Social recommendations like Facebook shares, comments, and 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 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. Google’s own head of its web spam team Matt Cutts 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 social signals 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 develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google naturally wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signal Sources
Social sites that search engines look to when measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion active users, Facebook is the most dominant social community in the world. Research shows that one great post can reach up to 150,000 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 processes data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems to have the most influence on website rankings of all social media sites.
(Number of monthly active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second 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 readers over the volume of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent every single day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google+
Google’s own social site naturally carries a significant degree of authority online, even if it is still a fledgling social community compared to sites like Facebook and Twitter.
(More people are interacting on Google+ every month. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big three social media giants listed above, there are a number of other sites that should not be ignored, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and Digg.
(Social media sites provide important signals to search engines that can affect your rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Pay Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines like Bing and Google include:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook likes, comments, and shares you have, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, the number of people tweeting, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many followers on Google+ your web page has amassed, amount and growth rate of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. number of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on Reddit, etc.
- Not so obvious signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious factors that can influence search engine rankings. These include desirable and undesirable factors, such as backlinks from authority sites (not as important as they once were, but still a factor) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by site reviewers [negative].
As a business owner, it’s important to not only grow your presence on major social networking websites, 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 help improve your results online)
Social media monitoring 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, spot market opportunities, take preventative measures against the spread of negative comments or feedback by dissatisfied customers, and spy on your competition. Additionally, social media monitoring can also provide you with valuable information about emerging trends and what consumers and clients are thinking about specific businesses, brands, topics, or products.
As a business intelligence tool, social monitoring 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 groups that include marketing teams, online reputation management (ORM) specialists, market research, professional sales reps, social marketing agencies, and social engagement and community personnel. Typically, small businesses do not can’t afford to pay a media monitoring service to continually track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately many providers have created many tools that facilitate the monitoring of a wide spectrum of social media channels, allowing companies to identify and even predict what consumers are saying about their products or brands allowing them to respond proactively to conversations and engage with consumers in a timely fashion.
We have written a detailed article where we explore over 30 social media tracking tools and technologies that will help you manage, measure, and analyze your social media marketing initiatives. To learn more, visit this page:
(Do you know how to effectively monitor your social signals?)
This article explores a simple social monitoring tool for WordPress and increasing your social media influence.
Let’s Review …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
Description
SocialMetricsPro is an easy-to-use social analytics plugin for WordPress that is designed to make improving your social media presence online uncomplicated. It is built on a simple premise – the tool measures how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. The user’s job is to convert reds into greens.
(A standard operating procedure that anyone can follow … 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 display amber or red.
The developers of Social Metrics Pro tested their plugin on a network of over two thousand 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”. According to the plugin developers, 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 the plugin developers, improving your social media marketing can result in better search rankings, more traffic and an increase in revenue!)
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Plugin Benefits
Below are just some of the many benefits of using Social Metrics Pro to track Likes, Tweets, +1s, Pins and more from your WP Dashboard on your website:
Fast And Simple To Install And Configure. Be Up And Running In No Time.
Social Metrics Pro is really easy to install. Simply upload the plugin file to your Plugins folder via your admin user area and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s task is to change all the red squares into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social media signals so you know which campaigns need more effort and where to optimize.
Track The Social Signals From The Networks You Care About
SocialMetricsPro allows you to monitor social media activity across leading social media networks like GooglePlus, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, and Digg.
Social Metrics Pro 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 are my most popular posts?
- And more …
With Social Metrics Pro, all of this information is available on-demand, with just one click.
(Social Metrics Pro actively tracks the sites that you care most about!)
Social Metrics Pro Features
Social Metrics Pro offers web site owners with many features. Here are a few of these:
- Fast and simple to install and configure. Ready to go to work in no time.
- Social Metrics Pro Is Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality using external and built-in widgets. Social Metrics Pro displays the latest stats right on your WordPress dashboard, add popular content to your sidebar or anywhere on your site using widgets.
- 1-click updates. Update SocialMetricsPro in one click via the WordPress Updates page, or update the manually manually. You can also choose to be notified via email whenever a new version is released.
- Minimal usage of resources. The plugin can generate social metrics reports in seconds, consuming very little server resources. Report generation also includes the amount of time used to retrieve information and the server resources used to compile the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sorting, Searching And Filtering Features: SocialMetricsPro lets you sort and filter data as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by post type, post authors, category, or publishing date.
- 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 very simple to use … just change red squares into greens!)
Testimonials From Users
Below are a few of the testimonials plugin users have submitted regarding 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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”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 (WordCamp Montreal 2011)
Useful Tips
Social Metrics Pro includes a practical guide on how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. how to turn reds into greens).
Support
Social Metrics Pro is well-supported, and users get lifetime upgrades and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 60-day, full refund guarantee.
Product Licensing Price
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License – This enables you to install SocialMetricsPro on one site only. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites License – This lets you install Social Metrics Pro on multiple websites that you own. Price includes free lifetime updates and support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: The cost of purchasing the SocialMetricsPro product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The above reflects the price at the time this review was published. This may or may not be the actual pricing set by the software seller when you visit the website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
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.
The Bottom Line
As mentioned earlier, with the increased importance of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Bing and Google are now taking into account social signals when determining website ranking.
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 media marketing strategy and shows you how to direct your efforts in order to improve your results.
Social Metrics Pro is ideal for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WordPress dashboard.
Get Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to measure your social marketing results professionally.
For more information, check out the plugin here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
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