Social recommendations like Facebook likes, +1s on GooglePlus, 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 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 perfect ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign too much importance to the social sphere 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 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 for measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most influential social media network in the world. Research shows that a single post on Facebook can reach over 100,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving droves of customers to your site, don’t be quick to dismiss Facebook as an important part of your online business strategy, as Google uses social 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 GooglePlus or Twitter.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the next largest social media site in the world, with over half a billion tweets sent out every single day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence online 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 single day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google Plus
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 on GooglePlus each day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big three social sites listed above, there are a number of other social media networks worth paying attention to, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Digg, StumbleUpon, and Reddit.
(A number of social sites provide important signals that could affect your search rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines like Google and Bing include:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook comments, likes, and shares a person has, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, how influential the person sending a tweet is, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many followers on GooglePlus your web page has amassed, amount and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on Reddit, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious social media-related factors that can indirectly influence search engine rankings. These include positive and negative factors, such as improving clickthrough rate (CTR) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by site reviewers [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 your social media in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media to improve your results online)
Social media monitoring allows you to find insights into your company’s online visibility on social media, measure the impact of campaigns, spy on your competitors, be alerted to impending crises, and identify new opportunities for engagement. Additionally, social media monitoring can also provide valuable information about emerging trends and what consumers and clients think about specific brands, businesses, topics, or products.
As a business intelligence tool, the ability to monitor volume and sentiments of 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, often carried out by various people including market research, online reputation managers, marketing professionals, social engagement and community staff, professional sales reps, and social marketing agencies. Typically, small businesses don’t can’t afford to pay social media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the and actively monitor their online reputation.
Fortunately different service providers have created many affordable tools that facilitate the active tracking of a broad range of social media channels, allowing companies to identify and even predict what is being said online about their products or brands allowing them to respond proactively to conversations and interact with online users in various social media platforms.
We have written a comprehensive article on social media monitoring tools and technologies that are worth knowing about here:
(Are you looking for an effective way to measure social signals?)
This article discusses a simple plugin for WordPress-driven websites and blogs for monitoring social signals and increasing your social media influence.
Presenting …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
Description Of Plugin
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social media analytics WordPress plugin that is designed to help users grow their social media influence online in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple concept – SocialMetricsPro tracks how each signal is performing and displays either a red or green indicator. Your goal is to change red squares into greens.
(SocialMetricsPro provides a standard operating procedure that anyone can follow … turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics with Excel-like conditional color formatting. Posts with highest number of shares are colored green. Posts with low social media activity show up amber and red.
The developers of Social Metrics Pro tested their plugin on a network of 2,000+ sites over a period of three months. During this period, all they focused on was turning the “reds” to “greens” and then keeping everything “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, improving your social media marketing can result in better search engine rankings, increased web traffic and increased revenue!)
Learn more here:
Plugin Benefits
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using SocialMetricsPro to track Likes, Tweets, Pins, +1s and more from your WP Dashboard on your web site:
Installation Is Easy And Quick
SocialMetricsPro is quite easy to install. Just upload a zip file that contains the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your WordPress administrator login and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, your job is to convert reds into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social signals the way Google sees it so you know which social marketing campaigns require more effort and which need to be better optimized.
Track Only Signals From The Networks You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you monitor social activity across leading networks like Twitter, Facebook, GooglePlus, Digg, StumbleUpon, Pinterest, and LinkedIn directly from your WordPress dashboard.
Social Metrics Pro helps you get answers to 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?
- And more …
With Social Metrics Pro, all of this information can be accessed with just one click.
(SocialMetricsPro constantly monitors the sites that you care most about!)
Plugin Features
Social Metrics Pro offers a number of great features to website owners. Below we have listed just a few of these:
- Fast and easy to install and use. Ready to use in no time.
- SocialMetricsPro Is Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using built-in and external widgets. Access the latest information from your WordPress admin bar, add social content to your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using point-and-click widgets.
- 1-click auto-updating functionality. You can update Social Metrics Pro with a single click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update it manually. You can also opt to be notified via email when new versions are released.
- Uses very little resources. The plugin can generate social metrics reports fast, using little server resources. The tool also displays the amount of time used to retrieve information and the server resources used to compile data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sorting, Searching And Filtering Features: SocialMetricsPro lets you sort and filter your data as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by category, publishing date, post type, or post authors.
- Export Data: 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 Excel or the spreadsheet application of your choice.
(Social Metrics Pro is really simple to use … just turn more reds into greens!)
Feedback From Users
Here are a few of the testimonials and feedback that customers have submitted regarding SocialMetricsPro:
”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 (WordCamp Montreal 2011)
SocialMetricsPro – Useful Tips
Social Metrics Pro comes with a practical guide on how to optimize your campaigns and improve your social media strategy (i.e. turn reds into greens).
SocialMetricsPro Plugin Support
SocialMetricsPro is well-supported, and comes with free support and free lifetime updates, backed by a risk-free, 60-day, complete refund guarantee.
Plugin Pricing
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Edition – This allows you to use SocialMetricsPro on a single web site. Includes free lifetime updates and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This option enables you to activate Social Metrics Pro on multiple websites that you own. Includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: The cost to purchase SocialMetricsPro can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Currently, the plugin retails for the amounts shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing set by the software developer when you visit the plugin site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing information here:
Additional Info
SocialMetricsPro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
We Highly Recommend This
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. Social Metrics Pro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives you instant feedback on the success of your social marketing campaigns and guides you where to improve your results.
Social Metrics Pro is ideal for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WP admin area.
Get this plugin if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to monitor which network are working for your business.
For complete details, visit the plugin website: SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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