Social recommendations like Facebook comments, Twitter mentions and retweets, etc. are called social signals.
Social signals impact search engine rankings and Google has been tracking social signals as part of its ranking algorithm for several years now.
Note: Google encourages businesses 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 social media, as so many things change quickly on social media. Without a reliable ‘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 websites that provide value tend to develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google wants to rank higher in its search engine listings.
Social Signal Sources
Social sites that search engines look to for measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most dominant social media community on the planet. Research shows that a single post on Facebook can reach over 100,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving droves of customers to your site, don’t be quick to dismiss Facebook as an important part of your online business strategy, as Google uses data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, research shows that Facebook seems influence search engine rankings more than other social media sites, like Twitter andGoogle+.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second biggest 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 on the cybersphere and places great importance on tweeting posts that provide great value to readers over the amount 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 has not reached the same level of growth and take up as Facebook and Twitter.
(More people are starting to interact socially on GooglePlus each week. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big 3 listed above, there are a number of other sites that should not be ignored, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon,Reddit, and Digg.
(A number of social media sites provide important signals that could affect your search rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Pay Attention To?
Search engines track a number of social signals, including:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook likes, shares, and comments you have, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, the authority of the person sharing the URL, 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 factors that can influence search traffic. These include desirable and negative factors, such as backlinks from authority sites (not as relevant 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 important to not only find ways to grow your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to track and analyze your social media in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media can help improve your results online)
Monitoring social media activity allows you to gain insights into what people are saying about your company, brand, or services on social media, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, spy on the competition, identify potential opportunities for engagement, and take preventative measures against the spread of negative comments or feedback by dissatisfied users. It can also provide you with valuable information about emerging trends and what consumers and clients are thinking about specific businesses, products, topics, or brands.
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 online reputation managers, marketing teams, market research, agencies, social engagement and community personnel, and sales teams. Typically, many small businesses do not can’t afford to pay media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the and actively monitor their digital reputation.
Fortunately various providers have created tools that facilitate the monitoring of a variety of social media channels, enabling companies to identify and even predict consumer behavior around their brands or products so they can react to conversations and engage with online users in various social media platforms.
We have written a detailed article about social media measurement tools that are worth checking out and knowing about. To learn more, go here:
(Can you monitor your social signals effectively?)
In this article, we look at a simple, yet effective WordPress plugin for tracking social media signals and increasing your social media influence online.
Announcing …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin
Plugin Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social analytics WordPress plugin that is designed to make growing your social media influence uncomplicated. It is built on a simple premise – SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures how each signal is performing and displays either a green or red indicator. Your objective is simple … convert all reds into greens.
(A standard operating procedure that anyone can operate … simply turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics. 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+ sites 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 positively impact your search rankings, traffic and revenue!)
Go here to learn more:
Benefits
Below are just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Social Metrics Pro to track Likes, Tweets, +1s, Pins and more right from your WordPress Dashboard on your site:
Fast And Easy To Install And Set Up. Ready To Start Using In Minutes.
Social Metrics Pro is really easy to install. Simply upload a zip folder containing the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your admin area and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s goal is to convert all the red squares into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social media signals so you know which social marketing campaigns need you to invest more effort and which ones need to be better optimized.
Track Social Signals From The Networks You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you monitor social media activity from social media networks like Twitter, GooglePlus, Facebook, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, and Digg.
SocialMetricsPro helps you get answers to questions like:
- Which social networks work best for my site?
- Which posts are performing the best on these social networks?
- Which of my posts are the most popular on social media?
- And more …
With SocialMetricsPro, all this information is available on-demand, with just one click.
(Social Metrics Pro actively monitors the social media sites that you care most about!)
SocialMetricsPro Features
Social Metrics Pro provides WordPress users with a number of features. Below we have listed some:
- Quick and simple to install and implement. Ready to use in no time.
- Social Metrics Pro Is Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality using external and built-in widgets. Access the latest stats right on your WordPress admin bar, add socially popular content to your blog sidebar or anywhere on your site using widgets.
- One-click auto-upgrading functionality. You can update Social Metrics Pro in a single click via the WordPress Updates page, or update the manually manually. You can also choose to be notified via email whenever new plugin updates are released.
- Uses very little hosting resources. The plugin generates social metrics reports fast, using little server resources. Reports also include the amount of time spent retrieving information and the server resources used to compile the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sorting, Searching And Filtering Features: SocialMetricsPro allows you to sort and filter the data as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by post authors, publishing date, post type, or by category.
- Export Data To Excel: 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 very simple to use … just turn all reds into greens!)
Feedback From Users
Here are some of the testimonials customers have written 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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”I give Social Metrics a big thumbs up and I recommend it to anyone who’s serious about tracking their social sharing analytics.” James Johnson, Senior Editor at The Inquisitr
Social Metrics Pro Plugin – Useful Tips
A practical guide on how to optimize your site for social media success (i.e. how to turn reds into greens) is also included.
Plugin Support
Social Metrics Pro is well-supported, and comes with free support and free lifetime updates, backed by a no-risk, 60-day, 100% refund guarantee.
Product Cost
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Edition – This license enables you to use SocialMetricsPro on a single web site. Includes free lifetime updates and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This lets you run Social Metrics Pro on all the domains that you own. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: Current pricing for the Social Metrics Pro software depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The price shown above was current when this article was written. This may or may not be the actual price charged by the product seller when you visit the product site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Product Info
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
In Conclusion
As mentioned earlier, Google has been tracking 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 WordPress users immediate feedback on the success of their social marketing campaigns and shows them how to direct their efforts in order to improve their results.
Social Metrics Pro is ideal for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WordPress admin area.
Get Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to learn how to use social signals to get better search engine rankings.
For complete details, check out the plugin here: SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
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