Social interactions like Twitter retweets and mentions, Facebook comments, etc. are called social signals.
Google has been tracking social signals as part of its ranking algorithm since late 2010.
Note: Google encourages website owners 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 web spam team 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 reliable ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign too much importance to the social sphere 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 websites that provide true value develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google naturally 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 active users, Facebook is the largest social community in the world. It has been estimated that an average post on Facebook 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 Facebook as an important part of 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 search rankings more than other social media sites.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second largest social media site in the world, with over half a billion tweets sent out each day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer online and places great emphasis on the authority of tweets posted to followers over the amount of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent each day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google+
As Google’s own social site, Google+ 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 actively using GooglePlus every week. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big three listed above, there are a number of other sites worth getting to know, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and Digg.
(A number of social sites provide important signals that could affect your search rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Search engines like Google and Bing track a number of social signals, including:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook likes, shares, and comments a person has, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, how influential the person sharing the URL is, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many people are following you, amount of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. number of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on Digg, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious factors that can influence search rankings and traffic. These include positive and negative factors, such as improving clickthrough rate [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 presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to track and analyze social media marketing in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media marketing to improve your results online)
Social media monitoring allows you to gain insights into what people are saying about your brand, products, or company on social media, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, identify new market opportunities, avert impending crises, and assess competitor activity and market share. Additionally, monitoring social media can also provide valuable data about emerging trends and what clients and consumers are thinking about specific topics, brands, products, or businesses.
As a business intelligence tool, social media 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, online reputation management (ORM) specialists, professional sales reps, social engagement and community staff, and agencies. Typically, small businesses do not have the budget to pay a social media monitoring service to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately various service providers have made available affordable tools to facilitate the monitoring of a wide spectrum of social media channels, enabling you to track consumer behavior around your products or brand allowing you to respond to conversations and interact with consumers in a timely manner.
We have written a detailed article on social media tracking tools and technologies that will help you manage, measure, and analyze your social media marketing campaigns. For more details, go here:
(Can you measure your social signals effectively?)
This article explores a simple plugin for WordPress users for tracking social media signals and improving your social media exposure online.
Announcing …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics Plugin For WordPress
Plugin Description
SocialMetricsPro is an easy-to-install social analytics WordPress plugin that is designed to help users improve their social media exposure in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple premise – SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. The user’s goal is simple … turn red squares into greens.
(Social Metrics Pro provides a standard operating procedure that anyone can operate … turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics. Posts that receive the most shares show up green. Posts with low social media activity display 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 everything “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 SocialMetricsPro developers, focusing on improving your social media marketing campaigns can dramatically affect your search rankings, traffic and revenue!)
More info:
Benefits
Below are just some of the benefits of using SocialMetricsPro to track Tweets, Likes, +1s, Pins and more from your WordPress Dashboard on your site:
Quick And Simple To Install And Configure. Ready To Start Using In Minutes.
Social Metrics Pro is very easy to install. Simply upload a zip file that contains the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your administrator login and activate.
Really Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the user’s job is to convert all red squares into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social media signals so you know which campaigns need you to invest more effort and which ones need to be better optimized.
Choose Only Social Signals You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you track and monitor social activity from social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, GooglePlus, StumbleUpon, Pinterest, Digg, and LinkedIn directly from your WordPress admin area.
SocialMetricsPro 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 Social Metrics Pro, all this information is available on-demand, with just one click.
(Social Metrics Pro constantly tracks the social sites that you care most about!)
Social Metrics Pro Features
SocialMetricsPro offers a number of features to WordPress users. Here are just a few of these:
- Quick and simple to install and implement. Ready to start using in minutes.
- Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality with built-in and external widgets. Social Metrics Pro displays updated stats from your WordPress dashboard, display socially popular content on your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using point-and-click widgets.
- 1-click auto-update functionality. Update Social Metrics Pro with one click via the WordPress Updates page, or update it manually. You can also opt to be notified via email when new versions are released.
- Minimal use of resources. Metric reports are compiled in seconds, consuming minimal hosting resources. Reports also include the amount of time used to retrieve information and the server resources consumed when gathering and compiling data.
Additional features include:
- Sorting, Searching And Filtering Features: Social Metrics Pro allows you to 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 category, publishing date, post type, or post authors.
- Export Data To Excel: 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.
(Social Metrics Pro is very simple to use … just turn all the reds into greens!)
Testimonials
Below are just some testimonials and feedback that plugin customers have submitted regarding 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
SocialMetricsPro Plugin – Useful Tips
Social Metrics Pro includes a step-by-step guide showing you how to optimize your site for social media success (i.e. how to turn reds into greens).
Support
SocialMetricsPro is well-supported, and comes with free lifetime updates and support, backed by a no-risk, sixty-day, full money-back guarantee.
Software Cost
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This enables you to activate SocialMetricsPro on a single web site. Pricing includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site Licensing – This enables you to configure SocialMetricsPro on all sites that you own. Price includes free lifetime updates and support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: The cost of purchasing SocialMetricsPro depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The price shown above was current at the time this review was published. This may or may not be the actual price set by the product seller 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 latest pricing here:
Additional Plugin Info
SocialMetricsPro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
The Bottom Line
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 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 media marketing campaigns and shows you where and how to direct your efforts in order to improve your 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.
We recommend getting Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to improve social media visibility and see more of your keywords getting better rankings on search engines.
For complete details, visit the plugin website: SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics For WordPress
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