Social interactions like Facebook likes, shares, and comments, +1s on GooglePlus, 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 own web spam team has stated that Google takes a cautious approach when it comes to assessing social media signals, as social trends and relationships can change at a moment’s notice. Without a full ‘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 websites that Google naturally wants to display higher in its search results.
Social Signal Sources
Social media sites that search engines look to when measuring social signals include:
With over 1.5 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most influential social media community on the planet. It has been estimated that a single 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 data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, research shows that Facebook seems influence website rankings more than other 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 each day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence online and places great importance on the authority of tweets posted to followers over the number of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent every day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google Plus
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 Facebook and Twitter.
(More people are interacting socially on GooglePlus each day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big 3 listed above, there are a number of other social media networks that should not be ignored, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Digg, and Reddit.
(Social media sites provide important signals to search engines that can affect your rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Pay Attention To?
Search engines like Bing and Google track various social signals, including the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook likes, shares, and comments a person has, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, the number of people sharing the URL, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many followers on Google+ a site page has amassed, number and growth rate of +1s, 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 signals that can influence search engine traffic. These include positive and undesirable factors, such as improving clickthrough rate (CTR) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by visitors [negative].
As a business owner, it’s not only important to find ways to develop your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to monitor and analyze social media marketing campaigns in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media can help improve your results online)
Monitoring social media activity allows you to find insights into your brand’s online visibility on social media, spy on the competition, help you take preventative measures if you detect negative comments or feedback by embittered customers, identify market opportunities, and measure the impact of your marketing campaigns. Additionally, monitoring social media can also provide vital data about emerging trends and what consumers and clients think about specific brands, topics, products, or businesses.
As a business intelligence tool, the ability to track social media 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 online reputation management companies, market researchers, marketing professionals, social media marketing agencies, social engagement and community personnel, and professional sales reps. Typically, many small businesses don’t can’t afford to pay a social media monitoring service to continually track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately various service providers have developed tools and solutions to facilitate the monitoring of a broad range of social media channels, enabling you to identify and even predict consumer behavior around your products or brand allowing you to respond to conversations and interact with online users in a timely manner.
We have written a detailed article where we explore many social media tracking tools and technologies that will help you manage, measure, and analyze your social media marketing campaigns. More info:
(Are you monitoring your social signals effectively?)
In this article, we review a simple social tracking tool for WordPress and increasing your social media presence online.
Announcing …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics Plugin
Description Of Plugin
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social analytics plugin that is designed to help users grow their social media influence in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple premise – Social Metrics Pro tracks how each signal is performing and displays either a red or green indicator. The user’s objective is to convert red squares into greens.
(SocialMetricsPro provides a system that anyone can follow … simply turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics. Posts that receive the most shares are colored green. Posts with low social media activity are colored amber and red.
The developers of SocialMetricsPro tested their plugin 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”. From these tests, they noticed 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, focusing on improving your social marketing campaigns can affect your search engine rankings, traffic and revenue!)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Benefits Of Using SocialMetricsPro
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using SocialMetricsPro to track Likes, Tweets, Pins, +1s and more from your WordPress Dashboard on your web site:
Quick Installation
SocialMetricsPro installs like any WordPress plugin. Just upload it to your Plugin folder via your WP administrator area and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s job is to change reds into greens. Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures social signals so you know where to apply more effort and where to optimize.
Track Social Signals From Social Networks You Care About
Social Metrics Pro allows you to monitor social media activity from networks like Google+, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Pinterest, and Digg directly from your WP admin area.
SocialMetricsPro helps you get answers to questions like:
- Which social media networks work best for my site?
- Which social campaigns 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 is available on-demand, with a single click.
(Social Metrics Pro constantly tracks social signals from the social sites that you care most about!)
SocialMetricsPro Features
SocialMetricsPro provides site owners with a number of features. Below we have listed just some:
- Quick and simple to install and implement. Ready to start using in minutes.
- Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality with external and built-in widgets. Access the latest stats from your WP dashboard, display popular content on your sidebar or anywhere on your site using widgets.
- One-click auto-update functionality. You can update the plugin in a single click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update it manually. You can also opt to receive an email notification when new versions are released.
- Plugin uses very little hosting resources. Social metrics reports are compiled fast, consuming little hosting resources. Report generation also includes the amount of time spent retrieving the information and the server memory used to compile data.
Additional features include:
- Sorting, Searching & Filtering Features: Social Metrics Pro lets you 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 post type, category, post authors, or by publishing date.
- 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.
(SocialMetricsPro is really simple to use … just turn reds into greens!)
User Testimonials
Here are just some testimonials and feedback that users have published about SocialMetricsPro:
”Social Metrics is the easiest way to see at a glance which posts have performed well on social networks.” Kevin Muldoon, Founder of WPMods.com
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“Social Metrics Takes WordPress Stats to the Next Level.” Lorraine Ball, Creative Director, Roundpeg
Plugin Tips
A practical guide showing you how to optimize your site for social media success (i.e. how to turn reds into greens) is also included.
Support
The plugin is well-supported, and users get lifetime software updates and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, sixty-day, 100% money-back guarantee.
Software Price
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License Edition – This lets you set up Social Metrics Pro on a single site. Includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This lets you activate Social Metrics Pro on all the websites that you own. Includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: Pricing details of the SocialMetricsPro product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The pricing above was current when this review was written. This may not be the actual price charged by the plugin author when you visit the product website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
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.
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. Social Metrics Pro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives website owners instant feedback on the success of their social media marketing strategy and shows them where and how to improve their 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 dashboard.
We recommend getting Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to shorten your path to success with social media marketing.
To learn more, check out the plugin here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics For WordPress
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