Social recommendations like Facebook shares, comments, and likes, +1s on Google+, etc. are called social signals.
With the increase in importance of social sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Bing and Google have started taking into account a range of social signals to help determine a site’s ranking.
Note: Google encourages website owners to build their brand on social media as a long-term investment to drive qualified traffic, rather than aiming for short-term benefits like search ranking placement. Google’s own head of the web spam team Matt Cutts has stated that Google takes a cautious approach when it comes to social media, as social trends and relationships can change at a moment’s notice. Without a perfect ‘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 sites that provide real value normally develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google naturally wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signal Sources
Social media sites that search engines like Google and Bing look to when measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most dominant social media network on the planet. It has been estimated that an average post on Facebook can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if no one seems to be 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 when determining your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems to have the most influence on search engine rankings of all social media sites.
(Number of monthly active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the next biggest social media site in the world, with over 500 million tweets sent out every single day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence online 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 social community compared to sites like Twitter and Facebook.
(More people are interacting socially on Google+ every month. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big three social sites listed above, there are a number of other social media networks worth paying attention to, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Digg, StumbleUpon, and Reddit.
(A number of social media sites provide important signals to search engines that could affect your rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Pay Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines like Google and Bing include the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook shares, comments, and likes a person has, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, the authority of the person sending a tweet, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many people follow you, amount and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. number of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on Reddit, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious signals that can influence search rankings and traffic. These include positive and undesirable factors, such as age and authority of your social media account [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be of low quality by site reviewers [negative].
As a website owner, it’s not only important to find ways to grow your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to monitor and analyze your social campaigns in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media to help improve your business results)
Social media monitoring allows you to find insights into your brand’s online visibility on social media, measure the impact of campaigns, assess competitor activity and market dominance, take preventative measures if you detect negative comments or feedback by dissatisfied users, and spot opportunities for engagement. Additionally, social media monitoring can also provide valuable information about emerging trends and what consumers and clients think about specific businesses, products, topics, or brands.
As a business intelligence tool, social monitoring is invaluable. Using social media monitoring as a form of business intelligence, however, is a complex undertaking, typically carried out by various people including marketing teams, digital reputation management (ORM) agencies, market research, professional sales reps, social marketing agencies, and social engagement and community personnel. Typically, small businesses don’t can’t afford to pay social media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the and actively monitor their online reputation.
Fortunately various technology companies have developed a range of affordable and even free tools to facilitate the active tracking of a wide range of social media channels, enabling companies to identify what is being said online about their brands allowing them to respond to conversations and engage with online users in various social media platforms.
We have written a detailed article about social media monitoring tools and technologies that are worth checking out and knowing about. For more details:
(Are you searching for an effective way to measure your social signals?)
This article discusses a simple, yet highly effective plugin for WordPress users for tracking social signals and improving your social media exposure.
Announcing …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin
Description
SocialMetricsPro is an easy-to-use social analytics premium WordPress plugin that is designed to help you grow your social media influence online in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple concept – SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures how each signal is performing and returns either a red or green indicator. Your objective is to convert reds into greens.
(A system that any user can operate … just turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts that receive the most shares display green. Posts with low social media activity show up amber or red.
The developers of SocialMetricsPro tested their plugin on a network of over two thousand 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 that their top 10 best performing sites saw an improvement of up to 360% more traffic, 410% more keywords ranked in the first page of Google and their revenue increased by 310%.
(According to the plugin developers, focusing on improving your social marketing can result in better search engine rankings, more traffic and increased revenue!)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Plugin Benefits
Below 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 website:
Quick And Simple To Install And Set Up. Be Up And Running In Minutes.
Social Metrics Pro installs just like any plugin. Simply upload a zip file containing the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your WordPress administrator area and activate.
Really Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, your objective is to change all reds into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social signals the way Google sees it so you know which social campaigns require more effort and where to optimize.
Track The Social Signals You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you monitor social media activity from networks like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, Digg, and LinkedIn directly from your WordPress 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 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 monitors social signals from the sites that you care most about!)
Plugin Features
SocialMetricsPro provides site owners with many features. Here are a few:
- Fast and simple to install and use. Be up and running in minutes.
- Social Metrics Pro Is Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality with external and built-in widgets. View updated stats right on your WordPress admin bar, display social content on your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using widgets.
- 1-click upgrading. You can update the plugin with a single click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update it manually. You can also choose to be notified via email when new versions are released.
- Minimal hosting resources usage. The plugin can generate social metrics reports very quickly, consuming minimal hosting resources. The tool also displays the amount of time spent retrieving the information and the server memory consumed when gathering data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sort, Search And Filter Features: Social Metrics Pro lets you sort, search and filter your data as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by publishing date, post authors, post type, or category.
- Export Data To Excel: You can export and plot data 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 turn reds into greens!)
User Feedback
Below are just some testimonials and feedback plugin users have published about SocialMetricsPro:
“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
Product Tips
SocialMetricsPro comes with a step-by-step guide containing useful advice on how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. turn reds into greens).
SocialMetricsPro Support
SocialMetricsPro is well-supported, and users get lifetime software updates and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 60-day, full refund guarantee.
Plugin Pricing
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License Edition – This license allows you to run Social Metrics Pro on one website only. It includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multiple Sites Edition – This license lets you set up Social Metrics Pro on all the sites that you own. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: Current pricing for SocialMetricsPro can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the current price at the time this content was published. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the product seller when you visit the website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the current price:
Additional Info
SocialMetricsPro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Get 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 website owners immediate feedback on the success of their social marketing campaigns and shows them where and how to direct their efforts in order 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 WP dashboard.
We recommend this plugin if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to monitor which social networks are working for your business.
For more details, check out the plugin here: SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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