Social interactions and recommendations like Facebook likes, +1s on Google+, etc. are called social signals.
Google has been tracking social signals as part of its ranking algorithm for several years now.
Note: Google encourages website owners to build their social 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 own web spam team 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 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 websites that provide true value tend to develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signals – Which Social Sites Matter?
Social media sites that search engines like Google and Bing look to for measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most dominant social network in the world. It has been estimated that a single post on Facebook can reach over 100,000 users, so even if no one seems to be buying your products or services on Facebook, you should not be quick to dismiss Facebook as an important part of your business strategy, as Google uses social data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, research shows that Facebook seems influence search engine rankings more than other social media sites, like GooglePlus or Twitter.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the next largest social media site in the world, with over half a billion 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 number of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent every day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google Plus
Google’s own social networking 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 actively using GooglePlus every week. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big 3 social sites listed above, there are a number of other social sites worth paying attention to, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Digg, Reddit, and StumbleUpon.
(Social media sites provide important signals that could affect your search engine rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines like Google and Bing include:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook comments, likes, and shares a person has, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets a URL has, the authority of the person sharing your posts, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many people are following you, amount and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on Digg, etc.
- Not so obvious signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious social media-related factors that can influence search 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 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 monitor and analyze social signals in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media marketing to help improve your business results)
Social media monitoring allows you to gain insights into what people are saying about your company, services, or brand on social media, be alerted to disasters, measure the impact of campaigns, spy on your competitors, and identify opportunities for engagement. It can also provide vital information about emerging trends and what clients and consumers think about specific products, topics, brands, or businesses.
As a tool for business intelligence, being able to track social media channels like blogging, forums, wikis, micro-blogging platforms like Twitter, Medium, etc., discussion boards, video/photo sharing sites, and user-generated content 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 professionals, market researchers, PR companies, sales teams, agencies, and social engagement and community personnel. Typically, small businesses don’t have the budget to pay media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the and actively monitor their online reputation.
Fortunately various providers have developed affordable tools to facilitate the tracking of a wide spectrum of social media channels, enabling companies to identify what customers, competitors, supporters, and critics are saying about their brands allowing them to respond proactively to conversations and interact with online users in a timely manner.
We have created a detailed article where we explore over 30 social media measurement tools and technologies that will help you manage, measure, and analyze your social media marketing campaigns. See this page to learn more:
(Do you know how to effectively monitor social signals?)
This article explores a simple social media monitoring tool for WordPress and increasing your social media influence online.
Introducing …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics WordPress Plugin
Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-use social analytics plugin for WordPress that is designed to make growing your social media influence online uncomplicated. It is built on a simple concept – Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. Your task is simple … change more reds into greens.
(A standard operating procedure that any user can follow … turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics. Posts that get shared the most display green. Posts with low social media activity display amber and 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 their metrics on “green”. From these tests, they were able to notice a 360% improvement in traffic for their top 10 performing sites, 410% more keywords ranked in the first page of Google and their revenue increased by 310%.
(According to the plugin developers, improving your social marketing campaigns can result in better search rankings, increased web traffic and an increase in revenue!)
Go here to learn more:
Benefits Of Using SocialMetricsPro
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits of using SocialMetricsPro to track Likes, Tweets, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WP Dashboard on your web site:
Quick And Easy To Install And Set Up. Ready To Go To Work In Minutes.
SocialMetricsPro is quite easy to install. Simply upload it to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Really Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, your task is to convert all the reds into greens. Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures social signals so you know which social campaigns need more effort and where to optimize.
Track Social Signals From Social Networks You Care About
SocialMetricsPro provides a powerful dashboard to monitor social media activity across leading social networks like Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, and Digg directly from your WordPress dashboard.
SocialMetricsPro helps you get answers to questions like:
- Which social networks work best for my site?
- Which social campaigns are performing the best on these social networks?
- Which of my posts are the most popular?
- And more …
With SocialMetricsPro, all of this information can be accessed with a single click.
(SocialMetricsPro actively monitors social signals from the sites that you care most about!)
Social Metrics Pro Features
Social Metrics Pro provides web site owners with many unique features. Here are a few:
- Quick and simple to install and use. Ready to use in minutes.
- Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using built-in and external widgets. Access the latest information right on your WordPress dashboard, display popular content on your blog sidebar or anywhere on your site using point-and-click widgets.
- 1-click upgrading. You can update the plugin in one click via the WordPress Updates page, or update it manually. You can also opt to receive email notifications when a new version is released.
- Plugin suits even the smallest hosting. Reporting is fast, consuming very little server resources. The tool also displays the amount of time spent retrieving information and the server memory consumed when gathering and compiling data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sort, Search & Filter Features: Social Metrics Pro allows you to sort 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 type, post authors, 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 the spreadsheet application of your choice.
(Social Metrics Pro is very simple to use … just turn all reds into greens!)
User Feedback
Below are some of the testimonials and feedback customers have published about Social Metrics Pro:
”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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”If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve.” Goes one of the most important sayings in business. And this is particularly true for tracking of your social mentions I found. There were two things that helped me a great deal to increase sharing after installing Social Metrics: First, I was able to see that some of my articles would perform much better on networks I wasn’t particularly using, such as StumbleUpon for example. Secondly, I could filter out the best performing content more easily and analyse what makes my readers share. Since then I have focused strongly on producing and replicating those posts that performed best.” Leo Widrich, Co-Founder of Buffer
Product Tips
SocialMetricsPro comes with a step-by-step guide showing you how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. how to turn reds into greens).
SocialMetricsPro Support
The plugin is well-supported, and users get lifetime upgrades and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, sixty-day, 100% money-back guarantee.
Product Licensing Pricing
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This license option enables you to use Social Metrics Pro on a single site. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites Edition – This lets you use SocialMetricsPro on multiple web sites that you own. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: Pricing for the Social Metrics Pro software can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Currently, the plugin is selling for the amounts shown above. 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 you’ve purchased.
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.
In Conclusion
As mentioned earlier, with the rise of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Bing and Google have started taking into account social signals when determining website ranking.
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 instant 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.
Social Metrics Pro is ideal for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WP dashboard.
We recommend getting Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to shave years off your social media marketing learning curve.
For more details, visit the plugin website here: SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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