Social interactions and recommendations like +1s on GooglePlus, Facebook likes, 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 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 social signals, as social trends and relationships can change at a moment’s notice. Without a reliable ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign more importance to social signals over other aspects of their search algorithm. In summary, Google’s strategy is a sensible one - “wait and see” how things develop over time, as sites that provide true value develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signals – Which Social Media Sites Matter?
Social media sites that search engines like Google and Bing look to when measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most influential social community on the planet. Research shows that one great post can reach over 100,000 users, so even if no one is buying your products or services on Facebook, don’t be quick to dismiss the power of leveraging Facebook, as Google processes social data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems influence search rankings more than other social media sites.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second biggest 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 the authority of tweets posted to readers over the amount of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent every day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google Plus
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 Twitter and Facebook.
(More people are starting to interact socially on GooglePlus every week. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big three social media giants listed above, there are a number of other social sites that should not be ignored, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Digg, Reddit, and StumbleUpon.
(A number of social media sites provide important signals that can affect your search engine rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Pay Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines like Google and Bing include the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook comments, shares, and likes you have, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets a site has, the number of people tweeting, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (high profile 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 Reddit, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious factors that can indirectly influence search rankings and traffic. 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 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, measure and analyze your social media in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media marketing can improve your business results)
Tracking social media activity allows you to gain insights into your brand’s online visibility on social media, measure the impact of campaigns, identify new opportunities for engagement, avert disasters, and assess competitor activity and market share. It can also provide valuable information about emerging trends and what consumers and clients are thinking about specific topics, brands, products, or businesses.
As a business intelligence tool, the ability to monitor social media channels like blogs, internet forums, wikis, micro-blogging platforms, discussion boards, video/photo sharing websites, and user-generated content is invaluable. Using social media monitoring as a form of business intelligence, however, is a complex undertaking, often carried out by various groups that include marketing professionals, market research, online reputation managers, professional sales reps, social engagement and community staff, and social media marketing agencies. Typically, many small businesses do not can’t afford to pay media monitoring professionals to continually track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately various technology providers have developed a range of tools to facilitate the monitoring of a wide range of social media channels, enabling you to identify consumer behavior around your brand or products allowing you to respond to conversations and engage with consumers in various social media platforms.
We have created a comprehensive article listing many social media tracking tools that are worth checking out and knowing about. To learn more, go here:
(Are you looking for an effective way to measure social signals?)
In this article, we explore a simple plugin for WordPress users for monitoring social signals and increasing your social media presence online.
Presenting …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics Plugin
Description Of Plugin
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-use social media analytics premium WordPress plugin that is designed to make increasing your social media presence uncomplicated. It is built on a simple concept – SocialMetricsPro measures how each signal is performing and returns either a red or green indicator. Your task is to turn all reds into greens.
(Social Metrics Pro provides a standard operating procedure that anyone can operate … turn all the reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics with Excel-like conditional color formatting. Posts that get shared the most are colored green. Posts with low social media activity are colored amber and red.
The plugin developers tested Social Metrics Pro on a network of 2,000+ 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 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, focusing on improving your social media marketing can result in better search engine rankings, increased web traffic and an increase in revenue!)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Benefits Of Using Social Metrics Pro
Below are just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Social Metrics Pro to track Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more from your WordPress Dashboard on your web site:
Quick Installation
SocialMetricsPro is really easy to install. Simply upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Really Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s objective is to turn more reds into greens. Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures social signals the way Google sees it so you know which campaigns require more effort and where to optimize.
Track Only Signals From The Networks You Care About
Social Metrics Pro lets you centrally monitor social activity across leading social media networks like Twitter, GooglePlus, Facebook, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Digg directly from your WordPress dashboard.
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 are my most popular posts?
- And more …
With SocialMetricsPro, all this information is available on-demand, with just one click.
(SocialMetricsPro actively monitors the sites that you care most about!)
Social Metrics Pro Features
Social Metrics Pro offers a number of features to WordPress users. Below we have listed just some:
- Quick and simple to install and use. Be up and running in minutes.
- Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using built-in and external widgets. Access the latest stats right on your WordPress admin bar, add socially popular content to your sidebar or anywhere on your site using point-and-click widgets.
- One-click auto-update functionality. You can update Social Metrics Pro in one click via the WordPress Updates page, or update the manually manually. You can also opt to receive an email notification whenever a new version is released.
- Plugin suits even the smallest hosting. The plugin can generate social metrics reports fast, using minimal hosting resources. Reports also display the amount of time it took to retrieve the information and the server resources used to gather data.
Additional features include:
- Sorting, Searching & Filtering Features: SocialMetricsPro lets you sort, search and filter the information however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by post type, publishing date, category, or by post authors.
- Export Data To Excel: 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.
(Social Metrics Pro is simple to use … just change more reds into greens!)
Testimonials
Below are some of the testimonials and comments that plugin users have provided for the Social Metrics Pro plugin:
”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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“Social Metrics Takes WordPress Stats to the Next Level.” Lorraine Ball, Creative Director, Roundpeg
Social Metrics Pro Plugin – 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
The software is well-supported, and users get lifetime software updates and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 60-day, 100% money-back guarantee.
Plugin Price
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License – This allows you to use SocialMetricsPro on a single site. Includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites License Edition – This lets you use Social Metrics Pro on all the sites that you own. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: Current pricing for Social Metrics Pro depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. When we last checked, the software sells for the pricing shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing set by the product seller 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 Information
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Install This Product
As mentioned earlier, with the rise of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, search engines like Bing and Google now take into account various social signals when determining a site’s 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 you instant feedback on the success of your social marketing campaigns and shows you how to improve your results.
SocialMetricsPro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WordPress admin area.
Get this plugin if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to make social media marketing measurable.
To learn more, check out the plugin here: SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics For WordPress
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