand, or company on social media, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, help you take preventative measures against the spread of negative comments or feedback by dissatisfied users, spot market opportunities, and spy on your competition. Additionally, monitoring social media can also provide vital information about emerging trends and what consumers and clients think about specific businesses, products, topics, or brands.
As a tool for business intelligence, social monitoring is invaluable. Using social media monitoring as a form of business intelligence, however, is a complex undertaking, typically carried out by various people including marketing teams, PR agencies, market researchers, agencies, sales teams, and social engagement and community personnel. Typically, smaller businesses don’t can’t afford to pay media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately various service providers have made available tools that facilitate the monitoring of a variety of social media channels, enabling companies to identify consumer behavior around their brands allowing them to react to conversations and engage with online users in various social media platforms.
We have written a detailed article on social media monitoring tools and technologies that will help you keep track of online trends, monitor competitor activity, see what online conversations are taking place that can affect your business, etc, see what online conversations are taking place that could affect your business,etc. For more details:
(Are you tracking social signals effectively?)
This article explores a simple, yet effective plugin for WordPress users for monitoring social signals and improving your social media exposure online.
Announcing …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics WordPress Plugin
Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-use social analytics premium WordPress plugin that is designed to make growing your social media influence online uncomplicated. It is built on a simple premise – the tool measures how each signal is performing and displays either a green or red indicator. The site owner’s goal is to turn more red squares into greens.
(A standard operating procedure that any website owner can operate … turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics. Posts with the highest number of shares display green. Posts with low social media activity are colored amber and red.
The plugin developers tested Social Metrics Pro 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”. From these tests, 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 SocialMetricsPro developers, focusing on improving your social marketing can result in higher search engine rankings, increased traffic and increased revenue!)
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Benefits Of Using SocialMetricsPro
Below we have listed just some of the benefits and advantages of using Social Metrics Pro to track Tweets, Likes, +1s, Pins and more right from your WP Dashboard on your website:
Ready To Go To Work In No Time
SocialMetricsPro installs just like any plugin. Simply upload a zip folder that contains the plugin to your Plugins folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, your task is to convert red squares into greens. Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures social signals so you know which social campaigns need you to invest more effort and where to optimize.
Track The Social Signals You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you monitor social activity across leading networks like Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, Digg, Pinterest, and StumbleUpon directly from your WordPress dashboard.
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 Social Metrics Pro, all of this information is available on-demand, with just one click.
(Social Metrics Pro actively monitors the sites that you care most about!)
Plugin Features
SocialMetricsPro offers WordPress users with many unique features. Here are a few of these:
- Fast and easy to install and implement. Ready to use in very little time.
- Social Metrics Pro Is Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality using external and built-in widgets. View updated stats right on your WordPress dashboard, add social content to your sidebar or anywhere in your site using widgets.
- 1-click auto-update functionality. You can update the plugin with one click via the WordPress Updates page, or update the manually manually. You can also choose to be notified via email whenever a new version is released.
- Consumes minimal hosting resources. Social reports are generated in seconds, consuming very little hosting resources. The tool also includes the amount of time spent retrieving the information and the server memory used to compile the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sort, Search & Filter Features: Social Metrics Pro lets you sort, search and filter information as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by publishing date, post authors, post type, or by category.
- 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 Excel or the spreadsheet application of your choice.
(SocialMetricsPro is simple to use … just convert all the reds into greens!)
User Testimonials
Here are just some testimonials and comments users have written about SocialMetricsPro:
”Social Metrics is the easiest way to see at a glance which posts have performed well on social networks.” Kevin Muldoon, Founder of WPMods.com
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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
SocialMetricsPro Plugin – Tips
SocialMetricsPro includes a step-by-step guide showing you how to optimize your campaigns and improve your social media strategy (i.e. how to turn reds into greens).
Support
The plugin is well-supported, and comes with free lifetime updates and support, backed by a risk-free, 60-day, complete refund guarantee.
Product License Price
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Edition – This license allows you to configure SocialMetricsPro on a single website. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site Licensing – This allows you to activate SocialMetricsPro on all the web sites that you own. Price includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: Price details for SocialMetricsPro depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Currently, the product sells for the prices shown above. This may not be the actual price charged by the product developer when you visit the site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the current price:
Additional Product Information
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
We Recommend
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. SocialMetricsPro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives users immediate feedback on the success of their social marketing strategy and shows them where and how to direct their efforts in order to improve their results.
SocialMetricsPro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WordPress admin area.
We recommend getting this plugin if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to make social media marketing work for you.
For more information, visit the plugin website here: SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics For WordPress
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