Social interactions like +1s on GooglePlus, Facebook comments, etc. are called social signals.
With the increased importance of social sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Bing and Google now take into account various social signals when determining a website’s ranking.
Note: Google encourages website owners 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. 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 tend to change too quickly to fully map out. 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 real value develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google naturally wants to display higher in its search listings.
Social Signals – Which Social Media Sites Matter?
Social sites that search engines like Google look to when measuring social signals include:
With over 1.5 billion active users, Facebook is the most influential social media network in the world. Research shows that a single post can reach over 100,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving a massive amount of sales on your website, you should not be quick to dismiss the power of leveraging Facebook, as Google uses data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, 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 next biggest social media site in the world, with over 500 million tweets sent out every day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence online and places great importance on tweeting posts that provide great value to followers over the volume of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent every day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google+
Google’s own social site naturally carries a significant degree of 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+ each 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, StumbleUpon, Digg, and Reddit.
(A number of social media sites provide important signals to search engines that could 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, shares, and comments you have, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets a web page has, the number of people sharing the URL, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (influential users), how many people are following you, number and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on Digg, etc.
- Not so obvious signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious social media-related factors that can influence search engine rankings. These include desirable and negative factors, such as age and authority of your social media account [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by site reviewers [negative].
As a business owner, it’s not only important to develop your social media presence, but also to be able to monitor, measure and analyze your social media in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media can help improve your results online)
Social media monitoring allows you to gain insights into what people are saying about your services, brand, or company on social media, identify market opportunities, take preventative measures if you detect negative comments or feedback by dissatisfied customers, measure the impact of campaigns, and assess competitor activity and market dominance. It can also provide vital data about emerging trends and what clients and consumers are thinking about specific products, topics, businesses, or brands.
As a business intelligence tool, 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 marketing professionals, PR agencies, market researchers, agencies, social engagement and community personnel, and sales teams. Typically, many small businesses do not have the budget to pay social media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately different technology companies have developed many affordable tools that facilitate the tracking of a broad spectrum of social media channels, allowing you to identify and even predict consumer behavior around your brand or products so you can react to conversations and interact with consumers in a timely manner.
We have created a comprehensive article listing several social media measurement tools and technologies that will help you identify new business opportunities, track competitor activity, see what conversations are taking place online that can affect your business,etc. Go here for more info:
(Are you searching for an effective way to measure social signals?)
This article discusses a simple, yet effective social media monitoring plugin for your WordPress-based online presence and increasing your social media influence.
Announcing …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics For WordPress
Description Of Plugin
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social media analytics premium WordPress plugin that is designed to help users grow their social media influence online in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple premise – SocialMetricsPro measures how each signal is performing and displays either a red or green indicator. The user’s goal is to convert all red squares into greens.
(Social Metrics Pro provides a system that any website owner can operate … turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts with the highest number of shares display green. Posts with low social media activity are colored amber or red.
The developers of SocialMetricsPro tested their plugin on a network of over two thousand 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”. From these tests, 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 Social Metrics Pro developers, improving your social media marketing can result in higher search rankings, increased traffic and an increase in revenue!)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Benefits Of Using Social Metrics Pro
Here we have listed just some of the many benefits and advantages of using Social Metrics Pro to track Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more from your WP Dashboard on your website:
Fast And Simple To Install And Use. Ready To Use In Minutes.
Social Metrics Pro installs like any other WP plugin. Just upload it to your Plugin folder via your admin user area and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s goal is to convert all the reds into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social media signals so you know which social marketing campaigns require more effort and which need to be better optimized.
Track Social Signals From The Networks You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you track and monitor social activity across leading social media networks like Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, and Pinterest directly from your WP 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 this information can be accessed with just one click.
(SocialMetricsPro constantly monitors the social sites that you care most about!)
Social Metrics Pro Features
SocialMetricsPro offers many unique features to WordPress users. Below we have listed just a few:
- Quick and simple to install and set up. Be up and running in minutes.
- Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality using built-in and external widgets. View the latest information right on your WordPress admin bar, display socially popular content on your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using widgets.
- 1-click auto-upgrading functionality. Update SocialMetricsPro with one click via the WordPress Updates page, or update it manually. You can also choose to receive email notifications when new versions are released.
- Uses minimal resources. Reports are generated very quickly, using little server resources. Report generation also includes the amount of time used to retrieve information and the server memory used to gather and compile data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sort, Search And Filter Features: SocialMetricsPro allows you to sort and filter the data as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by post authors, post type, publishing date, or by category.
- Export Data: You can export data to 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 very simple to use … just change all the red squares into greens!)
Feedback From Users
Here are some of the testimonials that plugin customers have written about the Social Metrics Pro 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 Takes WordPress Stats to the Next Level.” Lorraine Ball, Creative Director, Roundpeg
Useful Tips
A practical, step-by-step guide showing you how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. how to turn reds into greens) is also included.
Support
SocialMetricsPro is well-supported, and users get lifetime updates and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, sixty-day, full refund guarantee.
Plugin Pricing
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This option allows you to activate Social Metrics Pro on one website only. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This license option lets you run Social Metrics Pro on unlimited domains that you own. Includes free lifetime updates and free support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: The cost of purchasing this product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. When we last checked, the product sells for the prices shown above. This may not be the actual pricing set by the product seller when you visit the website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing here:
Additional Info
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
The Bottom Line
As mentioned earlier, with the increase in importance of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines now take into account social signals when determining website 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 WordPress users immediate feedback on the success of their social media marketing campaigns and shows them how and where to improve their results.
SocialMetricsPro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WP dashboard.
Get Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to save money on outsourcing your social campaigns.
For complete details, visit the plugin website: Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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