Social recommendations like Facebook likes, comments, and shares, +1s on GooglePlus, etc. are called social signals.
With the rise of social sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines now take into account various social signals when determining website ranking.
Note: Google encourages website owners 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. Google’s own head of its web spam team Matt Cutts has stated that Google takes a cautious approach when it comes to social signals, 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 short, Google’s strategy is to “wait and see” how things develop over time, as sites that provide true value normally develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signals – Which Social Sites Matter?
Social sites that search engines look to when measuring social signals include:
With over 1.5 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most influential social community in the world. Research shows that a single post can reach over 100,000 users, so even if no one is buying your products or services on Facebook, you should not be quick to dismiss the power of leveraging Facebook, as Google uses social data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems to have the most influence on website rankings of all social media sites, like Google+ and Twitter.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second largest social media site in the world, with over half a billion tweets sent out every day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer 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: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google+
As Google’s own social media site, Google+ naturally carries a significant degree of authority online, even if it is still a fledgling online community compared to sites like Twitter and Facebook.
(More people are interacting on Google+ each year. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big three listed above, there are a number of other social media networks worth paying attention to, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Digg, and Reddit.
(A number of social sites provide important signals that can affect your search rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Pay Attention To?
Search engines like Bing and Google track a number of social signals, including:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook comments, likes, and shares a person has, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, the authority of the person sending a tweet, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many people are following you, amount of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. number of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on StumbleUpon, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious social media-related signals that can indirectly influence search engine 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 of low quality by other users [negative].
As a business owner, it’s important to not only find ways to develop your social media presence, but also to be able to monitor, measure and analyze social media in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media can improve your results online)
Tracking social media activity allows you to find insights into what people are saying about your company, brand, or services on social media, take preventative measures if you detect negative comments or feedback by online users, measure the impact of campaigns, identify market opportunities, and assess competitor activity. Additionally, monitoring social media can also provide vital information about emerging trends and what consumers and clients are thinking about specific businesses, products, brands, or topics.
As a business intelligence tool, social media 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 PR companies, market researchers, marketing professionals, agencies, social engagement and community staff, and professional sales reps. Typically, smaller businesses don’t can’t afford to pay media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately a number of technology providers have developed affordable tools and solutions to facilitate the monitoring of a variety of social media channels, allowing companies to identify consumer behavior around their brands or products so they can respond proactively to conversations and engage with consumers in various social media platforms.
We have written a detailed article where we explore a number of social media measurement tools and technologies that are worth knowing about. More info:
(Can you measure your social signals effectively?)
In this article, we review a simple, yet highly effective social media monitoring plugin for WordPress and increasing your social media presence online.
Presenting …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics WordPress Plugin
Description Of Plugin
SocialMetricsPro is an easy-to-use social analytics premium WordPress plugin that is designed to make increasing your social media exposure online uncomplicated. It is built on a simple premise – SocialMetricsPro tracks how each signal is performing and displays either a red or green indicator. The user’s objective is simple … turn all reds into greens.
(A system that any website owner can follow … turn all the reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics with Excel-like conditional color formatting. Posts with the highest number of shares show up 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+ sites 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 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 marketing campaigns can result in better search rankings, more traffic and increased revenue!)
For more details go here:
Benefits
Here are just a few of the benefits and advantages of using SocialMetricsPro to track Likes, Tweets, +1s, Pins and more right from your WordPress Dashboard on your web site:
Fast And Easy To Install And Configure. Be Up And Running In Very Little Time.
SocialMetricsPro installs like any regular plugin. Simply upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s goal is to convert all the red squares into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social media signals so you know where to invest more effort and where to optimize.
Select Only Social Signals You Care About
Social Metrics Pro lets you track and monitor social activity across leading networks like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Digg, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and StumbleUpon.
SocialMetricsPro lets you easily answer questions like:
- Which social media networks work best for my site?
- Which posts are performing the best on these social networks?
- Which are my most popular posts?
- And more …
With SocialMetricsPro, all of this information can be accessed with a single click.
(SocialMetricsPro actively tracks the social sites that you care most about!)
Product Features
SocialMetricsPro offers site owners with many great features. Here are just a few:
- Quick and simple to install and set up. Be up and running in minutes.
- SocialMetricsPro Is Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using built-in and external widgets. Social Metrics Pro shows updated information from your WordPress admin bar, display socially popular content on your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using widgets.
- One-click updates. Update SocialMetricsPro in a single click via the WordPress Updates page, or update the manually manually. You can also choose to receive email notifications when new versions are released.
- Minimal server resources consumption. Social metrics reports are compiled fast, using little hosting resources. Reports also display the amount of time it took to retrieve the information and the server memory consumed when gathering data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sorting, Searching & Filtering Features: Social Metrics Pro allows you to sort, search and filter information however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by category, post authors, post type, or publishing date.
- Export Data: You can export filtered, sorted data and custom queries to 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 really simple to use … just convert all the red squares into greens!)
User Feedback
Here are just a few of the testimonials and feedback users have published about SocialMetricsPro:
”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 (WordCamp Montreal 2011)
Social Metrics Pro – Tips
A step-by-step guide on how to optimize your site for social media success (i.e. turn reds into greens) is also included.
Support
Social Metrics Pro is well-supported, and users get lifetime upgrades and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 60-day, complete money-back guarantee.
Plugin Price
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License – This edition enables you to run Social Metrics Pro on a single site. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multiple Sites License – This enables you to install Social Metrics Pro on multiple sites that you own. Includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: The cost to purchase the SocialMetricsPro product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the price at the time this article was written. This may not be the actual price charged by the product seller when you visit the plugin site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing details here:
Additional Product Information
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
We Recommend
As mentioned earlier, 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. Social Metrics Pro 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 campaigns and guides them how to direct their efforts in order to improve their 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 SocialMetricsPro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to make social media marketing measurable.
For more information, visit the plugin website: Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics For WordPress
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