Social interactions and recommendations like Facebook shares, +1s on Google+, etc. are called social signals.
With the rising importance of social sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Bing and Google have started taking into account a range of social signals when determining a website’s ranking.
Note: Google encourages businesses to build their brand on social media 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 web spam team has stated that Google takes a cautious approach when it comes to assessing social media signals, as so many things change quickly on social media. Without a full ‘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 value tend to develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google naturally wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signal Sources
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 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 massive amount of sales on your website, you should not be quick to dismiss Facebook as an important part of your online business strategy, as Google processes data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, research shows that Facebook seems influence website rankings more than other 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 500 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 readers over the amount of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent each day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google+
As Google’s own social media site, Google+ naturally carries a significant degree of authority online, even if it is still a fledgling social community compared to sites like Facebook and Twitter.
(More people are interacting on Google+ each day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big 3 social sites listed above, there are a number of other sites that should not be ignored, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon,Reddit, and Digg.
(Social media sites provide important signals that could affect your search rankings)
Social Signals – Which Ones Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines include the following:
- 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, how influential the person retweeting your information is, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (influential users), how many people follow you, number of adds and shares, 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 traffic. These include positive and negative factors, such as backlinks from authority sites (not as important as they once were, but still a factor) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by visitors [negative].
As a website owner, it’s not only important to find ways to develop your social media presence, but also to be able to track and analyze social signals in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media to improve your results online)
Social media monitoring allows you to gain insights into your company’s overall visibility on social media, spy on your competitors, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, take preventative measures against the spread of negative comments or feedback by dissatisfied users, and identify new market opportunities. It can also provide valuable data about emerging trends and what consumers and clients think about specific businesses, topics, brands, or products.
As a tool for business intelligence, social signal monitoring is invaluable. Using social media monitoring as a form of business intelligence, however, is a complex undertaking, often carried out by a cross-section of people including market researchers, online reputation management (ORM) companies, marketing professionals, social marketing agencies, professional sales reps, and social engagement and community personnel. Typically, small businesses don’t can’t afford to pay social media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately various providers have made available affordable tools that facilitate the tracking of a broad range of social media channels, enabling you to track consumer behavior around your brand allowing you to respond to conversations and interact with online users in various social media platforms.
We have created a comprehensive article where we explore a number of social media measurement tools that will help you identify new trends and opportunities, track competitor activity, see what online conversations are taking place that can affect your business,etc. Go here for more info:
(Are you looking for an effective way to measure social signals?)
In this article, we explore a simple social media tracking plugin for WordPress and increasing your social media influence.
Presenting …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics Plugin
Description Of Plugin
SocialMetricsPro is an easy-to-install social 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 – the plugin measures how each signal is performing and displays either a red or green indicator. The user’s goal is simple … turn more red squares into greens.
(Social Metrics Pro provides a standard operating procedure that any user can operate … simply turn 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 over two thousand 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”. From these tests, 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 media marketing can result in higher search rankings, increased traffic and an increase in revenue!)
More info:
Benefits
Below are just some of the benefits of using SocialMetricsPro to track Likes, Tweets, Pins, +1s and more from your WordPress Dashboard on your site:
Fast Installation
Social Metrics Pro installs like every plugin. Just upload it to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, your objective is to change more red squares into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social signals so you know which campaigns need more effort and where to optimize.
Track Only Signals You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you centrally monitor social media activity across leading networks like Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Digg, StumbleUpon, and Pinterest directly from your WordPress dashboard.
Social Metrics Pro lets you easily answer 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 on social media?
- And more …
With SocialMetricsPro, all of this information is available on-demand, with just one click.
(Social Metrics Pro constantly tracks social signals from the social sites that you care most about!)
Features
SocialMetricsPro offers many features to WP users. Here are some:
- Quick and easy to install and set up. Ready to use in minutes.
- Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality using built-in and external widgets. SocialMetricsPro displays updated stats right on your WordPress admin bar, display social content on your sidebar or anywhere on your site using point-and-click widgets.
- One-click updating. Update SocialMetricsPro in one click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update the manually manually. You can also opt to be notified via email when new versions are released.
- Plugin even works on the smallest hosting configuration. The plugin can generate reports fast, using minimal hosting resources. The tool also includes the amount of time used to retrieve the information and the server resources used to gather and compile the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sorting, Searching & Filtering Features: Social Metrics Pro allows you to sort and filter the data however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by category, publishing date, post type, or by post authors.
- Export Data To Excel: 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 the spreadsheet application of your choice.
(Social Metrics Pro is simple to use … just change all the red squares into greens!)
User Testimonials
Below are some of the testimonials and comments that customers have written about Social Metrics Pro:
”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
Useful Tips
Social Metrics Pro includes a practical, step-by-step guide containing useful advice on how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. turn reds into greens).
Support
SocialMetricsPro is well-supported, and comes with free support and free lifetime updates, backed by a no-risk, 60-day, 100% money-back guarantee.
Product Cost
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License – This option allows you to activate SocialMetricsPro on a single web site. Includes free lifetime updates and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites License – This edition lets you configure SocialMetricsPro on multiple websites that you own. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: Pricing details of this product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. When we last checked, the product is selling for the amounts shown above. This may not be the actual price set by the software developer when you visit the plugin site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Product Info
SocialMetricsPro 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 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 WordPress users immediate feedback on the success of their social marketing campaigns and shows them how and where to improve their results.
Social Metrics Pro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WordPress dashboard.
Get SocialMetricsPro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to make social media marketing measurable.
For more details, check out the plugin here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
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