Social interactions like Facebook likes, +1s on Google+, etc. are called social signals.
Google has been elevating the importance given to 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 own web spam team has stated that Google takes a cautious approach when it comes to social media, as social trends and relationships tend to change too quickly to fully map out. Without a full ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign more 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 websites that Google wants to display higher in its search listings.
Social Signal Sources
Social media sites that search engines look to when measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion active users, Facebook is the largest social media network on the planet. It has been estimated that one great post on Facebook can reach over 100,000 users, so even if no one is buying your products or services on Facebook, you should not be quick to dismiss the importance of Facebook in your business strategy, as Google uses social data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems influence search rankings more than other 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 half a billion tweets sent out every day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence on the cybersphere and places great emphasis on tweeting posts that provide value to readers over the amount of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent every single day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google+
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 socially on GooglePlus each day. 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, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and Digg.
(A number of social media sites provide important signals to search engines that could affect your rankings)
Social Signals – Which Ones Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines like Bing and Google include:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook comments, shares, and likes you have, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets a web page has, how influential the person tweeting is, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many followers on GooglePlus your site page has, number of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on Reddit, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious social media-related signals that can influence search engine rankings. These include positive 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 irrelevant by visitors [negative].
As a business owner, it’s not only important to find ways to grow your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to track and analyze your social signals in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media can improve your business results)
Social media monitoring allows you to find insights into your brand’s overall visibility on social media, spy on your competitors, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, identify potential market opportunities, and avert disasters. Additionally, social media monitoring can also provide you with vital information about emerging trends and what consumers and clients are thinking about specific products, topics, brands, or businesses.
As a tool for business intelligence, social signal monitoring is invaluable. Using social media monitoring as a form of business intelligence, however, is a complex undertaking, typically carried out by a cross-section of people including market research, marketing professionals, online reputation management companies, sales teams, social engagement and community staff, and agencies. Typically, many small businesses do not have the budget to pay a social media monitoring service to continually track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately different providers have created tools and solutions that facilitate the tracking of a variety of social media channels, allowing you to identify and even predict consumer behavior around your brand or products so you can respond to conversations and interact with consumers in a timely fashion.
To learn more about social media tracking tools that will help you identify new business opportunities, track competitor activity, see what online conversations are taking place that can affect your business,etc, refer to this article:
(Do you know how to effectively track your social signals?)
In this article, we review a simple, yet highly effective social media monitoring plugin for your WordPress-based digital presence and improving your social media exposure online.
Introducing …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics WordPress Plugin
Plugin Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social analytics WordPress plugin that is designed to help users increase their social media presence in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple premise – SocialMetricsPro measures how each signal is performing and displays either a red or green indicator. The site owner’s goal is to change all the red squares into greens.
(SocialMetricsPro provides a system that anyone can operate … just turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts with the highest number of shares are colored green. Posts with low social media activity are colored amber or 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 were able to notice 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 dramatically affect your search rankings, web traffic and revenue!)
Learn more here:
Plugin Benefits
Below we have listed just some of the many benefits and advantages of using SocialMetricsPro to track Likes, Tweets, +1s, Pins and more right from your WP Dashboard on your website:
Quick And Easy To Install And Implement. Be Up And Running In Minutes.
Social Metrics Pro installs just like every other plugin. Simply upload the plugin file to your Plugins folder via your WordPress admin user login and activate.
Really Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the user’s objective is to change all red squares into greens. Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures social signals so you know where to apply more effort and where to optimize.
Track Signals You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you monitor social activity from networks like Facebook, GooglePlus, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, and Digg.
SocialMetricsPro lets you easily answer questions like:
- Which social networks work best for my site?
- Which social campaigns are performing the best on these social networks?
- Which are my most popular posts?
- And more …
With SocialMetricsPro, all this information is available on-demand, with a single click.
(SocialMetricsPro actively tracks social signals from the sites that you care most about!)
Features
Social Metrics Pro provides WP users with a number of great features. Below we have listed just a few:
- Fast and simple to install and configure. Be up and running in very little time.
- Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality using external and built-in widgets. SocialMetricsPro displays updated information right on your WP dashboard, add social content to your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using widgets.
- One-click upgrades. You can update the plugin with a single click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update the manually manually. You can also choose to be notified via email whenever new versions are released.
- Plugin works even on the smallest hosting. The plugin can generate reports fast, consuming little hosting resources. Reports also display the amount of time used to retrieve information and the server memory consumed when gathering data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sorting, Searching And Filtering Features: SocialMetricsPro allows you to sort and filter data as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by category, post authors, publishing date, or post type.
- Export Data: 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 Excel or the spreadsheet application of your choice.
(SocialMetricsPro is really simple to use … just convert all red squares into greens!)
Testimonials From Product Customers
Here are a few of the testimonials and comments customers have published about the Social Metrics Pro 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 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
Plugin Tips
Social Metrics Pro comes with a practical, step-by-step guide showing you how to optimize your site for social media success (i.e. how to turn reds into greens).
SocialMetricsPro Plugin Support
Social Metrics Pro is well-supported, and comes with free lifetime updates and support, backed by a no-risk, 60-day, 100% money-back guarantee.
Software Pricing
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License – This edition enables you to activate Social Metrics Pro on 1 site only. Cost includes free lifetime updates and free support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites Edition – This license enables you to activate SocialMetricsPro on multiple domains that you own. Price includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: The cost of purchasing the SocialMetricsPro software can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The price shown above was correct at the time this content was written. This may not be the actual pricing set by the product developer 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 the current pricing:
Additional Plugin Information
SocialMetricsPro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Install This Plugin
As mentioned earlier, with the rise of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, search engines like Bing and Google now take into account social signals when determining website ranking.
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 marketing campaigns and shows you how and where to direct your efforts in order to improve your results.
Social Metrics Pro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WordPress dashboard.
We recommend Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to shave years off your social media marketing learning curve.
For full details, visit the plugin website here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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