Social interactions like Facebook comments, shares, and likes, +1s on Google+, etc. are called social signals.
With the rise of social sites like Twitter and Facebook, search engines like Bing and Google now take into account social signals when determining a website’s ranking.
Note: Google encourages businesses to build their social presence 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 assessing social media signals, as social trends and relationships can change at a moment’s notice. Without a reliable ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign too much importance to the social sphere 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 real value normally develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google naturally wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signals – Which Sites Matter?
Social media sites that search engines like Google look to when measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion active users, Facebook is the most influential social media community on the planet. Research shows that an average post can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving a ton of sales on your site, don’t 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 indicates that Facebook seems influence website rankings more than other social media sites, like GooglePlus and Twitter.
(Number of monthly active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second biggest social media site in the world, with over 600 million tweets sent out every single day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer on the cybersphere and places great importance on tweeting posts that provide value to readers over the number of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent every single day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google Plus
Google’s own social media site 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+ each year. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big 3 listed above, there are a number of other social media networks worth getting to know, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon,Reddit, and Digg.
(Social media sites provide important signals to search engines that can affect your rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Pay Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines like Google and Bing include the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook comments, shares, and likes you have, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, how influential the person sharing the posts is, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (influential users), how many followers on GooglePlus your URL has accrued, authority of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate 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 social media-related signals that can indirectly 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 of poor quality by other users [negative].
As a business owner, it’s important to not only find ways to grow your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to track, measure and analyze your social signals in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media can help improve your business results)
Tracking social media activity allows you to find insights into what people are saying about your products, brand, or company on social media, spy on your competitors, help you take preventative measures against the spread of negative comments or feedback by dissatisfied customers, measure the impact of campaigns, and spot opportunities for engagement. Additionally, monitoring social media can also provide valuable information about emerging trends and what clients and consumers are thinking about specific topics, businesses, brands, or products.
As a business intelligence tool, the ability to monitor social media is invaluable. Using social media monitoring as a form of business intelligence, however, is a complex undertaking, often carried out by various people including PR staff, marketing teams, market research, agencies, social engagement and community staff, and sales teams. Typically, smaller businesses don’t have the budget to pay social media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately various technology companies have developed affordable tools and solutions that facilitate the monitoring of a wide range of social media channels, allowing you to identify and even predict consumer behavior around your products or brand allowing you to respond proactively to conversations and interact with online users in various social media platforms.
We have created a detailed article listing several social media measurement tools and technologies that will help you identify new business opportunities, track competitor activity, see what online conversations are taking place that could affect your business,etc. For more information, go here:
(Are you looking for an effective way to monitor your social signals?)
This article discusses a simple plugin for WordPress users for tracking social signals and improving your social media exposure online.
Introducing …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics Plugin For WordPress
Description Of Plugin
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social analytics plugin that is designed to help users improve their social media exposure in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple concept – Social Metrics Pro measures how each signal is performing and displays either a green or red indicator. Your task is simple … change red squares into greens.
(SocialMetricsPro provides a system that anyone can follow … turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts with highest number of shares show up green. Posts with low social media activity show up amber or red.
The plugin developers tested Social Metrics Pro on a network of 2,000+ sites 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 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 Social Metrics Pro developers, improving your social media marketing campaigns can dramatically can have a positive impact on your search engine rankings, traffic and revenue!)
Go here to learn more:
Benefits Of Using SocialMetricsPro
Here are just a few of the benefits and advantages of using SocialMetricsPro to track Likes, Tweets, Pins, +1s and more right from your WP Dashboard on your website:
Fast And Simple To Install And Use. Be Up And Running In Minutes.
Social Metrics Pro is quite easy to install. Just upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your administrator login and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, your job is to convert all the reds into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social signals so you know where to apply more effort and where to optimize.
Track The Social Signals You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you monitor social media activity across leading social networks like Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, Digg, Pinterest, and StumbleUpon directly from your WP admin area.
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 Social Metrics Pro, all this information can be accessed with a single click.
(SocialMetricsPro constantly tracks social signals from the sites that you care most about!)
SocialMetricsPro Features
SocialMetricsPro offers WordPress users with many great features. Here are just some of those:
- Fast and easy to install and configure. Be up and running in no time.
- Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality with external and built-in widgets. View updated information from your WP admin bar, add socially popular content to your sidebar or anywhere on your site using widgets.
- 1-click updating. Update Social Metrics Pro with a single click via the WordPress Updates page, or update it manually. You can also choose to receive email notifications when new versions are released.
- Plugin uses minimal resources. The plugin can generate reports in seconds, consuming very little server resources. The tool also includes the amount of time spent retrieving information and the server memory consumed when gathering and compiling data.
Additional features include:
- Sorting, Searching And Filtering Features: Social Metrics Pro lets you sort and filter data as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by publishing date, post type, category, or by post authors.
- 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 the spreadsheet application of your choice.
(Social Metrics Pro is very simple to use … just turn all the reds into greens!)
Feedback From Users
Here are a few of the testimonials and comments users have written about Social Metrics Pro:
“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
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“Social Metrics Takes WordPress Stats to the Next Level.” Lorraine Ball, Creative Director, Roundpeg
Product Tips
Social Metrics Pro comes with a practical guide showing you how to optimize your site for social media success (i.e. turn reds into greens).
Support
The software is well-supported, and comes with free support and free lifetime updates, backed by a risk-free, sixty-day, 100% money-back guarantee.
Plugin Cost
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Edition – This edition lets you run Social Metrics Pro on one web site only. Price includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multiple Sites Licensing – This license allows you to run Social Metrics Pro on multiple web sites that you own. Cost includes free lifetime updates and support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: The cost of purchasing Social Metrics Pro depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Currently, the plugin is selling for the prices shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing set by the product author when you visit the website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Product Information
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
The Bottom Line
As mentioned earlier, Google has been elevating the importance given to social signals as part of its ranking algorithm.
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 immediate feedback on the success of your social marketing strategy and shows you where and how to direct your efforts in order to improve your results.
SocialMetricsPro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WP dashboard.
We recommend this plugin if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to measure your social marketing results professionally.
For full details, visit the plugin website: SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics Plugin
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