Social interactions like Facebook shares, likes, and comments, +1s on Google+, etc. are called social signals.
Social signals impact search engine rankings and Google has been elevating the importance given to social signals as part of its ranking algorithm since late 2010.
Note: Google encourages businesses to build their social presence as a long-term investment to drive qualified traffic, instead of 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 media, as so many things change quickly on social media. Without a reliable ‘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 a sensible one - “wait and see” how things develop over time, as sites that provide real value tend to develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google naturally wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signal Sources
Social sites that search engines like Google and Bing look to for measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the largest social media community on the planet. Research shows that one great post on Facebook can reach over 100,000 users, so even if no one is buying your products or services on Facebook, you should not be quick to dismiss Facebook as an important part of your online business strategy, as Google uses social data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, research shows that Facebook seems to have the most influence on search engine rankings of all 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 half a billion tweets sent out every single day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer on the cybersphere and places great emphasis on tweeting posts that provide great value to followers over the amount of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent every day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google+
As Google’s own social networking site, GooglePlus 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 year. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big 3 social media giants listed above, there are a number of other sites that should not be ignored, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Digg, StumbleUpon, and Reddit.
(Social media sites provide important signals to search engines that can affect your rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Search engines like Bing and Google track various social signals, including the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook comments, shares, and likes a person has, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets your site has, the number of people tweeting, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (influential users), how many people are following you, authority of adds and shares, 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 signals that can indirectly influence search engine rankings and traffic. These include positive and undesirable factors, such as improving clickthrough rate [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be of low quality by other users [negative].
As a website owner, it’s important to not only develop 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 marketing can improve your results online)
Social media monitoring allows you to find insights into your brand’s online visibility on social media, spot opportunities for engagement, measure the impact of campaigns, assess competitor activity and market dominance, and take preventative measures if you detect negative comments or feedback by embittered customers. It can also provide you with valuable data about emerging trends and what clients and consumers think about specific products, topics, brands, or businesses.
As a tool for business intelligence, social signal monitoring 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, marketing professionals, digital reputation management companies, social media marketing agencies, social engagement and community personnel, and professional sales reps. Typically, many small businesses don’t can’t afford to pay social media monitoring professionals to continually track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately different technology companies have developed a range of affordable and even free tools to facilitate the active monitoring of a variety of social media channels, enabling companies to identify what is being said online about their products or brands so they can react to conversations and engage with online users in a timely manner.
We have written a comprehensive article listing over 30 social media tracking tools that you may want to check out. Go here for more details:
(Are you looking for an effective way to measure your social signals?)
This article discusses a simple social media monitoring tool for WordPress and growing your social media influence online.
Introducing …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics Plugin For WordPress
Description Of Plugin
SocialMetricsPro is an easy-to-install social media analytics plugin that is designed to help users increase their social media exposure online in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple concept – SocialMetricsPro tracks how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. The user’s job is to turn more reds into greens.
(A standard operating procedure that any user can operate … turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics. Posts with the highest number of shares are colored green. Posts with low social media activity are colored amber or red.
The plugin developers tested SocialMetricsPro 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 their revenue increased by 310%.
(According to SocialMetricsPro developers, improving your social marketing can result in better search rankings, more web traffic and more revenue!)
Learn more here:
Benefits
Here are just a few of the benefits of using SocialMetricsPro to track Likes, Tweets, Pins, +1s and more right from your WP Dashboard on your site:
Be Up And Running In Minutes
SocialMetricsPro installs just like any other plugin. Simply upload a zip file containing the plugin to your Plugin folder via your admin user area and activate.
Really Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the user’s job is to change reds into greens. Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures social signals the way Google sees it so you know where to put more effort and which need to be better optimized.
Choose Only Signals You Care About
SocialMetricsPro allows you to centrally monitor social media activity from social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Digg directly from your WP admin area.
Social Metrics Pro lets you easily answer questions like:
- Which social media networks work best for my site?
- Which posts are performing the best on these social networks?
- Which of my posts are the most popular on social media?
- And more …
With Social Metrics Pro, all this information can be accessed with a single click.
(Social Metrics Pro actively tracks the social sites that you care most about!)
SocialMetricsPro Features
SocialMetricsPro offers WordPress users with a number of features. Below we have listed just a few of these:
- Fast and easy to install and configure. Ready to use in very little time.
- SocialMetricsPro Is Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality with external and built-in widgets. View updated stats right on your WordPress admin bar, display social content on your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using point-and-click widgets.
- One-click auto-upgrade functionality. You can update SocialMetricsPro with one click via the WordPress Updates page, or update it manually. You can also choose to be notified via email when a new version is released.
- Low server resource consumption. The plugin can generate reports very quickly, consuming very little hosting resources. Report generation also includes the amount of time spent retrieving the information and the server memory consumed when gathering and compiling the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sorting, Searching And Filtering Features: Social Metrics Pro lets you sort and filter information however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by post type, category, publishing date, 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 Excel or the spreadsheet application of your choice.
(SocialMetricsPro is simple to use … just change all reds into greens!)
Testimonials
Below are a couple of the testimonials that customers have published about Social Metrics Pro:
”Our entire marketing strategy relies on social media. Each post on the site has viral potential, but we needed one place to see which social networks are performing the best for us…We went ahead and got the PRO Version of Social Metrics.” Syed Balkhi, Founder of List25 and WPBeginner.com
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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
Social Metrics Pro Plugin – Tips
SocialMetricsPro comes with a practical guide showing you how to optimize your campaigns and improve your social media strategy (i.e. turn reds into greens).
SocialMetricsPro Plugin Support
Social Metrics Pro is well-supported, and users get lifetime upgrades and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, 60-day, 100% refund guarantee.
Software Pricing
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Edition – This option enables you to set up SocialMetricsPro on a single site. Includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multiple Sites License Edition – This lets you activate SocialMetricsPro on all the web sites that you own. Includes free lifetime updates and free support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: The cost of purchasing SocialMetricsPro can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. When we last checked, the software retails for the pricing shown above. This may not be the actual pricing set by the product seller when you visit the product 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 Information
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Get This Plugin
As mentioned earlier, with the increased importance of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Google and Bing now take into account a range of social signals to help determine 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 marketing campaigns and guides them how and where 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 dashboard.
Get Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to monitor which social media networks are working for your business.
For full details, check out the plugin here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
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