Social interactions like Facebook comments, shares, and likes, +1s on Google+, etc. are called social signals.
Social signals impact search engine rankings and 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 media 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 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 too much importance to social signals over other aspects of their search algorithm. In short, Google’s strategy is to “wait and see” how things develop over time, as sites that provide real value develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google naturally wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signals – Which Sites Matter?
Social sites that search engines like Google look to when measuring social signals include:
With over 1.5 billion active users, Facebook is the largest social media community in the world. Research shows that one great post on Facebook can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving droves of customers to your website, don’t be quick to dismiss the importance of Facebook in your business strategy, as Google processes data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems influence search engine rankings more than other social media sites, like Twitter andGooglePlus.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the next largest social media site in the world, with over 500 million tweets sent out every day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer on the cybersphere and places great importance on tweeting posts that provide value to followers over the volume of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent every single day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google+
Google’s own social media site naturally carries great authority online, even if it is still a fledgling online community compared to sites like Facebook and Twitter.
(More people are starting to interact socially on GooglePlus every day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big three social sites listed above, there are a number of other sites worth paying attention to, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, Digg, Reddit, and StumbleUpon.
(A number of social media sites provide important signals that can affect your search rankings)
Social Signals – Which Ones Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Search engines like Bing and Google track various social signals, including 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. how many tweets and retweets your site has, the authority of the person tweeting, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many people are following you, authority of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on Reddit, etc.
- Not so obvious signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious signals that can influence search engine traffic and rankings. These include desirable and undesirable factors, such as age and authority of your social media account [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by site reviewers [negative].
As a website owner, it’s important to not only develop your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to track, measure and analyze your social media marketing performance in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media can help improve your business results)
Social media monitoring allows you to gain insights into your company’s overall visibility on social media, spy on your competition, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, take preventative measures against the spread of negative comments or feedback by disgruntled customers, and spot potential market opportunities. It can also provide you with valuable information about emerging trends and what consumers and clients are thinking about specific topics, businesses, brands, or products.
As a business intelligence tool, social signal 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 professionals, market research, PR companies, social marketing agencies, social engagement and community staff, and sales teams. Typically, many small businesses don’t have the budget to pay a social media monitoring service to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately a number of technology companies have developed tools that facilitate the monitoring of a broad spectrum of social media channels, allowing you to identify and even predict consumer behavior around your brand allowing you to react to conversations and engage with consumers in various social media platforms.
Go here if you would like to learn more about social media tracking tools that you may want to check out:
(Do you know how to effectively measure social signals?)
In this article, we review a simple social media monitoring tool for your digital business presence and growing your social media influence.
Presenting …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics Plugin For WordPress
Plugin Description
SocialMetricsPro is an easy-to-install social analytics plugin that is designed to help you increase your social media exposure online in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple concept – Social Metrics Pro tracks how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. Your objective is simple … turn all reds into greens.
(A system that any user can follow … simply turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics with Excel-like conditional color formatting. Posts that receive the most shares display green. Posts with low social media activity display amber or red.
The plugin developers tested SocialMetricsPro on a network of 2,000+ 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 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 they also experienced a 310% increase in revenues.
(According to SocialMetricsPro developers, focusing on improving your social media marketing campaigns can dramatically affect your search rankings, web traffic and revenue!)
Learn more about this plugin here:
Plugin Benefits
Here we have listed just some of the many benefits and advantages of using Social Metrics Pro to track Likes, Tweets, Pins, +1s and more right from your WP Dashboard on your website:
Fast And Easy To Install And Set Up. Ready To Go To Work In Minutes.
Social Metrics Pro installs just like any regular plugin. Just upload it to your Plugins folder via your administrator area and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the user’s objective is to turn all red squares into greens. Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures social media signals the way Google sees it so you know where to put more effort and which ones need to be better optimized.
Track The Signals From Social Networks You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you track and monitor social activity across leading networks like Google+, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Digg, and StumbleUpon 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 this information can be accessed with just one click.
(Social Metrics Pro constantly tracks social signals from the social media sites that you care most about!)
Product Features
SocialMetricsPro offers site owners with a number of great features. Here are just a few:
- Quick and simple to install and set up. Ready to start using in very little time.
- Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using built-in and external widgets. Access the latest information right on your WP admin bar, add social content to your blog sidebar or anywhere on your site using point-and-click widgets.
- One-click upgrades. You can update Social Metrics Pro in a single click via the WordPress Updates page, or update it manually. You can also choose to receive email notifications whenever new plugin updates are released.
- Plugin uses very little resources. Social reports are compiled in seconds, using little server resources. Reports also include the amount of time spent retrieving information and the server memory used to gather and compile the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sort, Search And Filter Features: SocialMetricsPro lets you sort, search and filter data however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by post authors, post type, category, or by publishing date.
- 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.
(SocialMetricsPro is very simple to use … just change more red squares into greens!)
Feedback From Plugin Users
Below are just a few of the testimonials and feedback that plugin customers have published about the Social Metrics Pro plugin:
”Our entire marketing strategy relies on social media. Each post on the site has viral potential, but we needed one place to see which social networks are performing the best for us…We went ahead and got the PRO Version of Social Metrics.” Syed Balkhi, Founder of List25 and WPBeginner.com
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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
Useful Tips
Social Metrics Pro 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
Social Metrics Pro is well-supported, and comes with free support and free lifetime updates, backed by a no-risk, 60-day, complete refund guarantee.
Plugin Pricing
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License – This license option enables you to activate SocialMetricsPro on 1 site only. Includes free lifetime updates and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multiple Sites License Edition – This allows you to use SocialMetricsPro on unlimited sites that you own. Pricing 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 specials being offered. Currently, the plugin retails for the prices shown above. This may not be the actual pricing set by the plugin author when you visit the site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Plugin Info
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Our Recommendation
As mentioned earlier, social signals impact search engine rankings and 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. Social Metrics Pro 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 campaigns and shows you where and how to direct your efforts in order to improve your results.
SocialMetricsPro is ideal for beginners and advanced 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 would like to use social signals to get better search engine rankings.
For complete details, check out the plugin here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics Plugin
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