Social interactions like +1s on Google+, Facebook comments, likes, and shares, etc. are called social signals.
Google has been tracking social signals as part of its ranking algorithm since late 2010.
Note: Google encourages website owners to build their brand on social media 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 assessing social media signals, as social trends and relationships can change at a moment’s notice. 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 sites that provide true value normally 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 look to for measuring social signals include:
With more than 1.5 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most influential social community in the world. It has been estimated that an average post on Facebook can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving droves of customers to your site, you should not be quick to dismiss Facebook as an important part of your online business strategy, as Google uses data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, research indicates that Facebook seems influence website rankings more than other social media sites, like Google+ and Twitter.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second largest social media site in the world, with over 600 million tweets sent out every single day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer online and places great emphasis on the authority of tweets posted to followers over the volume of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent every day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google Plus
As Google’s own social media site, Google+ naturally carries great authority online, even if it is still a fledgling online community compared to sites like Facebook and Twitter.
(More people are interacting on Google+ every month. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big three listed above, there are a number of other social media networks that provide important social signals, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Digg, and Reddit.
(A number of social sites provide important signals to search engines that can affect your 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 a person has, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, 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, spread rate 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 engine traffic. These include desirable and negative factors, such as improving clickthrough rate [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by visitors [negative].
As a website owner, it’s important to not only grow your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to track, measure and analyze your social performance in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media to improve your business results)
Social media monitoring allows you to find insights into what people are saying about your products, company, or brand on social media, spot opportunities for engagement, spy on the competition, take preventative measures if you detect negative comments or feedback by online users, and measure the impact of your marketing campaigns. It can also provide you with vital data about emerging trends and what consumers and clients are thinking about specific products, brands, topics, or businesses.
As a business intelligence tool, the ability to track social media channels like blogs, internet forums, wikis, micro-blogging platforms, discussion groups, video/photo sharing websites, and user-generated content (UGC) is invaluable. Using social media monitoring as a form of business intelligence, however, is a complex undertaking, typically carried out by a cross-section of groups that include digital reputation specialists, market researchers, marketing professionals, social engagement and community staff, sales teams, and social media marketing agencies. Typically, small businesses don’t have the budget to pay media monitoring professionals to continually track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately different technology providers have developed tools that facilitate the tracking of a broad spectrum of social media channels, enabling you to identify consumer behavior around your brand or products allowing you to respond to conversations and engage with online users in various social media platforms.
We have written a detailed article on social media tracking tools that are worth knowing about here:
(Do you know how to effectively monitor your social signals?)
This article discusses a simple, yet effective plugin for WordPress-driven sites for monitoring social media signals and improving your social media exposure.
Introducing …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics Plugin For WordPress
Plugin Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-use social media analytics plugin that is designed to make improving your social media exposure uncomplicated. It is built on a simple premise – the tool tracks how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. The user’s job is to change all the red squares into greens.
(A standard operating procedure that anyone can operate … turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics with Excel-like conditional color formatting. Posts that receive the most shares display green. Posts with low social media activity display amber and red.
The plugin developers tested SocialMetricsPro on a network of over two thousand websites 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, focusing on improving your social marketing campaigns can positively can have a significant effect on your search rankings, traffic and revenue!)
Go here to learn more:
Benefits
Below we have listed just some of the benefits and advantages of using Social Metrics Pro to track Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more from your WordPress Dashboard on your site:
Ready To Start Using In Very Little Time
SocialMetricsPro is quite easy to install. Just upload the plugin file to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, your job is to convert more reds into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social signals so you know which social marketing campaigns need you to invest more effort and where to optimize.
Select Only Signals From Social Networks You Care About
Social Metrics Pro lets you track and monitor social media activity across leading social media networks like GooglePlus, Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Digg.
Social Metrics Pro helps you get answers to 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 can be accessed with just one click.
(Social Metrics Pro actively tracks social signals from the sites that you care most about!)
Features
SocialMetricsPro offers many unique features to WP users. Here are some:
- Quick and easy to install and implement. Ready to use in no time.
- Social Metrics Pro Is Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality with built-in and external widgets. Access the latest information from your WP dashboard, add socially popular content to your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using point-and-click widgets.
- 1-click upgrades. Update SocialMetricsPro with one click via the WordPress Updates page, or update it manually. You can also choose to be notified via email whenever new plugin updates are released.
- Utilizes minimal server resources. Reports are generated fast, consuming little server resources. Reports also include the amount of time spent retrieving information and the server memory consumed when gathering and compiling the data.
Additional features include:
- Sorting, Searching And Filtering Features: Social Metrics Pro lets you sort and filter 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: 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.
(SocialMetricsPro is really simple to use … just change all red squares into greens!)
User Testimonials
Below are some of the testimonials plugin users have published about the SocialMetricsPro plugin:
“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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”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
Product Tips
A practical guide containing useful advice on how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. how to turn reds into greens) is also included.
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, full refund guarantee.
Product Cost
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License – This license lets you configure Social Metrics Pro on one web site only. Includes free lifetime updates and support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multiple Sites License – This option allows you to use Social Metrics Pro on unlimited web sites that you own. Includes free lifetime updates and support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: Current pricing for SocialMetricsPro depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the price when this article was published. This may not be the actual pricing set by the software author when you visit the plugin site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing:
Additional Product Information
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
In Conclusion
As mentioned earlier, Google has been elevating the importance given to social signals as part of its ranking algorithm.
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 WordPress users immediate feedback on the success of their social marketing strategy and guides them where and how to direct their efforts in order to improve their results.
SocialMetricsPro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WP admin area.
We recommend SocialMetricsPro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to shave years off your social media marketing learning curve.
For more details, check out the plugin here: SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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