Social recommendations like Twitter retweets and mentions, Facebook comments, etc. are called social signals.
With the increased importance of social sites like Twitter and Facebook, search engines like Bing and Google now take into account social signals to help determine a site’s 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. Google’s own head of the web spam team Matt Cutts 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 perfect ‘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 websites that Google naturally wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signal Sources
Social sites that search engines like Google and Bing look to when measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 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 a ton of sales on your website, you should not be quick to dismiss Facebook as an important part of your business strategy, as Google uses 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.
(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 single day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer online and places great emphasis on the authority of tweets posted to followers over the volume of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent each day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google+
Google’s own social media site naturally carries a significant degree of authority online, even if it is still a fledgling online community compared to sites like Facebook and Twitter.
(More people are interacting socially on GooglePlus each day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
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.
(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 Bing and Google include:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook shares, comments, and likes a person has, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets your site has, how influential the person sending tweets is, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (influential users), how many people follow you, number and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. number 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 indirectly influence search engine traffic. These include desirable and undesirable factors, such as backlinks from authority sites (not as relevant as they once were, but still a factor) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by site reviewers [negative].
As a website owner, it’s important to not only grow your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to track, measure and analyze your social media marketing campaigns in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media can help improve your results online)
Tracking social media activity allows you to find insights into your company’s online visibility on social media, measure the impact of campaigns, spy on the competition, identify market opportunities, and help you take preventative measures if you detect negative comments or feedback by online users. It can also provide you with vital data about emerging trends and what clients and consumers are thinking about specific brands, products, businesses, or topics.
As a business intelligence tool, being able to track social media channels like blogs, internet forums, wikis, micro-blogging platforms like Twitter, Quora, etc., message 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 people including digital reputation management (ORM) agencies, marketing professionals, market researchers, agencies, social engagement and community personnel, and professional sales reps. Typically, small businesses don’t can’t afford to pay a social media monitoring service to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately many service providers have developed tools that facilitate the tracking of a wide spectrum of social media channels, allowing companies to identify and even predict consumer behavior around their brands or products so they can respond to conversations and engage with consumers in a timely fashion.
We have written a detailed article where we explore several social media monitoring tools that are worth checking out and knowing about. To learn more, go here:
(Are you searching for an effective tool to help you track your social signals?)
This article discusses a simple plugin for WordPress users for monitoring social signals and improving your social media exposure.
Introducing …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics Plugin
Description
SocialMetricsPro is an easy-to-install social analytics WordPress plugin that is designed to help you improve your social media presence online in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple premise – the system tracks and measures how each signal is performing and displays either a red or green indicator. Your goal is to convert all 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 that get shared the most show up green. Posts with low social media activity are colored amber and red.
The plugin developers tested SocialMetricsPro on a network of 2,000+ websites over a period of 3 months. During this period, all they focused on was turning the “reds” to “greens” and then keeping their metrics on “green”. According to the plugin developers, 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 Social Metrics Pro developers, improving your social marketing can impact your search engine rankings, web traffic and revenue!)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Benefits Of Using SocialMetricsPro
Here are 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:
Ready To Start Using In Minutes
SocialMetricsPro installs just like any other WP plugin. Just upload it to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s task is to convert all red squares into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social signals the way Google sees it so you know which social marketing campaigns require investing more effort and which campaigns need to be better optimized.
Track Only Social Signals From The Networks You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you monitor social activity across leading networks like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, Digg, and Pinterest.
SocialMetricsPro lets you easily answer questions like:
- Which social 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 Social Metrics Pro, all this information can be accessed with a single click.
(SocialMetricsPro constantly tracks social signals from the social media sites that you care most about!)
Social Metrics Pro Features
SocialMetricsPro provides WP users with many features. Below we have listed a few of these:
- Quick and simple to install and configure. Be up and running in minutes.
- Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality with built-in and external widgets. Social Metrics Pro shows updated stats right on your WP admin bar, display popular content on your sidebar or anywhere on your site using point-and-click widgets.
- One-click upgrades. You can update the plugin in a single click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update the manually manually. You can also choose to receive email notifications when a new version is released.
- Low server resource consumption. Reports are generated in seconds, using minimal hosting resources. The tool also displays the amount of time spent retrieving information and the server resources consumed when gathering the data.
Additional features include:
- Sorting, Searching & Filtering Features: Social Metrics Pro lets you sort and filter data however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by publishing date, post authors, category, or by post type.
- Export Data To Excel: 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.
(SocialMetricsPro is really simple to use … just change reds into greens!)
Feedback From Users
Below are a couple of the testimonials that users have published about SocialMetricsPro:
“Social Metrics Pro is the essential plugin we use to monitor how our content performs on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. It’s simple, neat and works precisely as you would expect it. When we work with our clients such as T-Mobile, the .Me domain name registry and others, Social Metrics Pro is the plugin we use to create reports as well as keep track on each bit of content to optimize it for future performance.” Ivan Brezak Brkan, Editor of Netokracija.com, TechCrunch EU Contributor
***
”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
Product Tips
A step-by-step, practical guide showing you how to optimize your campaigns and improve your social media strategy (i.e. how to turn reds into greens) is also included.
Product Support
Social Metrics Pro is well-supported, and comes with free lifetime updates and support, backed by a no-risk, 60-day, full refund guarantee.
Product License Price
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This edition allows you to configure SocialMetricsPro on a single web site. It includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites License – This allows you to set up SocialMetricsPro on all sites that you own. Price includes free lifetime updates and free support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: The cost of purchasing SocialMetricsPro depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. When we last checked, the plugin sells for the pricing shown above. This may not be the actual price charged 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 current pricing here:
Additional Information
Social Metrics Pro 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 Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Google and Bing are now taking into account various social signals to help determine a site’s 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 guides you how and where 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 SocialMetricsPro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to track your social signals automatically.
For more information, visit the plugin website here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics For WordPress
***
***