Social interactions and recommendations like Twitter mentions and retweets, Facebook likes, etc. are called social signals.
With the rise of social sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Google and Bing now take into account various social signals to help determine a site’s ranking.
Note: Google encourages website owners to build their brand on social media as a long-term investment to drive qualified traffic, rather than 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 media, as so many things change quickly on social media. Without a full ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign too much importance to social signals over other aspects of their search algorithm. In summary, Google’s strategy is to “wait and see” how things develop over time, as sites that provide true value tend to develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google naturally wants to rank higher in its search engine.
Social Signals – Which Social Sites Matter?
Social media 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 influential social network in the world. Research shows that an average post on Facebook can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if no one is buying your products or services on Facebook, don’t be quick to dismiss the power of leveraging Facebook, 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 500 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 followers over the amount of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent every single day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google Plus
As Google’s own social networking site, GooglePlus 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 socially on GooglePlus each year. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big three listed above, there are a number of other social media networks that provide important social signals, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Digg, and Reddit.
(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:
- 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, how influential the person sending tweets is, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many followers on GooglePlus a URL has, number of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on Digg, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious social media-related factors that can influence search engine traffic and rankings. These include desirable and undesirable factors, such as links from authority sites (backlinks) (not as influential as they once were, but still a factor) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by site reviewers [negative].
As a business owner, it’s not only important to find ways to grow your social media presence, but also to be able to monitor and analyze social media in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media can improve your business results)
Tracking social media activity allows you to find insights into your company’s online visibility on social media, identify market opportunities, spy on your competitors, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, and take preventative measures against the spread of negative comments or feedback by online users. Additionally, social media monitoring can also provide you with valuable information about emerging trends and what clients and consumers think 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, often carried out by a cross-section of groups that include market research, marketing teams, digital reputation management (ORM) companies, professional sales reps, social engagement and community staff, and social marketing agencies. Typically, smaller businesses do not can’t afford to pay media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the and actively monitor their online reputation.
Fortunately various technology companies have developed affordable tools and solutions to facilitate the monitoring of a variety of social media channels, enabling companies to identify consumer behavior around their brands or products so they can react to conversations and engage with online users in various social media platforms.
We have written a comprehensive article where we explore a number of social media tracking tools and technologies that are worth checking out and knowing about. More info:
(Are you looking for an effective tool to help you monitor your social signals?)
In this article, we discuss a simple social media tracking tool for WordPress and improving your social media exposure.
Our Featured WordPress Plugin …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics WordPress Plugin
Description
SocialMetricsPro is an easy-to-use social analytics plugin for WordPress that is designed to help users increase their social media influence in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple concept – Social Metrics Pro measures how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. The site owner’s job is to change reds into greens.
(SocialMetricsPro provides a system that anyone can operate … just turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts that receive the most shares display 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 3 months. During this period, all they focused on was turning the “reds” to “greens” and then keeping everything “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 Social Metrics Pro developers, focusing on improving your social marketing campaigns can result in higher search engine rankings, increased traffic and an increase in revenue!)
More info:
Benefits Of Using SocialMetricsPro
Below are just a few of the benefits of using SocialMetricsPro to track Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more from your WP Dashboard on your web site:
Ready To Start Using In Very Little Time
SocialMetricsPro is quite easy to install. Simply upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Really Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s task is to convert all the reds into greens. Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures social media signals so you know which social campaigns require investing more effort and which ones need to be better optimized.
Track Signals From The Networks You Care About
Social Metrics Pro allows you to track and monitor social media activity across leading networks like GooglePlus, Facebook, Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.
Social Metrics Pro lets you easily answer questions like:
- Which social media networks work best for my site?
- Which social campaigns are performing the best on these social networks?
- Which of my posts are the most popular?
- And more …
With Social Metrics Pro, all this information can be accessed with just one click.
(Social Metrics Pro constantly tracks social signals from the social media sites that you care most about!)
Features
Social Metrics Pro offers many great features to WP users. Below we have listed just some:
- Fast and simple to install and set up. Ready to start using in minutes.
- Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality with built-in and external widgets. Social Metrics Pro shows updated information from your WP admin bar, display social content on your blog sidebar or anywhere on your site using point-and-click widgets.
- 1-click auto-updating functionality. 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 whenever new plugin updates are released.
- Low-resource consumption. Reporting is in seconds, using minimal server resources. Reports also display the amount of time spent retrieving the information and the server memory consumed when gathering data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sort, Search & Filter Features: Social Metrics Pro allows you to sort, search 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, publishing date, category, or post type.
- 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 the spreadsheet application of your choice.
(Social Metrics Pro is really simple to use … just convert all the red squares into greens!)
Testimonials
Below are a few of the testimonials that customers have submitted regarding Social Metrics Pro:
”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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”I give Social Metrics a big thumbs up and I recommend it to anyone who’s serious about tracking their social sharing analytics.” James Johnson, Senior Editor at The Inquisitr
SocialMetricsPro – Useful Tips
Social Metrics Pro comes with a step-by-step guide containing useful advice on how to optimize your site for social media success (i.e. turn reds into greens).
Product Support
Social Metrics Pro is well-supported, and users get lifetime upgrades and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, sixty-day, 100% money-back guarantee.
Plugin Pricing
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This license lets you run SocialMetricsPro on 1 web site only. It includes free lifetime updates and support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multiple Sites Licensing – This license option enables you to run Social Metrics Pro on unlimited web sites that you own. Includes free lifetime updates and free support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: Pricing details of the Social Metrics Pro plugin can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The price shown above was current at the time this review was published. This may not be the actual price charged by the plugin seller when you visit the product website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest price:
Additional Info
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Install The Product
As mentioned earlier, with the increase in importance of social sites like Twitter and Facebook, search engines like Bing and Google have started taking into account social signals when determining a site’s ranking.
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 you immediate feedback on the success of your social media marketing campaigns and shows you how to improve your results.
SocialMetricsPro is ideal for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WordPress admin area.
We recommend getting SocialMetricsPro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to save money on outsourcing your social campaigns.
For more information, check out the plugin here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics Plugin
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