Social recommendations like +1s on Google+, Facebook likes, etc. are called social signals.
Social signals impact search engine rankings and Google has been tracking social signals as part of its ranking algorithm for several years now.
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 its 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 tend to change too quickly to fully map out. Without a perfect ‘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 to “wait and see” how things develop over time, as websites that provide value develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google naturally wants to display higher in its search listings.
Social Signals – Which Sites Matter?
Social sites that search engines look to when measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion active users, Facebook is the most dominant social media network on the planet. It has been estimated that one great post on Facebook can reach over 100,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving a massive amount of sales on your site, you should not be quick to dismiss the power of leveraging Facebook, as Google processes data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, research indicates that Facebook seems to have the most influence on search engine rankings of all social media sites, like Twitter andGooglePlus.
(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 tweeting posts that provide value to followers over the amount of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent every single day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google Plus
Google’s own social networking site naturally carries great authority online, even if it has not reached the same level of growth and take up as Facebook and Twitter.
(More people are interacting on GooglePlus each day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big three social media giants listed above, there are a number of other sites worth paying attention to, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Digg, StumbleUpon, and Reddit.
(A number of social sites provide important signals to search engines that can affect your rankings)
Social Signals – Which Ones Should You Pay Attention To?
Search engines track various social signals, including:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook comments, likes, and shares you have, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, the number of people tweeting, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many people follow you, number of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes 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 rankings. These include positive and negative 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 visitors [negative].
As a business owner, it’s important to not only develop your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to track, measure and analyze social signals in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media to improve your business results)
Monitoring social media activity allows you to gain insights into your brand’s overall visibility on social media, identify opportunities for engagement, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, assess competitor activity and mind share, and help you take preventative measures if you detect negative comments or feedback by dissatisfied customers. It can also provide you with valuable information about emerging trends and what clients and consumers think about specific products, businesses, topics, or brands.
As a business intelligence tool, being able to track social media 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 market researchers, PR staff, marketing professionals, professional sales reps, social engagement and community personnel, and agencies. Typically, many small businesses don’t have the budget to pay social media monitoring professionals to continually track their coverage in the and actively monitor their digital reputation.
Fortunately many providers have made available affordable tools and solutions that facilitate the monitoring of a variety of social media channels, enabling companies to identify and even predict what consumers are saying about their brands so they can respond proactively to conversations and interact with consumers in various social media platforms.
Go here if you want to learn more social media measurement tools and technologies that will help you keep track of online trends, monitor competitor activity, see what online conversations are taking place that can affect your business, etc, see what online conversations are taking place that can affect your business,etc:
(Are you tracking your social signals effectively?)
This article explores a simple social media monitoring plugin for a WordPress-based digital presence and improving your social media exposure online.
Let’s Review …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
Description Of Plugin
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social analytics plugin for WordPress that is designed to help you increase your social media exposure online in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple premise – the tool measures and tracks how each signal is performing and displays either a green or red indicator. Your goal is to convert red squares into greens.
(A standard operating procedure that any user can operate … turn all the reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics. Posts with highest number of shares display green. Posts with low social media activity are colored amber and red.
The plugin developers tested Social Metrics Pro on a network of 2,000+ websites over a period of three months. During this period, all they focused on was turning the “reds” to “greens” and then keeping everything “green”. From these tests, 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, improving your social marketing can result in better search rankings, more traffic and more revenue!)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Benefits Of Using Social Metrics Pro
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using SocialMetricsPro to track Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WP Dashboard on your web site:
Installation Is Easy, Quick And Simple
Social Metrics Pro installs like every WordPress plugin. Simply upload it to your Plugins folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Really Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the user’s goal is to turn red squares into greens. Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures social media signals the way Google sees it so you know where to put more effort and which ones need to be better optimized.
Track Only Social Signals From The Networks You Care About
Social Metrics Pro allows you to monitor social activity across leading social networks like Twitter, Google+, Facebook, Digg, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and StumbleUpon.
Social Metrics Pro helps you get answers to 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 this information can be accessed with a single click.
(Social Metrics Pro actively monitors social signals from the sites that you care most about!)
Product Features
SocialMetricsPro offers a number of features to site owners. Here are some:
- Fast and simple to install and use. Be up and running in minutes.
- Social Metrics Pro Is Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality with built-in and external widgets. SocialMetricsPro displays updated stats from your WP dashboard, add popular content to your sidebar or anywhere in your site using widgets.
- One-click updating. Update the plugin in a single click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update it manually. You can also opt to be notified via email whenever new versions are released.
- Minimal server resources consumption. Social metrics reports are compiled fast, using minimal hosting resources. The tool also includes the amount of time used to retrieve information and the server resources used to compile the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sorting, Searching & Filtering Features: Social Metrics Pro allows you to sort, search and filter your data as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by publishing date, post authors, post type, or by category.
- 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 simple to use … just change more reds into greens!)
Feedback From Users
Here are just a few of the testimonials and comments that users have submitted for the SocialMetricsPro plugin:
”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
***
”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)
Useful Tips
Social Metrics Pro comes with a step-by-step, practical guide containing useful advice on how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. how to turn reds into greens).
Product Support
The plugin is well-supported, and comes with free support and free lifetime updates, backed by a risk-free, sixty-day, full money-back guarantee.
Product Price
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Edition – This allows you to set up Social Metrics Pro on a single site. It includes free lifetime updates and support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site Edition – This option enables you to use SocialMetricsPro on unlimited web sites that you own. Includes free lifetime updates and free support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: Pricing for the SocialMetricsPro plugin depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. When we last checked, the software is being retailed for the amounts shown above. This may or may not be the actual price set by the software developer when you visit the website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Information
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Install This Plugin
As mentioned earlier, with the increase in importance of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Bing and Google are now taking into account a range of social signals to help determine a website’s ranking.
No website owner can afford to ignore the importance of social media. SocialMetricsPro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives users immediate feedback on the success of their social marketing campaigns and guides them how to improve their results.
SocialMetricsPro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WP dashboard.
Get SocialMetricsPro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to avoid wasting resources on over-optimized networks.
For complete details, check out the plugin here: SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
***
***