Social interactions and recommendations like Twitter mentions and retweets, Facebook shares, 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, 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 assessing social media signals, 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 sites that provide real value tend to develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signal Sources
Social sites that search engines like Google look to when measuring social signals include:
With more than 1.5 billion active users, Facebook is the most dominant social community in the world. Research shows that one great post on Facebook can reach over 100,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving droves of customers to your website, don’t be quick to dismiss the importance of Facebook in your business strategy, as Google processes data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems to have the most influence on website rankings of all social media sites, like Google+ and Twitter.
(Number of monthly active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second biggest social media site in the world, with over half a billion tweets sent out every single day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer on the cybersphere and places great emphasis on the authority of tweets posted to readers over the volume of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent every single day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google+
Google’s own social media 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 Google+ each month. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big 3 listed above, there are a number of other sites that provide important social metrics, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Reddit, Digg, and StumbleUpon.
(A number of social sites provide important signals to search engines that can affect your rankings)
Social Signals – Which Ones Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines like Bing and Google include the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook shares, likes, and comments a person has, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, how influential the person sending tweets is, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (influential users), how many followers on Google+ your site page has accrued, authority of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on Digg, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious factors that can indirectly influence search engine traffic. These include positive and undesirable factors, such as improving clickthrough rate (CTR) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by other users [negative].
As a business owner, it’s important to not only develop your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to track, measure and analyze your social marketing campaigns in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media can help improve your business results)
Social media monitoring allows you to find insights into your company’s online visibility on social media, identify new opportunities for engagement, measure the impact of campaigns, take preventative measures against the spread of negative comments or feedback by disgruntled customers, and spy on your competition. Additionally, social media monitoring can also provide valuable data about emerging trends and what consumers and clients think about specific topics, products, brands, or businesses.
As a tool for business intelligence, the ability to track activity on social media channels like blogging, internet forums, social networking sites, micro-blogging platforms like Twitter, Medium, etc., discussion groups, video/photo sharing websites, and user-generated content 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 researchers, marketing professionals, PR companies, social engagement and community staff, social marketing agencies, and sales teams. Typically, many small businesses do not can’t afford to pay a media monitoring service to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately a number of service providers have created affordable tools and solutions that facilitate the active tracking of a variety of social media channels, enabling you to identify what customers, competitors, critics, and supporters are saying about your brand or products so you can respond to conversations and interact with online users in various social media platforms.
We have created a detailed article listing several social media monitoring tools that are worth checking out and knowing about. More info:
(Can you measure your social signals effectively?)
In this article, you will learn about a simple plugin for WordPress-powered websites for tracking social signals and growing your social media influence.
Our Recommended WordPress Product …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics For WordPress
Description Of Plugin
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social media analytics premium WordPress plugin that is designed to make increasing your social media influence uncomplicated. It is built on a simple premise – Social Metrics Pro measures and tracks how each signal is performing and displays either a green or red indicator. Your job is to change red squares into greens.
(A system that anyone can operate … just turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics with Excel-like conditional color formatting. Posts that get shared the most show up green. Posts with low social media activity display amber and red.
The plugin developers tested SocialMetricsPro on a network of over two thousand sites over a period of 3 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 their revenue increased by 310%.
(According to the plugin developers, improving your social media marketing can result in higher search engine rankings, more traffic and an increase in revenue!)
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Benefits Of Using Social Metrics Pro
Below are just some of the many benefits of using Social Metrics Pro to track Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more from your WP Dashboard on your website:
Fast And Easy To Install And Use. Be Up And Running In No Time.
Social Metrics Pro installs like every other plugin. Simply upload it to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Really Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the user’s task is to convert all reds into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social media signals so you know where to invest more effort and which ones need to be better optimized.
Track Social Signals From Social Networks You Care About
Social Metrics Pro allows you to monitor social media activity from social networks like Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Digg, LinkedIn, and StumbleUpon directly from your WP admin area.
SocialMetricsPro 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 of this information is available on-demand, with a single click.
(Social Metrics Pro actively monitors social signals from the sites that you care most about!)
Features
SocialMetricsPro offers many features to site owners. Here are just some:
- Quick and easy to install and set up. Ready to use in no time.
- Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality with external and built-in widgets. SocialMetricsPro shows updated stats right on your WordPress admin bar, display socially popular content on your sidebar or anywhere on your site using point-and-click widgets.
- 1-click upgrading. You can update SocialMetricsPro with one click via the WordPress Updates page, or update it manually. You can also choose to be notified via email when new versions are released.
- Consumes very little resources. Social reports are compiled in seconds, using very little hosting resources. Reports also include the amount of time spent retrieving the information and the server memory consumed when gathering the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sort, Search And Filter Features: Social Metrics Pro lets you sort and filter information as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by category, post type, publishing date, or post authors.
- Export Data To Excel: You can export and plot data 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 very simple to use … just change red squares into greens!)
User Testimonials
Below are some of the testimonials and feedback that customers have provided for 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 Takes WordPress Stats to the Next Level.” Lorraine Ball, Creative Director, Roundpeg
Product Tips
Social Metrics Pro includes a step-by-step, practical guide showing you how to optimize your campaigns and improve your social media strategy (i.e. how to turn reds into greens).
Plugin Support
The software is well-supported, and comes with free support and free lifetime updates, backed by a risk-free, sixty-day, complete money-back guarantee.
Product Cost
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License Edition – This enables you to set up SocialMetricsPro on one web site only. Cost includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multiple Sites License Edition – This option lets you activate Social Metrics Pro on unlimited websites that you own. Includes free lifetime updates and support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: Price details for the SocialMetricsPro software can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Currently, the plugin is being retailed for the prices shown above. This may not be the actual price set by the plugin author when you visit the product website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing details here:
Additional Info
SocialMetricsPro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Install This Product
As mentioned earlier, with the rise of social sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Bing and Google are now taking into account various social signals to help determine website ranking.
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 you immediate feedback on the success of your social marketing strategy and guides you where and how to direct your efforts in order to improve your 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.
We recommend Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to learn how to use social signals to get better search engine rankings.
For complete details, visit the plugin website: SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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