Social interactions and recommendations like Facebook shares, comments, and likes, Twitter mentions and retweets, etc. are called social signals.
Google has been tracking 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. Google’s own head of the web spam team Matt Cutts has stated that Google takes a cautious approach when it comes to social media, as social trends and relationships can change at a moment’s notice. Without a full ‘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 sites that provide value normally develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google wants to rank higher in its search results.
Social Signal Sources
Social media sites that search engines like Google look to for measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most influential social network on the planet. Research shows that one great post on Facebook can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if no one is buying your products or services on Facebook, you should not be quick to dismiss the power of leveraging Facebook, as Google processes social data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems to have the most influence on website rankings of all social media sites, like GooglePlus and Twitter.
(Number of monthly active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second biggest social media site in the world, with over 600 million tweets sent out every single day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence on the cybersphere and places great emphasis on the authority of tweets posted to readers over the volume of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent every single day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google Plus
Google’s own social site naturally carries great authority online, even if it has not reached the same level of growth and take up as Facebook and Twitter.
(More people are interacting on GooglePlus each week. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big 3 social media giants listed above, there are a number of other sites that provide important social signals, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Reddit, Digg, and StumbleUpon.
(Social media sites provide important signals that can affect your search 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 comments, likes, and shares you have, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets a URL has, the number of people sharing your information, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many people are following you, amount and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on Digg, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious signals that can indirectly influence search traffic and 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 visitors [negative].
As a website owner, it’s not only important to find ways to develop your social media presence, but also to be able to track, measure and analyze your social media 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 your brand’s online visibility on social media, measure the impact of campaigns, identify market opportunities, assess competitor activity, and help you take preventative measures if you detect negative comments or feedback by dissatisfied users. Additionally, social media monitoring can also provide vital information about emerging trends and what clients and consumers are thinking about specific topics, businesses, brands, or products.
As a tool for business intelligence, being able to track social activity on social media 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 teams, PR staff, market research, sales teams, social engagement and community staff, and agencies. Typically, small businesses don’t have the budget to pay a social media monitoring service to continually track their coverage in the and actively monitor their digital reputation.
Fortunately different technology providers have developed a range of tools that facilitate the monitoring of a broad range 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 interact with online users in various social media platforms.
If you want to learn more about social media measurement tools and technologies that are worth knowing about, see this article:
(Are you tracking social signals effectively?)
In this article, we look at a simple, yet effective social media tracking plugin for your WordPress-based digital business presence and improving your social media presence online.
Our Featured WordPress Product …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics WordPress Plugin
Plugin Description
SocialMetricsPro is an easy-to-install social analytics plugin for WordPress that is designed to make increasing your social media influence online uncomplicated. It is built on a simple concept – the system tracks how each signal is performing and displays either a green or red indicator. The user’s objective is to change all the reds into greens.
(A standard operating procedure that anyone can follow … turn all the reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts that get shared the most are colored green. Posts with low social media activity show up amber or red.
The plugin developers tested SocialMetricsPro on a network of 2,000+ sites 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 they also experienced a 310% increase in revenues.
(According to Social Metrics Pro developers, focusing on improving your social marketing campaigns can positively can have a positive impact on your search rankings, web traffic and revenue!)
Go here to learn more:
Benefits
Below we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Social Metrics Pro to track Likes, Tweets, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WordPress Dashboard on your web site:
Quick And Easy To Install And Set Up. Be Up And Running In No Time.
Social Metrics Pro is quite easy to install. Just upload the plugin file to your Plugins folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s goal is to convert reds into greens. Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures social signals so you know where to put more effort and which campaigns need to be better optimized.
Track The Social Signals From The Networks You Care About
SocialMetricsPro provides a powerful dashboard to centrally track and monitor social activity from social networks like Twitter, Google+, Facebook, Digg, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.
SocialMetricsPro lets you easily answer questions like:
- Which social 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 monitors the sites that you care most about!)
Features
SocialMetricsPro offers WP users with a number of great features. Here are some:
- Quick and simple to install and implement. Be up and running in minutes.
- Social Metrics Pro Is Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality using external and built-in widgets. Access updated stats right on your WordPress admin bar, add social content to your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using widgets.
- 1-click auto-updating functionality. Update SocialMetricsPro with one click via the WordPress Updates page, or update the manually manually. You can also opt to receive an email notification when a new version is released.
- Plugin uses minimal resources. Social reports are compiled in seconds, consuming minimal hosting resources. Reports also display the amount of time it took to retrieve information and the server memory consumed when gathering data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sort, Search & Filter Features: SocialMetricsPro allows you to sort, search and filter the information however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by publishing date, category, post type, or by post authors.
- Export Data To Excel: You can export and plot filtered, sorted data and custom queries 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.
(Social Metrics Pro is very simple to use … just change red squares into greens!)
User Feedback
Here are a couple 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 Takes WordPress Stats to the Next Level.” Lorraine Ball, Creative Director, Roundpeg
Plugin Tips
SocialMetricsPro comes with a step-by-step, practical guide showing you how to optimize your campaigns and improve your social media strategy (i.e. how to turn reds into greens).
Social Metrics Pro Plugin Support
SocialMetricsPro is well-supported, and users get lifetime software upgrades and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 60-day, full refund guarantee.
Software Pricing
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License – This license lets you set up Social Metrics Pro on 1 web site only. Includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site Edition – This edition allows you to use SocialMetricsPro on multiple sites that you own. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: The price of Social Metrics Pro depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Currently, the software is being retailed for the pricing shown above. This may or may not be the actual price charged by the product developer when you visit the plugin website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing:
Additional Plugin Info
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
In Conclusion
As mentioned earlier, with the growth of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Bing and Google are now taking into account various social signals to help determine website ranking.
No website owner can afford to ignore the importance of social media. Social Metrics Pro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives users immediate feedback on the success of their social marketing campaigns and guides them how to improve their results.
SocialMetricsPro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WordPress dashboard.
We recommend getting SocialMetricsPro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to measure your social media marketing results professionally.
For more details, check out the plugin here: SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics Plugin
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