Social recommendations like +1s on Google+, Facebook shares, likes, and comments, 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, 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 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 short, Google’s strategy is a sensible one - “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 display higher in its search listings.
Social Signal Sources
Social sites that search engines like Google look to for measuring social signals include:
With more than 1.5 billion active users, Facebook is the most influential social media network on the planet. Research shows that one great post on Facebook can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving a massive amount of sales on your site, you should not be quick to dismiss the importance of Facebook in your business strategy, as Google uses social data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, research shows that Facebook seems influence website rankings more than other social media sites.
(Number of monthly active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the next largest social media site in the world, with over 500 million tweets sent out every day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence on the cybersphere and places great importance on the authority of tweets posted to followers over the volume of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent each day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google+
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 socially on GooglePlus every day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big 3 listed above, there are a number of other social sites worth paying attention to, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Digg, and Reddit.
(A number of social media sites provide important signals that can affect your search engine rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Pay Attention To?
Search engines track a number of social signals, including the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook shares, likes, and comments you have, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, the number of people sharing the information, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many people follow you, amount and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. number of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on StumbleUpon, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious social media-related factors that can indirectly influence search rankings. These include desirable and undesirable factors, such as links from authority sites (backlinks) (not as influential as they once were, but still a factor) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be of poor quality by other users [negative].
As a website owner, it’s important to not only grow your social media presence, but also to be able to track, measure and analyze your social media marketing campaigns in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media marketing to improve your results online)
Tracking social media activity allows you to gain insights into what people are saying about your brand, company, or services on social media, measure the impact of campaigns, take preventative measures against the spread of negative comments or feedback by dissatisfied customers, spy on your competitors, and identify opportunities for engagement. It can also provide vital information about emerging trends and what clients and consumers are thinking about specific products, topics, brands, or businesses.
As a tool for business intelligence, the ability to track conversations and social activity on social media channels like blogging, internet forums, wikis, micro-blogging platforms, discussion groups, video sites, 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 people including market research, marketing teams, PR staff, professional sales reps, social engagement and community personnel, and social media marketing agencies. Typically, many small businesses don’t can’t afford to pay media monitoring professionals to continually track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately many technology companies have developed a range of tools that facilitate the active tracking of a variety of social media channels, allowing companies to identify and even predict what customers, competitors, critics, and supporters are saying about their brands or products so they can respond proactively to conversations and engage with online users in a timely manner.
Go here if you want to learn more social media measurement tools and technologies that will help you identify new business opportunities, track competitor activity, see what online conversations are taking place that could affect your business,etc:
(Do you know how to effectively track your social signals?)
This article explores a simple, yet highly effective social media tracking tool for WordPress and improving your social media exposure online.
Presenting …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin
Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social media analytics premium WordPress plugin that is designed to make improving your social media exposure online uncomplicated. It is built on a simple concept – Social Metrics Pro measures and tracks how each signal is performing and displays either a green or red indicator. The site owner’s task is to convert all red squares into greens.
(SocialMetricsPro provides a system that any website owner can operate … turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts that receive the most shares display green. Posts with low social media activity show up amber or red.
The plugin developers tested SocialMetricsPro 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 everything “green”. From these tests, they noticed 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 the plugin developers, improving your social media marketing can result in higher search rankings, more traffic and increased revenue!)
More info:
Benefits Of Using Social Metrics Pro
Below we have listed just some of the many benefits of using SocialMetricsPro to track Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WordPress Dashboard on your website:
Quick And Easy To Install And Set Up. Ready To Go To Work In Minutes.
Social Metrics Pro installs just like any regular WordPress plugin. Just upload a zip folder that contains the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s goal is to change all the red squares into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social signals so you know which social campaigns require investing more effort and which need to be better optimized.
Choose Only Social Signals You Care About
Social Metrics Pro provides a powerful dashboard to track and monitor social media activity from networks like Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and StumbleUpon.
SocialMetricsPro 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 SocialMetricsPro, all this information is available on-demand, with just one click.
(Social Metrics Pro actively monitors the social sites that you care most about!)
Plugin Features
Social Metrics Pro provides WordPress users with a number of features. Here are a few:
- Quick and simple to install and use. Ready to start using in minutes.
- SocialMetricsPro Is Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality with external and built-in widgets. Social Metrics Pro shows updated stats from your WP dashboard, add socially popular content to your sidebar or anywhere in your site using point-and-click widgets.
- One-click auto-upgrade functionality. Update the plugin with one click via the WordPress Updates page, or update the manually manually. You can also opt to receive an email notification when new versions are released.
- Plugin uses very little resources. The plugin generates social metrics reports in seconds, consuming little hosting resources. Reports also display the amount of time used to retrieve information and the server resources consumed when gathering the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sorting, Searching And Filtering Features: Social Metrics Pro lets you sort and filter 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 by post authors.
- Export Data: You can export filtered, sorted data and custom queries to 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 simple to use … just convert reds into greens!)
User Feedback
Here are a few of the testimonials plugin users have submitted for 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 Plugin – Tips
A step-by-step guide showing you how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. turn reds into greens) is also included.
Support
The plugin is well-supported, and users get lifetime software upgrades and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, sixty-day, 100% money-back guarantee.
Plugin Price
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License Edition – This allows you to install Social Metrics Pro on 1 domain only. Includes free lifetime updates and support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site License Edition – This allows you to configure Social Metrics Pro on multiple domains that you own. It includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: Current pricing for the Social Metrics Pro plugin depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The price shown above was current at the time this article was published. This may not be the actual price charged by the product developer when you visit the plugin website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
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 the importance of social media. SocialMetricsPro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives you immediate feedback on the success of your social media marketing strategy and guides you how and 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 dashboard.
Get SocialMetricsPro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to monitor which social networks are working for your business.
For more information, visit the plugin website: SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
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