Social interactions like Facebook likes, comments, and shares, +1s on GooglePlus, etc. are called social signals.
Google has been tracking social signals as part of its ranking algorithm for several years now.
Note: Google encourages website owners to build their social media presence as a long-term investment to drive qualified traffic, instead of aiming for short-term benefits like search ranking placement. Google’s own head of the web spam team Matt Cutts 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 more importance to the social sphere 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 develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signals – Which Social Media Sites Matter?
Social sites that search engines like Google look to for measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the largest social community on the planet. It has been estimated that a single post on Facebook can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if no one is buying your products or services on Facebook, you should not be quick to dismiss the power of leveraging Facebook, as Google uses data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, research indicates that Facebook seems to have the most influence on website rankings of all social media sites.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second largest 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 online and places great importance on the authority of tweets posted to readers over the volume of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent every day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google+
Google’s own social networking site 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 socially on Google+ every day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big three social media giants listed above, there are a number of other social sites that provide important social metrics, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and Digg.
(A number of social media sites provide important signals that could affect your search engine rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Pay Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines like Bing and Google include the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook comments, likes, and shares you have, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets a site has, how influential the person sharing the URL is, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (influential users), how many people are following you, amount and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on StumbleUpon, 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 links from authority sites (backlinks) (not as important as they once were, but still a factor) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be of low quality by other users [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 signals in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media can improve your business results)
Monitoring social media activity allows you to gain insights into what people are saying about your brand, services, or company on social media, spot opportunities for engagement, help you take preventative measures if you detect negative comments or feedback by disgruntled customers, measure the impact of campaigns, and spy on your competitors. It can also provide you with vital data about emerging trends and what consumers and clients think about specific topics, brands, products, or businesses.
As a business intelligence tool, social signal 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 market research, marketing teams, online reputation management (ORM) companies, social engagement and community staff, professional sales reps, and agencies. Typically, smaller businesses don’t can’t afford to pay a media monitoring service to continually track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately many technology providers have developed tools that facilitate the monitoring of a broad range of social media channels, allowing you to track what is being said online about your products or brand allowing you to respond to conversations and engage with online users in a timely manner.
We have created a detailed article where we explore several social media measurement tools and technologies that are worth knowing about. More information:
(Are you looking for an effective way to monitor social signals?)
In this article, we discuss a simple, yet effective social media tracking tool for a WordPress-based website and increasing your social media exposure online.
Introducing …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics Plugin
Plugin Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-use social media analytics premium WordPress plugin that is designed to make growing your social media influence online uncomplicated. It is built on a simple concept – Social Metrics Pro measures and tracks how each signal is performing and displays either a red or green indicator. The user’s job is simple … turn more red squares into greens.
(A standard operating procedure that any user can follow … just turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts with the highest number of shares display green. Posts with low social media activity display amber and red.
The plugin developers tested SocialMetricsPro 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 their revenue increased by 310%.
(According to SocialMetricsPro developers, improving your social marketing campaigns can significantly can have a significant impact on your search rankings, web traffic and revenue!)
More info:
Benefits
Here we have listed just some of the benefits and advantages of using SocialMetricsPro to track Likes, Tweets, Pins, +1s and more from your WP Dashboard on your web site:
Quick And Simple To Install And Configure. Be Up And Running In Very Little Time.
Social Metrics Pro installs just like every WP plugin. Just upload the plugin file to your Plugins folder via your WP admin user area and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s job is to change all reds into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social media signals the way Google sees it so you know which social campaigns need more effort and which social marketing campaigns need to be better optimized.
Select Only Social Signals From Social Networks You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you track and monitor social media activity across leading networks like GooglePlus, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, and Digg.
Social Metrics Pro 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 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 a single click.
(SocialMetricsPro actively tracks the social sites that you care most about!)
Features
Social Metrics Pro offers many features to WP users. Here are a few of these:
- Quick and simple to install and implement. Be up and running in minutes.
- SocialMetricsPro Is Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using built-in and external widgets. Access updated stats from your WP dashboard, add social content to your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using point-and-click widgets.
- One-click updating. Update SocialMetricsPro in a single click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update the manually manually. You can also opt to receive email notifications whenever new versions are released.
- Plugin even works on the smallest hosting. The plugin can generate reports in seconds, using very little server resources. The tool also displays the amount of time it took to retrieve information and the server resources consumed when gathering and compiling the data.
Additional features include:
- Sorting, Searching & Filtering Features: SocialMetricsPro allows you to sort, search and filter information as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by post type, post authors, 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 really simple to use … just turn all the reds into greens!)
Feedback From Users
Here are a few of the testimonials plugin customers have provided for Social Metrics Pro:
”Our entire marketing strategy relies on social media. Each post on the site has viral potential, but we needed one place to see which social networks are performing the best for us…We went ahead and got the PRO Version of Social Metrics.” Syed Balkhi, Founder of List25 and WPBeginner.com
***
“Social Metrics Takes WordPress Stats to the Next Level.” Lorraine Ball, Creative Director, Roundpeg
Useful Tips
Social Metrics Pro comes with a practical guide on how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. how to turn reds into greens).
Social Metrics Pro Plugin Support
The software is well-supported, and comes with free support and free lifetime updates, backed by a no-risk, 60-day, complete money-back guarantee.
Software Cost
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This enables you to set up SocialMetricsPro on a single domain. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites License Edition – This option enables you to install SocialMetricsPro on unlimited domains that you own. Cost includes free lifetime updates and free support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: The cost of purchasing the Social Metrics Pro plugin depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Currently, the product is selling for the amounts shown above. This may not be the actual price charged by the plugin developer when you visit the product website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing information:
Additional Info
SocialMetricsPro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Install The Plugin
As mentioned earlier, with the rising importance of social sites like Twitter and Facebook, search engines like Google and Bing are now taking into account a range of social signals to help determine a site’s 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 website owners instant feedback on the success of their social marketing campaigns and guides them where 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 WP dashboard.
Get this plugin if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to make social media marketing campaigns work for you.
For complete details, check out the plugin here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics Plugin
***
***