Social recommendations like +1s on GooglePlus, Facebook shares, likes, and comments, etc. are called social signals.
With the growth of social sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Bing and Google are now taking into account various social signals when determining a site’s ranking.
Note: Google encourages businesses 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. Google’s own head of its web spam team Matt Cutts 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 perfect ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign more 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 real value normally develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signal Sources
Social media sites that search engines look to for measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the largest social media network in the world. Research shows that an average post on Facebook can reach over 100,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving a massive amount of sales on your website, you should not be quick to dismiss the importance of Facebook in your online 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 rankings of all social media sites, like GooglePlus and Twitter.
(Number of monthly active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second biggest social media site in the world, with over 500 million tweets sent out each day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence on the cybersphere and places great emphasis on tweeting posts that provide value to followers over the number of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent every single day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google Plus
As Google’s own social media site, GooglePlus naturally carries a significant degree of authority online, even if it has not reached the same level of growth and take up as Twitter and Facebook.
(More people are interacting socially on GooglePlus each month. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big 3 social sites listed above, there are a number of other sites worth getting to know, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and Digg.
(A number of social media sites provide important signals to search engines that can affect your rankings)
Social Signals – Which Ones Should You Pay Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines like Google and Bing include the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook likes, comments, and shares a person has, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets your site has, how influential the person tweeting is, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many people follow you, spread rate of adds and shares, 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 signals that can influence search engine rankings and traffic. 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 of low quality by other users [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, measure and analyze your social signals in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media marketing to improve your results online)
Tracking 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, identify market opportunities, take preventative measures against the spread of negative comments or feedback by embittered customers, and assess competitor activity. Additionally, monitoring social media can also provide you with vital information about emerging trends and what consumers and clients think about specific products, brands, businesses, or topics.
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 a cross-section of groups that include market research, digital reputation management (ORM) companies, marketing professionals, social engagement and community staff, social media marketing agencies, and sales teams. Typically, small businesses don’t have the budget to pay social media monitoring professionals to continually track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately different technology providers have developed tools to facilitate the tracking of a wide spectrum of social media channels, allowing you to track what consumers are saying about your brand so you can react to conversations and engage with online users in various social media platforms.
We have written a detailed article listing over 30 social media tracking tools and technologies that are worth checking out and knowing about. For more details, go here:
(Do you know how to effectively measure social signals?)
This article explores a simple, yet highly effective plugin for WordPress-driven websites and blogs for tracking social signals and increasing your social media presence.
Introducing …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social analytics plugin for WordPress that is designed to make growing your social media influence uncomplicated. It is built on a simple concept – SocialMetricsPro measures how each signal is performing and displays either a red or green indicator. Your task is simple … turn reds into greens.
(A system that anyone can operate … 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 show up amber and red.
The plugin developers tested Social Metrics Pro on a network of 2,000+ websites over a period of 3 months. During this period, all they focused on was turning the “reds” to “greens” and then keeping everything “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 SocialMetricsPro developers, focusing on improving your social media marketing campaigns can impact your search rankings, traffic and revenue!)
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Plugin Benefits
Below we have listed just some of the benefits of using Social Metrics Pro to track Likes, Tweets, +1s, Pins and more directly from your WP Dashboard on your site:
Be Up And Running In Very Little Time
Social Metrics Pro is really easy to install. Simply upload the plugin file to your Plugins folder via your admin section and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the user’s objective is to convert all red squares into greens. Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures social signals the way Google sees it so you know which social marketing campaigns need more effort and which social marketing campaigns need to be better optimized.
Track Only Social Signals From Social Networks You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you monitor social media activity from social networks like GooglePlus, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Digg, and StumbleUpon directly from your WordPress dashboard.
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 SocialMetricsPro, all of this information is available on-demand, with just one click.
(Social Metrics Pro actively tracks social signals from the social sites that you care most about!)
Product Features
Social Metrics Pro provides WordPress users with many great features. Below we have listed a few:
- Fast and easy to install and use. Ready to start using in minutes.
- SocialMetricsPro Is Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality with external and built-in widgets. View the latest information right on your WP dashboard, add popular content to your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using widgets.
- One-click updating. Update Social Metrics Pro with a single click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update it manually. You can also opt to be notified via email whenever a new version is released.
- Minimal usage of server resources. The plugin can generate social metrics reports very quickly, using little hosting resources. Reports also display the amount of time spent retrieving information and the server memory used to gather the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sort, Search And Filter Features: SocialMetricsPro allows you to sort, search and filter your data as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by category, publishing date, post type, or post authors.
- 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.
(Social Metrics Pro is really simple to use … just change all the red squares into greens!)
Testimonials From Customers
Here are just some testimonials and comments users have submitted regarding 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
A step-by-step, practical guide on how to optimize your site for social media success (i.e. turn reds into greens) is also included.
Product Support
The plugin is well-supported, and users get lifetime updates and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, sixty-day, full refund guarantee.
Plugin Cost
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This enables you to run Social Metrics Pro on a single web site. It includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site Edition – This allows you to set up SocialMetricsPro on all web sites that you own. It includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: Current pricing for the Social Metrics Pro 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 review was written. This may not be the actual pricing set by the plugin seller when you visit the website 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.
Install The Product
As mentioned earlier, social signals impact search engine rankings and Google has been tracking social signals as part of its ranking algorithm.
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 immediate feedback on the success of your social media marketing strategy and shows you where to direct your efforts in order to improve your results.
SocialMetricsPro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WordPress admin area.
We recommend getting Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to make social media marketing campaigns work for you.
For more information, visit the plugin website here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics For WordPress
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