Social interactions and recommendations like Facebook likes, shares, and comments, Twitter mentions and retweets, etc. are called social signals.
With the increased importance of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Google and Bing now take into account various social signals to help determine website ranking.
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 social signals, as so many things change quickly on social media. Without a full ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign more importance to social signals 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 real value tend to develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google naturally wants to rank higher in its search listings.
Social Signals – Which Sites Matter?
Social media sites that search engines like Google and Bing look to for measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion active users, Facebook is the most dominant social media network in the world. It has been estimated that a single post on Facebook can reach over 100,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving droves of customers to your website, don’t 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 influence search rankings more than other social media sites, like Google+ and Twitter.
(Number of monthly active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the next biggest social media site in the world, with over half a billion tweets sent out each day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer online and places great importance on the authority of tweets posted to readers over the volume of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent every single day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google Plus
As Google’s own social site, Google+ naturally carries a significant degree of authority online, even if it has not reached the same level of growth and take up as Facebook and Twitter.
(More people are starting to interact socially on Google+ every week. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big 3 listed above, there are a number of other social media networks that should not be ignored, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Digg, and Reddit.
(A number of social sites provide important signals to search engines that can affect your rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Search engines track a number of social signals, including:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook comments, shares, and likes you have, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets your URL has, the number of people sharing your URL, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (influential users), how many followers on GooglePlus your web page has accrued, number of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on Reddit, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious signals that can influence search engine 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 irrelevant by visitors [negative].
As a website owner, it’s important to not only develop your social media presence, but also to be able to monitor and analyze your social signals in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media to improve your business results)
Tracking social media activity allows you to gain insights into what people are saying about your company, services, or brand on social media, help you take preventative measures if you detect negative comments or feedback by dissatisfied users, measure the impact of campaigns, spot potential market opportunities, and spy on your competitors. Additionally, social media monitoring can also provide you with vital data about emerging trends and what clients and consumers are thinking about specific brands, businesses, topics, or products.
As a business intelligence tool, social monitoring is invaluable. Using social media monitoring as a form of business intelligence, however, is a complex undertaking, typically carried out by various groups that include market researchers, marketing teams, digital reputation management (ORM) specialists, sales teams, social marketing agencies, and social engagement and community staff. Typically, smaller businesses don’t can’t afford to pay social media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the and actively monitor their digital reputation.
Fortunately many technology providers have developed affordable tools that facilitate the active tracking of a variety of social media channels, enabling you to identify and even predict consumer behavior around your brand or products allowing you to respond to conversations and engage with online users in various social media platforms.
If you want to learn more about social media measurement tools that you may want to check out, see this article:
(Can you measure social signals effectively?)
In this article, we look at a simple, yet highly effective social media monitoring plugin for WordPress and increasing your social media influence.
Introducing …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social media analytics premium WordPress plugin that is designed to make growing your social media influence online uncomplicated. It is built on a simple premise – SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures how each signal is performing and returns either a red or green indicator. The site owner’s goal is simple … turn red squares into greens.
(A standard operating procedure that any user can operate … turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics. 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 SocialMetricsPro 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”. 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 the plugin developers, focusing on improving your social marketing can result in higher search engine rankings, more traffic and increased revenue!)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Benefits
Below we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Social Metrics Pro to track Likes, Tweets, +1s, Pins and more right from your WP Dashboard on your site:
Easy Installation
SocialMetricsPro is really easy to install. Just upload a zip folder containing the plugin to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, your objective is to change all the reds into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social signals the way Google sees it so you know which social campaigns need you to invest more effort and which need to be better optimized.
Track Only Social Signals From Social Networks You Care About
Social Metrics Pro provides a powerful dashboard to track and monitor social media activity from social networks like Google+, Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Digg directly from your WP 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 are my most popular posts?
- And more …
With SocialMetricsPro, all of this information is available on-demand, with just one click.
(SocialMetricsPro actively monitors social signals from the social sites that you care most about!)
SocialMetricsPro Features
SocialMetricsPro provides WP users with a number of features. Here are just a few:
- Quick and simple to install and set up. Be up and running in no time.
- SocialMetricsPro Is Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using external and built-in widgets. View updated stats right on your WordPress dashboard, add socially popular content to your sidebar or anywhere in your site using point-and-click widgets.
- 1-click upgrading. You can update Social Metrics Pro with one click via the WordPress Updates page, or update it manually. You can also opt to be notified via email when a new version is released.
- Plugin suits even the smallest hosting configuration. Social metrics reports are generated very quickly, using little server resources. Reports also include the amount of time used to retrieve information and the server resources consumed when gathering and compiling the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sort, Search & Filter Features: SocialMetricsPro lets you sort, search and filter information as 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 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 Excel or the spreadsheet application of your choice.
(SocialMetricsPro is very simple to use … just convert more reds into greens!)
Feedback From Product Users
Here are some of the testimonials plugin customers have written about 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
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“Social Metrics Takes WordPress Stats to the Next Level.” Lorraine Ball, Creative Director, Roundpeg
SocialMetricsPro Plugin – Useful Tips
SocialMetricsPro includes a step-by-step guide on how to optimize your campaigns and improve your social media strategy (i.e. turn reds into greens).
Social Metrics Pro Support
The software is well-supported, and comes with free lifetime updates and support, backed by a risk-free, 60-day, full refund guarantee.
Software Pricing
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License Edition – This option allows you to set up SocialMetricsPro on a single web site. Includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site Licensing – This edition allows you to configure SocialMetricsPro on multiple sites that you own. Pricing includes free lifetime updates and free support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: Price details for the Social Metrics Pro product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the price when this content was published. This may not be the actual pricing set by the product seller when you visit the product website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing information here:
Additional Plugin Information
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Our Recommendation
As mentioned earlier, social signals impact search engine rankings and 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. Social Metrics Pro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives users instant feedback on the success of their social marketing strategy and guides them where to direct their efforts in order to improve their results.
Social Metrics Pro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WP dashboard.
We recommend SocialMetricsPro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to make social media marketing measurable.
For full details, check out the plugin here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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