Social recommendations like +1s on Google+, Facebook shares, etc. are called social signals.
With the increased importance of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines now take into account social signals when determining a site’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 own web spam team has stated that Google takes a cautious approach when it comes to social signals, as so many things change quickly on social media. Without a full ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign more importance to the social sphere over other aspects of their search algorithm. In short, Google’s strategy is a sensible one - “wait and see” how things develop over time, as sites that provide value tend to develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites 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 almost 2 billion active users, Facebook is the largest social network in the world. Research shows that an average post can reach over 100,000 users, so even if no one is buying your products or services on Facebook, don’t be quick to dismiss the importance of Facebook in your business strategy, as Google processes social 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 next largest social media site in the world, with over 600 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 amount of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent each day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google Plus
As Google’s own social site, Google+ naturally carries a significant degree of authority online, even if it is still a fledgling social community compared to sites like Twitter and Facebook.
(More people are actively using GooglePlus every day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big 3 listed above, there are a number of other sites that should not be ignored, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, Reddit, Digg, and StumbleUpon.
(Social media sites provide important signals to search engines that could affect your rankings)
Social Signals – Which Ones Should You Pay Attention To?
Search engines like Google and Bing track various social signals, including the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook shares, likes, and comments 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.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (influential users), how many people are following you, amount of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. number of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on Digg, 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 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 site reviewers [negative].
As a website owner, it’s not only important to grow your social media presence, but also to be able to track and analyze social signals in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media can help improve your business results)
Social media monitoring allows you to gain insights into what people are saying about your company, brand, or services on social media, assess competitor activity and market dominance, be alerted to crises, measure the impact of campaigns, and spot opportunities for engagement. Additionally, monitoring social media can also provide valuable data about emerging trends and what consumers and clients are thinking about specific products, brands, businesses, or topics.
As a tool for business intelligence, the ability to monitor online conversations and social activity on social media is invaluable. Using social media monitoring as a form of business intelligence, however, is a complex undertaking, typically carried out by various groups that include market research, PR companies, marketing teams, professional sales reps, agencies, and social engagement and community personnel. Typically, small businesses do not have the budget to pay media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the and actively monitor their online reputation.
Fortunately many technology providers have developed affordable tools that facilitate the active tracking of a variety of social media channels, enabling you to track consumer behavior around your products or brand so you can respond to conversations and interact with consumers in a timely fashion.
We have created a comprehensive article listing a number of social media measurement tools and technologies that will help you manage, measure, and analyze your social media marketing campaigns. More information:
(Can you monitor your social signals effectively?)
In this article, we discuss a simple, yet effective social media monitoring tool for a WordPress-based digital presence and growing your social media influence online.
Let’s Review …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics Plugin
Description Of Plugin
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social media analytics premium WordPress plugin that is designed to help you grow your social media influence online in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple concept – SocialMetricsPro measures how each signal is performing and displays either a red or green indicator. The user’s objective is to change all red squares into greens.
(A standard operating procedure that anyone can operate … turn all the reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts with highest number of shares display green. Posts with low social media activity are colored amber and red.
The plugin developers tested Social Metrics Pro on a network of 2,000+ websites 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 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 they also experienced a 310% increase in revenues.
(According to Social Metrics Pro developers, focusing on improving your social marketing can result in higher search engine rankings, more traffic and an increase in revenue!)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Plugin Benefits
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Social Metrics Pro to track Tweets, Likes, +1s, Pins and more directly from your WordPress Dashboard on your website:
Fast And Easy To Install And Implement. Be Up And Running In No Time.
Social Metrics Pro installs just like any regular plugin. Simply upload it to your Plugins folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, your goal is to change all red squares into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social media signals so you know where to apply more effort and where to optimize.
Track Only Social Signals From Social Networks You Care About
Social Metrics Pro lets you monitor social media activity from networks like Twitter, Facebook, Google+, StumbleUpon, Digg, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.
SocialMetricsPro lets you easily answer questions like:
- Which social 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 SocialMetricsPro, all this information can be accessed with just one click.
(Social Metrics Pro constantly tracks the sites that you care most about!)
Social Metrics Pro Features
Social Metrics Pro provides web site owners with many features. Here are just some:
- Fast and easy to install and use. Ready to use in minutes.
- Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality using built-in and external widgets. Access updated information from your WP dashboard, add popular content to your sidebar or anywhere on your site using point-and-click widgets.
- 1-click upgrades. You can update Social Metrics Pro in one click via the WordPress Updates page, or update it manually. You can also opt to be notified via email when new versions are released.
- Plugin works even on the smallest hosting configuration. Reporting is very quickly, using very little server resources. Report generation also displays the amount of time spent retrieving the information and the server memory consumed when gathering the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sort, Search & Filter Features: SocialMetricsPro allows you to sort and filter your data however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by publishing date, category, post type, or by 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 Excel or the spreadsheet application of your choice.
(SocialMetricsPro is simple to use … just change more red squares into greens!)
Feedback From Users
Below are a couple of the testimonials and comments that plugin users have provided for SocialMetricsPro:
“Social Metrics Pro is the essential plugin we use to monitor how our content performs on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. It’s simple, neat and works precisely as you would expect it. When we work with our clients such as T-Mobile, the .Me domain name registry and others, Social Metrics Pro is the plugin we use to create reports as well as keep track on each bit of content to optimize it for future performance.” Ivan Brezak Brkan, Editor of Netokracija.com, TechCrunch EU Contributor
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”I give Social Metrics a big thumbs up and I recommend it to anyone who’s serious about tracking their social sharing analytics.” James Johnson, Senior Editor at The Inquisitr
Product Tips
Social Metrics Pro comes with a step-by-step guide showing you how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. how to turn reds into greens).
Support
The plugin is well-supported, and users get lifetime software upgrades and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, sixty-day, complete refund guarantee.
Plugin Price
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License – This edition enables you to use Social Metrics Pro on 1 website only. Cost includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site License – This option enables you to run SocialMetricsPro on unlimited domains that you own. Includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: Price details for this product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Currently, the product is being retailed for the prices shown above. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the software seller 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 current pricing information:
Additional Product Info
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
We Highly Recommend This
As mentioned earlier, Google has been tracking social signals as part of its ranking algorithm.
No website owner can afford to ignore the importance of social media. Social Metrics Pro 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 shows 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.
Get this plugin if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to shave years off your social media marketing learning curve.
For full details, visit the plugin website here: SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
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