Social recommendations like Facebook comments, +1s on GooglePlus, etc. are called social signals.
Google has been elevating the importance given to social signals as part of its ranking algorithm for several years now.
Note: Google encourages businesses to build their brand on social media as a long-term investment to drive qualified traffic, instead of 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 assessing social media signals, as social trends and relationships can change at a moment’s notice. Without a perfect ‘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 a sensible one - “wait and see” how things develop over time, as sites that provide true value normally develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google naturally wants to display 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 monthly active users, Facebook is the most dominant social media network in the world. It has been estimated that an average post on Facebook can reach over 100,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving droves of customers to your site, don’t be quick to dismiss Facebook as an important part of your online business strategy, as Google uses 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.
(Number of monthly 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 day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence online and places great emphasis on tweeting posts that provide value to followers over the amount of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent every day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google Plus
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 GooglePlus each year. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big 3 social media giants listed above, there are a number of other sites that provide important social metrics, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Digg, and Reddit.
(Social media sites provide important signals that could affect your search engine rankings)
Social Signals – Which Ones Should You Pay Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines like Google and Bing include:
- 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, how influential the person tweeting is, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (influential users), how many followers on GooglePlus a URL has accrued, number and growth rate of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. number of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on StumbleUpon, etc.
- Not so obvious signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious signals that can influence search traffic and rankings. 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 irrelevant by other users [negative].
As a business owner, it’s not only important to develop your social media presence, but also to be able to track and analyze your social media in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media marketing can help improve your business results)
Social media monitoring allows you to find insights into your company’s overall visibility on social media, spy on your competitors, avert disasters, measure the impact of campaigns, and spot opportunities for engagement. It can also provide valuable data about emerging trends and what consumers and clients think 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, often carried out by various groups that include market researchers, digital reputation management companies, marketing teams, social media marketing agencies, social engagement and community personnel, and professional sales reps. Typically, many 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 many technology companies have developed tools to facilitate the tracking of a variety of social media channels, allowing you to track consumer behavior around your products or brand so you can respond to conversations and interact with consumers in a timely manner.
We have written a detailed article on social media tracking tools and technologies that will help you manage, measure, and analyze your social media marketing campaigns. For more details, go here:
(Do you know how to effectively track your social signals?)
This article discusses a simple social media tracking tool for a WordPress-based web presence and increasing your social media influence.
Our Recommended WordPress Plugin Is …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics Plugin
Plugin Description
SocialMetricsPro is an easy-to-install social media analytics WordPress plugin that is designed to help you increase your social media exposure in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple premise – Social Metrics Pro measures how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. The site owner’s objective is simple … convert reds into greens.
(SocialMetricsPro provides a standard operating procedure that anyone 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 are colored green. Posts with low social media activity show up amber or red.
The developers of Social Metrics Pro tested their plugin on a network of 2,000+ 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 campaigns can result in higher search rankings, more web traffic and increased revenue!)
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Benefits
Here we have listed just some of the many benefits and advantages of using SocialMetricsPro to track Tweets, Likes, +1s, Pins and more directly from your WP Dashboard on your site:
Installation Is Easy
Social Metrics Pro installs just like any WordPress plugin. Just upload it to your Plugins folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s objective is to turn all the reds into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social media signals so you know where to invest more effort and where to optimize.
Track Only Signals You Care About
Social Metrics Pro allows you to centrally track and monitor social activity across leading networks like Twitter, Facebook, GooglePlus, Pinterest, Digg, StumbleUpon, and LinkedIn.
Social Metrics Pro helps you get answers to questions like:
- Which social media networks work best for my site?
- Which posts are performing the best on these social networks?
- Which of my posts are the most popular on social media?
- And more …
With SocialMetricsPro, all this information can be accessed with just one click.
(Social Metrics Pro constantly monitors the social sites that you care most about!)
Product Features
Social Metrics Pro offers many features to WP users. Here are a few of these:
- Quick and easy to install and implement. Be up and running in very little time.
- Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality using external and built-in widgets. SocialMetricsPro shows updated information right on your WordPress admin bar, display social content on your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using point-and-click widgets.
- 1-click upgrading. You can update SocialMetricsPro in one click via the WordPress Updates page, or update it manually. You can also choose to receive email notifications when a new version is released.
- Plugin uses very little server resources. Social reports are compiled fast, consuming minimal hosting resources. Report generation also includes the amount of time spent retrieving the information and the server resources used to gather and compile the data.
Additional features include:
- Sort, Search And Filter Features: Social Metrics Pro allows you to sort and filter the data however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by post authors, category, publishing date, or by post type.
- Export Data: 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.
(Social Metrics Pro is simple to use … just change all reds into greens!)
Feedback From Users
Here are just a few of the testimonials that plugin users have written about the SocialMetricsPro plugin:
”Social Metrics is the easiest way to see at a glance which posts have performed well on social networks.” Kevin Muldoon, Founder of WPMods.com
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”Social Metrics is one of the recipes for Social WordPress. You can integrate it quickly and easily on your WordPress site to view your performance on social networks” Jean-Francois Arseneault, Arseneault Consultation
SocialMetricsPro – Tips
Social Metrics Pro includes a practical, step-by-step guide on how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. how to turn reds into greens).
Product Support
The software is well-supported, and users get lifetime updates and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, 60-day, complete refund guarantee.
Plugin Pricing
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License – This license option allows you to configure Social Metrics Pro on a single site. Includes free lifetime updates and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multiple Sites License Edition – This license option enables you to install Social Metrics Pro on multiple sites that you own. Price includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: Price details for this product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Currently, the product is being retailed for the prices shown above. This may not be the actual price charged by the software developer when you visit the plugin site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Plugin Information
SocialMetricsPro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Our Recommendation
As mentioned earlier, with the rise of social sites like Twitter and Facebook, search engines like Google and Bing are now taking into account social signals when determining a site’s ranking.
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 instant feedback on the success of their social media marketing campaigns and shows them where and how 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 Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to improve social visibility and see more of your keywords getting ranked on search engines.
For more information, visit the plugin website: SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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