Social interactions like +1s on GooglePlus, Facebook likes, comments, and 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 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 social media, as so many things change quickly on social media. Without a perfect ‘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 true value develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google naturally wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signal Sources
Social media sites that search engines look to for measuring social signals include:
With more than 1.5 billion active users, Facebook is the most dominant social media community on the planet. Research shows that one great post can reach over 100,000 users, so even if no one seems to be buying your products or services on Facebook, don’t 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 website rankings more than other social media sites.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the next largest social media site in the world, with over 500 million tweets sent out each day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence on the cybersphere and places great importance on tweeting posts that provide great value to followers over the number of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent every day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google+
As Google’s own social media site, Google+ naturally carries great authority online, even if it has not reached the same level of growth and take up as Facebook and Twitter.
(More people are interacting on GooglePlus every month. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big 3 listed above, there are a number of other sites that provide important social metrics, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, Digg, Reddit, and StumbleUpon.
(A number of social media sites provide important signals to search engines that can affect your rankings)
Social Signals – Which Ones Should You Pay Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines like Bing and Google include the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook likes, comments, and shares you have, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, the number of people sending a tweet, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (influential users), how many followers on GooglePlus your URL has amassed, amount of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on Reddit, etc.
- Not so obvious signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious factors that can influence search engine rankings and traffic. These include positive and negative factors, such as age and authority of your social media account [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 presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to track and analyze social media in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media marketing to improve your results online)
Tracking social media activity allows you to find insights into what people are saying about your brand, services, or company on social media, measure the impact of campaigns, assess competitor activity, spot potential opportunities for engagement, and take preventative measures if you detect negative comments or feedback by embittered customers. It can also provide valuable information about emerging trends and what consumers and clients are thinking about specific brands, businesses, topics, or products.
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, often carried out by a cross-section of groups that include market research, marketing teams, online reputation management companies, sales teams, social marketing agencies, and social engagement and community personnel. Typically, smaller businesses do not can’t afford to pay a social media monitoring service to continually track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately different technology providers have developed a range of affordable and even free tools to facilitate the active tracking of a variety of social media channels, enabling companies to track what customers, competitors, supporters, and critics are saying about their brands so they can respond proactively to conversations and interact with consumers in a timely fashion.
We have written a comprehensive article on social media tracking tools and technologies that will help you manage, measure, and analyze your social media marketing initiatives. For more info, see this article:
(Are you tracking social signals effectively?)
In this article, we review a simple plugin for WordPress users for monitoring social signals and growing your social media influence.
Introducing …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
Description Of Plugin
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social media analytics WordPress plugin that is designed to make increasing your social media presence uncomplicated. It is built on a simple premise – Social Metrics Pro measures how each signal is performing and returns either a red or green indicator. Your task is to turn all reds into greens.
(Social Metrics Pro provides a system that anyone can operate … just turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts that receive the most shares are colored green. Posts with low social media activity display 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 their metrics on “green”. According to the plugin developers, they noticed that their top 10 best performing sites saw an improvement of up to 360% more traffic, 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 marketing campaigns can result in higher search engine rankings, increased traffic and more revenue!)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Benefits Of Using Social Metrics Pro
Below are just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Social Metrics Pro to track Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more from your WP Dashboard on your web site:
Ready To Use In No Time
SocialMetricsPro is really easy to install. Simply upload a zip file that contains the plugin to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s task is to convert all reds into greens. Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures social media signals the way Google sees it so you know which social campaigns need more effort and which need to be better optimized.
Select Only Social Signals You Care About
SocialMetricsPro provides a powerful dashboard to centrally track and monitor social activity from networks like Twitter, GooglePlus, Facebook, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Digg.
SocialMetricsPro lets you easily answer 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 Social Metrics Pro, all of this information is available on-demand, with just one click.
(SocialMetricsPro constantly monitors social signals from the social media sites that you care most about!)
Product Features
Social Metrics Pro provides WP users with many unique features. Here are just some of those features:
- Fast and simple to install and set up. Be up and running in minutes.
- Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality using built-in and external widgets. Access updated information right on your WP admin bar, add socially popular content to your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using widgets.
- One-click upgrading. Update SocialMetricsPro with a single click via the WordPress Updates page, or update the manually manually. You can also opt to be notified via email when new versions are released.
- Minimal use of resources. The plugin can generate reports in seconds, using minimal hosting resources. Reports also display the amount of time it took to retrieve information and the server resources consumed when gathering and compiling data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sort, Search And Filter Features: SocialMetricsPro lets you sort and filter the information however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by post authors, post type, category, or by publishing date.
- 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 Excel or the spreadsheet application of your choice.
(Social Metrics Pro is simple to use … just convert all reds into greens!)
User Testimonials
Here are a couple of the testimonials that customers have published about the Social Metrics Pro plugin:
”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
Social Metrics Pro – Tips
A practical, step-by-step guide on how to optimize your campaigns and improve your social media strategy (i.e. turn reds into greens) is also included.
Plugin Support
Social Metrics Pro is well-supported, and users get lifetime updates and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, 60-day, complete money-back guarantee.
Software Price
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License Edition – This license option enables you to use SocialMetricsPro on a single web site. Includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multiple Sites License Edition – This enables you to install SocialMetricsPro on all the domains that you own. Includes free lifetime updates and support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: Pricing details of SocialMetricsPro can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the pricing at the time this content was written. This may not be the actual price set by the plugin author when you visit the plugin website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Info
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
In Conclusion
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 the importance of social media. SocialMetricsPro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives users immediate feedback on the success of their social media marketing strategy and guides them where and how to direct their efforts in order to improve their results.
SocialMetricsPro is ideal for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WordPress dashboard.
We recommend getting SocialMetricsPro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to use social signals to improve your search engine rankings.
To learn more, check out the plugin here: SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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