Social interactions and recommendations like +1s on Google+, Facebook comments, likes, and shares, 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 brand on social media 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 social signals, as so many things change quickly on social media. Without a full ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign more importance to social signals 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 sites that Google wants to rank higher in its search listings.
Social Signal Sources
Social sites that search engines like Google look to when measuring social signals include:
With more than 1.5 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most influential social media network in the world. It has been estimated that one great post 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, research indicates that Facebook seems to have the most influence on website rankings of all social media sites, like Twitter andGooglePlus.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the next biggest social media site in the world, with over 600 million tweets sent out each day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence online and places great emphasis on tweeting posts that provide value to followers over the number of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent every single day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google Plus
Google’s own social networking site naturally carries great authority online, even if it is still a fledgling online community compared to sites like Twitter and Facebook.
(More people are interacting on GooglePlus each year. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big 3 listed above, there are a number of other social media networks worth getting to know, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Reddit, Digg, and StumbleUpon.
(A number of social media sites provide important signals to search engines that can affect your rankings)
Social Signals – Which Ones Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Search engines track various social signals, including the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook shares, comments, and likes a person has, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets your web page has, the number of people sending a tweet, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many followers on Google+ your web page has amassed, spread rate of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on StumbleUpon, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious social media-related factors that can influence search engine rankings and traffic. These include positive 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 not only important to find ways to develop your social media presence, but also to be able to monitor and analyze social media in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media can help improve your business results)
Tracking social media activity allows you to find insights into your company’s online visibility on social media, measure the impact of campaigns, spot new market opportunities, spy on your competition, and avert crises. Additionally, monitoring social media can also provide vital data about emerging trends and what consumers and clients think about specific products, businesses, topics, or brands.
As a tool for business intelligence, social monitoring 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 market researchers, marketing professionals, digital reputation specialists, sales teams, social marketing agencies, and social engagement and community personnel. Typically, smaller businesses do not can’t afford to pay a media monitoring service to continually track their coverage in the and actively monitor their online reputation.
Fortunately different technology providers have developed affordable tools that facilitate the monitoring of a broad range of social media channels, allowing you to identify and even predict what is being said online about your brand so you can react to conversations and engage with online users in various social media platforms.
We have created a comprehensive article listing a number of social media tracking tools that will help you manage, measure, and analyze your social media marketing initiatives. For more information, go here:
(Are you monitoring social signals effectively?)
This article discusses a simple WordPress plugin for tracking social signals and improving your social media presence.
Announcing …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics WordPress Plugin
Plugin Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social analytics plugin that is designed to help you increase your social media influence online in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple premise – Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. The user’s goal is to change more 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. Posts that receive the most shares 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 over two thousand websites 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 they also experienced a 310% increase in revenues.
(According to SocialMetricsPro developers, focusing on improving your social media marketing campaigns can significantly impact your search engine rankings, web traffic and revenue!)
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Plugin Benefits
Below we have listed just a few of the benefits of using Social Metrics Pro to track Likes, Tweets, +1s, Pins and more directly from your WP Dashboard on your web site:
Quick And Easy To Install And Set Up. Ready To Start Using In Very Little Time.
SocialMetricsPro is really easy to install. Simply upload it to your Plugin folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Really Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, your goal is to turn all the reds into greens. Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures social media signals the way Google sees it so you know which social campaigns need you to invest more effort and where to optimize.
Track Only Signals From The Networks You Care About
Social Metrics Pro lets you centrally track and monitor social activity from networks like Twitter, Facebook, GooglePlus, Digg, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, and Pinterest.
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 of this information is available on-demand, with just one click.
(Social Metrics Pro actively monitors the sites that you care most about!)
Social Metrics Pro Features
SocialMetricsPro provides website owners with many features. Here are some of those:
- Fast and simple to install and configure. Ready to go to work in no time.
- SocialMetricsPro Is Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality using external and built-in widgets. SocialMetricsPro displays the latest information right on your WP admin bar, display socially popular content on your blog sidebar or anywhere on your site using point-and-click widgets.
- One-click updates. Update Social Metrics Pro with a single click via the WordPress Updates page, or update the manually manually. You can also opt to receive email notifications when new plugin updates are released.
- Plugin uses very little resources. The plugin generates social metrics reports in seconds, using very little hosting resources. Report generation also displays the amount of time used to retrieve information and the server memory consumed when gathering and compiling data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sort, Search & Filter Features: Social Metrics Pro lets you sort, search and filter your data however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by post type, category, publishing date, or post authors.
- Export Data: You can export and plot filtered data and custom queries 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 turn all the red squares into greens!)
Testimonials From Plugin Customers
Below are a few of the testimonials and comments that customers have provided for SocialMetricsPro:
“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 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
Product Tips
SocialMetricsPro includes a practical, step-by-step guide showing you how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. turn reds into greens).
Social Metrics Pro Support
The software is well-supported, and users get lifetime software upgrades and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, sixty-day, complete refund guarantee.
Software Pricing
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This allows you to run Social Metrics Pro on a single website. Includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site License – This license option allows you to configure Social Metrics Pro on all the web sites that you own. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: Price details for SocialMetricsPro can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The pricing shown above was correct when this article was published. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the product developer when you visit the site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest price here:
Additional Information
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Our Recommendation
As mentioned earlier, social signals impact search engine rankings and 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. Social Metrics Pro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives users instant 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 right from your WP admin area.
We recommend SocialMetricsPro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to improve social media visibility and see more of your keywords getting ranked on search engines.
To learn more, visit the plugin website: SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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