Social interactions like Twitter mentions and retweets, Facebook likes, etc. are called social signals.
With the rising importance of social sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Bing and Google now take into account social signals when determining website 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 social trends and relationships can change at a moment’s notice. Without a reliable ‘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 to “wait and see” how things develop over time, as sites that provide real value develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google wants to rank higher in its search listings.
Social Signal Sources
Social sites that search engines like Google and Bing look to for measuring social signals include:
With more than 1.5 billion active users, Facebook is the most dominant social media network in the world. Research shows that one great post can reach over 100,000 users, so even if no one is buying your products or services on Facebook, don’t be quick to dismiss Facebook as an important part of your online business strategy, as Google processes social data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems influence website rankings more than other social media sites.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second biggest social media site in the world, with over half a billion tweets sent out every single day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer online and places great emphasis on tweeting posts that provide value to followers over the number of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent every single day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google+
Google’s own social site 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 on Google+ each year. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big 3 social sites listed above, there are a number of other social media networks worth getting to know, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon,Reddit, and Digg.
(Social media sites provide important signals to search engines that can affect your rankings)
Social Signals – Which Ones Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines like Google and Bing include:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook comments, shares, and likes a person has, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets your web page has, how influential the person retweeting your posts is, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (influential users), how many people follow you, amount and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. number of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on Digg, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious signals that can indirectly influence search engine rankings and traffic. These include positive and negative factors, such as age and authority of your social media account [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be of low quality by visitors [negative].
As a business owner, it’s important to not only find ways to grow your social media presence, but also to be able to monitor and analyze your social signals in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media can improve your results online)
Monitoring social media activity allows you to find insights into your brand’s overall visibility on social media, take preventative measures if you detect negative comments or feedback by embittered customers, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, identify opportunities for engagement, and spy on your competitors. It can also provide valuable information about emerging trends and what consumers and clients are thinking about specific businesses, products, topics, or brands.
As a business intelligence tool, social media signal 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 PR staff, market research, marketing teams, professional sales reps, social media marketing agencies, and social engagement and community personnel. Typically, small businesses don’t can’t afford to pay a social media monitoring service to continually track their coverage in the and actively monitor their online reputation.
Fortunately different technology companies have developed affordable tools that facilitate the monitoring of a broad range of social media channels, enabling companies to identify what is being said online about their products or brands so they can react to conversations and engage with online users in a timely manner.
We have written a detailed article on social media measurement tools that will help you keep track of online trends, monitor competitor activity, see what conversations are taking place online that can affect your business, etc, see what online conversations are taking place that can affect your business,etc. Go here to learn more:
(Are you measuring your social signals effectively?)
In this article, we look at a simple, yet effective plugin for WordPress-driven websites and blogs for monitoring social signals and growing your social media influence online.
Let’s Review …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
Description Of Plugin
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-use social media analytics plugin for WordPress that is designed to help users improve their social media presence in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple concept – SocialMetricsPro measures how each signal is performing and displays either a green or red indicator. The user’s job is simple … change all the reds into greens.
(A system that anyone can follow … just turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics. Posts that receive the most shares show up green. Posts with low social media activity display amber or red.
The plugin developers tested SocialMetricsPro on a network of over two thousand sites 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 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, improving your social media marketing can result in better search rankings, more traffic and more revenue!)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Benefits
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using SocialMetricsPro to track Likes, Tweets, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WordPress Dashboard on your web site:
Quick And Easy To Install And Set Up. Ready To Use In No Time.
Social Metrics Pro installs just like every other plugin. Simply upload it to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Really Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the user’s job is to convert all the red squares into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social signals so you know where to invest more effort and where to optimize.
Track Only Signals You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you centrally monitor social media activity from social media networks like Twitter, Facebook, GooglePlus, StumbleUpon, Digg, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.
SocialMetricsPro helps you get answers to questions like:
- Which social networks work best for my site?
- Which posts are performing the best on these social networks?
- Which of my posts are the most popular?
- And more …
With SocialMetricsPro, all this information can be accessed with a single click.
(SocialMetricsPro actively tracks social signals from the sites that you care most about!)
Plugin Features
Social Metrics Pro provides a number of great features to website owners. Here are just a few of these:
- Quick 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 built-in and external widgets. SocialMetricsPro shows the latest stats right on your WP admin bar, display social content on your sidebar or anywhere on your site using point-and-click widgets.
- 1-click auto-upgrading functionality. Update the plugin with one click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update it manually. You can also choose to receive an email notification whenever a new version is released.
- Minimal use of server resources. Reporting is fast, consuming very little hosting resources. The tool also displays the amount of time it took to retrieve the information and the server memory used to compile the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sorting, Searching And Filtering Features: SocialMetricsPro lets you sort, search and filter the information as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by category, post type, post authors, or publishing date.
- Export Data: You can export and plot filtered data and custom queries in 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 reds into greens!)
User Testimonials
Here are just a few of the testimonials and feedback that plugin customers have provided for the SocialMetricsPro plugin:
”As with any cool plugin, it solves a very simple problem – how to view how well your WordPress posts are being promoted.” Adam Small, Marketing Tech Blog
***
“Social Metrics Takes WordPress Stats to the Next Level.” Lorraine Ball, Creative Director, Roundpeg
SocialMetricsPro – Tips
A practical guide showing you how to optimize your campaigns and improve your social media strategy (i.e. turn reds into greens) is also included.
Social Metrics Pro Plugin Support
The plugin is well-supported, and comes with free lifetime updates and support, backed by a no-risk, sixty-day, complete money-back guarantee.
Software Cost
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This edition allows you to activate SocialMetricsPro on a single web site. Includes free lifetime updates and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multiple Sites Edition – This enables you to run SocialMetricsPro on all the websites that you own. It includes free lifetime updates and support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: The price of this product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The price shown above was current when this article was written. This may or may not be the actual price set by the plugin seller when you visit the site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest price here:
Additional Information
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Install 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 users immediate feedback on the success of their social media marketing strategy and guides them where to direct their efforts in order to improve their results.
Social Metrics Pro is ideal for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WP admin area.
We recommend this plugin if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to make social marketing campaigns work for you.
To learn more, check out the plugin here: SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
***
***