Social recommendations like Facebook shares, +1s on Google+, etc. are called social signals.
With the increase in importance of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Bing and Google are now taking into account social signals to help determine a site’s ranking.
Note: Google encourages website owners 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. 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 social trends and relationships can change at a moment’s notice. Without a reliable ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign too much importance to social signals over other aspects of their search algorithm. In summary, Google’s strategy is to “wait and see” how things develop over time, as websites that provide value normally develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google naturally wants to display higher in its search results.
Social Signal Sources
Social media sites that search engines like Google and Bing look to when measuring social signals include:
With over 1.5 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the largest social media community on the planet. It has been estimated that a single post on Facebook can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving droves of customers to your site, you should not be quick to dismiss the power of leveraging Facebook, as Google processes social data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, research indicates that Facebook seems influence search engine rankings more than other social media sites.
(Number of monthly active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the next biggest 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 followers 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 networking site, GooglePlus naturally carries a significant degree of authority online, even if it is still a fledgling online community compared to sites like Twitter and Facebook.
(More people are starting to interact socially on GooglePlus every day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big three social sites listed above, there are a number of other social media networks worth getting to know, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon,Reddit, and Digg.
(Social media sites provide important signals to search engines that could affect your rankings)
Social Signals – Which Ones Should You Pay Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines include the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook shares, comments, and likes you have, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets your web page has, how influential the person sending a tweet is, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many people are following you, amount and growth rate of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. number of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on StumbleUpon, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious social media-related factors that can influence search 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 site reviewers [negative].
As a website 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 media in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media marketing can help improve your results online)
Social media monitoring allows you to gain insights into your company’s overall visibility on social media, measure the impact of campaigns, spy on the competition, be alerted to impending crises, and spot new market opportunities. Additionally, social media monitoring 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 business intelligence tool, being able 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, market research, PR staff, sales teams, social media marketing agencies, and social engagement and community personnel. Typically, small businesses do not can’t afford to pay a social media monitoring service to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately different providers have made available a range of affordable and even free tools that facilitate the tracking of a wide range of social media channels, enabling companies to track consumer behavior around their products or brands so they can respond proactively to conversations and engage with online users in a timely manner.
Go here for a detailed article about social media monitoring tools and technologies that will help you identify new trends and opportunities, track competitor activity, see what conversations are taking place online that can affect your business,etc:
(Can you monitor social signals effectively?)
This article discusses a simple WordPress plugin for monitoring social signals and increasing your social media influence online.
Presenting …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics WordPress Plugin
Description Of Plugin
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-use social media analytics plugin that is designed to help users increase their social media influence in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple concept – the plugin tracks and measures how each signal is performing and displays either a red or green indicator. The user’s objective is simple … turn more reds into greens.
(A system that any website owner can operate … turn all the reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics. Posts with the highest number of shares show up green. Posts with low social media activity show up 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 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 their revenue increased by 310%.
(According to SocialMetricsPro developers, improving your social media marketing campaigns can result in better search engine rankings, increased traffic and increased revenue!)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Plugin Benefits
Below we have listed just some 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 web site:
Ready To Start Using In Minutes
Social Metrics Pro is really easy to install. Simply upload a zip folder containing the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the user’s job is to convert more red squares into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social media signals the way Google sees it so you know which campaigns require more effort and where to optimize.
Track Social Signals From The Networks You Care About
SocialMetricsPro provides a powerful dashboard to track and monitor social media activity from social networks like Google+, Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, Digg, Pinterest, and LinkedIn directly from your WP admin area.
Social Metrics Pro helps you get answers to questions like:
- Which social networks work best for my site?
- Which posts are performing the best on these social networks?
- Which of my posts are the most popular on social media?
- And more …
With Social Metrics Pro, all of this information is available on-demand, with just one click.
(SocialMetricsPro actively tracks social signals from the sites that you care most about!)
Plugin Features
Social Metrics Pro provides WordPress users with many features. Here are a few:
- Quick and easy to install and implement. Be up and running in very little time.
- Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality with built-in and external widgets. SocialMetricsPro displays the latest stats from your WP dashboard, display popular content on your blog sidebar or anywhere on your site using widgets.
- One-click updating. Update Social Metrics Pro with one click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update the manually manually. You can also choose to receive an email notification when a new version is released.
- Utilizes minimal hosting resources. Reports are generated in seconds, consuming little server resources. Reports also include the amount of time spent retrieving information and the server memory used to gather and compile data.
Additional features include:
- Sort, Search And Filter Features: Social Metrics Pro allows you to sort, search and filter data as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by category, post authors, post type, or publishing date.
- Export Data: You can export and plot filtered 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 really simple to use … just convert all the red squares into greens!)
User Testimonials
Below are some of the testimonials and feedback users have written about the SocialMetricsPro plugin:
”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 Takes WordPress Stats to the Next Level.” Lorraine Ball, Creative Director, Roundpeg
Product Tips
A practical, step-by-step guide showing you how to optimize your site for social media success (i.e. turn reds into greens) is also included.
Support
Social Metrics Pro is well-supported, and users get lifetime software updates and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 60-day, complete money-back guarantee.
Software Cost
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Edition – This allows you to run Social Metrics Pro on one site only. Pricing includes free lifetime updates and support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site License Edition – This lets you set up SocialMetricsPro on unlimited domains that you own. It includes free lifetime updates and support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: Current pricing for the Social Metrics Pro plugin depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The pricing above was current when this content was written. This may or may not be the actual price set by the plugin author when you visit the plugin website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest price here:
Additional Information
SocialMetricsPro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
In Conclusion
As mentioned earlier, with the rise of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, search engines like Google and Bing have started taking into account social signals to help determine a site’s ranking.
No website owner can afford to ignore the importance of social media. SocialMetricsPro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives users instant feedback on the success of their social marketing strategy and shows them how to direct their efforts in order to improve their results.
Social Metrics Pro is ideal for beginners and advanced users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WordPress dashboard.
We recommend Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to save money on outsourcing your social media campaigns.
For complete details, visit the plugin website: SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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