Social interactions like Facebook shares, likes, and comments, +1s on GooglePlus, etc. are called social signals.
Social signals impact search engine rankings and 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, rather than 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 perfect ‘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 value tend to develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google naturally wants to display 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 active users, Facebook is the most dominant social network in the world. Research shows that an average post can reach over 100,000 users, so even if no one seems to be buying your products or services on Facebook, don’t be quick to dismiss the importance of Facebook in your business strategy, as Google uses data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems influence website rankings more than other social media sites, like Google+ and Twitter.
(Number of monthly active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second largest social media site in the world, with over 500 million tweets sent out every single day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer online and places great importance on the authority of tweets posted to followers over the amount of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent each day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google+
As Google’s own social site, GooglePlus 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 starting to interact socially on Google+ every week. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big 3 listed above, there are a number of other social sites that should not be ignored, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, Digg, Reddit, and StumbleUpon.
(A number of social sites provide important signals to search engines that can affect your rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Search engines like Google and Bing track various social signals, including the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook likes, shares, and comments a person has, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets your web page has, the authority of the person sharing your information, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (influential users), how many people follow you, amount and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on StumbleUpon, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious social media-related signals that can influence search traffic and rankings. These include positive and negative factors, such as links from authority sites (backlinks) (not as influential as they once were, but still a factor) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be of poor quality by site reviewers [negative].
As a business owner, it’s not only important to find ways to develop your social media presence, but also to be able to monitor, measure and analyze your social signals in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media marketing can improve your business results)
Social media monitoring allows you to find insights into what people are saying about your services, company, or brand on social media, spot new market opportunities, measure the impact of campaigns, spy on your competitors, and take preventative measures against the spread of negative comments or feedback by embittered customers. It can also provide vital information about emerging trends and what consumers and clients think about specific brands, businesses, products, or topics.
As a business intelligence tool, being able to track 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 people including online reputation specialists, marketing teams, market researchers, social marketing agencies, professional sales reps, and social engagement and community personnel. Typically, smaller businesses don’t can’t afford to pay media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately different technology companies have developed many tools to facilitate the tracking of a wide range of social media channels, enabling companies to identify and even predict consumer behavior around their brands allowing them to react to conversations and engage with consumers in a timely manner.
We have written a comprehensive article on social media measurement tools that are worth checking out and knowing about here:
(Can you monitor your social signals effectively?)
In this article, we explore a simple plugin for WordPress users for tracking social signals and increasing your social media exposure.
Our Featured WordPress Plugin …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics WordPress Plugin
Description Of Plugin
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social media analytics premium WordPress plugin that is designed to make increasing your social media exposure online uncomplicated. It is built on a simple concept – SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures how each signal is performing and displays either a red or green indicator. The site owner’s objective is to change more reds into greens.
(A standard operating procedure that anyone can operate … 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 are colored amber or red.
The developers of Social Metrics Pro 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 everything “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 they also experienced a 310% increase in revenues.
(According to SocialMetricsPro developers, improving your social marketing can result in higher search rankings, increased traffic and more revenue!)
More info:
Benefits Of Using SocialMetricsPro
Here are just a few of the benefits of using Social Metrics Pro to track Likes, Tweets, +1s, Pins and more right from your WordPress Dashboard on your site:
Be Up And Running In Very Little Time
Social Metrics Pro installs like any WordPress plugin. Just upload it to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s objective is to turn reds into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social signals the way Google sees it so you know where to put more effort and which ones need to be better optimized.
Choose Only Signals You Care About
Social Metrics Pro lets you centrally track and monitor social activity from social media networks like Facebook, GooglePlus, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Digg.
Social Metrics Pro 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 this information can be accessed with just one click.
(SocialMetricsPro constantly tracks the social sites that you care most about!)
SocialMetricsPro Features
SocialMetricsPro provides many features to WordPress users. Below we have listed some:
- Quick and simple to install and configure. Be up and running in no time.
- SocialMetricsPro Is Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using built-in and external widgets. Access updated stats from your WP dashboard, display social content on your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using point-and-click widgets.
- 1-click upgrading. You can update SocialMetricsPro with a single click via the WordPress Updates page, or update it manually. You can also choose to receive an email notification whenever a new version is released.
- Plugin uses minimal resources. Social metrics reports are generated fast, consuming very little hosting resources. The tool also displays the amount of time used to retrieve information and the server resources consumed when gathering data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sorting, Searching & Filtering Features: SocialMetricsPro allows you to sort and filter the information as 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 post authors.
- Export Data: You can export data 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 simple to use … just turn all reds into greens!)
Feedback From Users
Below are a few of the testimonials plugin users have submitted regarding the SocialMetricsPro plugin:
”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 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
SocialMetricsPro Plugin – Tips
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) is also included.
Support
Social Metrics Pro is well-supported, and users get lifetime updates and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 60-day, full money-back guarantee.
Software Price
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License – This enables you to configure Social Metrics Pro on a single web site. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This allows you to run SocialMetricsPro on all the domains that you own. Cost includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: The price of the Social Metrics Pro plugin depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the price at the time this content was published. This may not be the actual price charged by the software author when you visit the product site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Info
SocialMetricsPro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Install The Product
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 the importance of social media. SocialMetricsPro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives you immediate feedback on the success of your social marketing strategy and shows you how to improve your results.
Social Metrics Pro 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 SocialMetricsPro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to outperform your competitors on social media.
To learn more, visit the plugin website here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
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