Social recommendations like +1s on GooglePlus, Facebook comments, likes, and shares, etc. are called social signals.
With the growth of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, search engines are now taking into account social signals to help determine website 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. Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s own 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 too much importance to the social sphere over other aspects of their search algorithm. In summary, 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 sites that Google wants to rank higher in its search engine.
Social Signal Sources
Social media sites that search engines like Google and Bing look to for measuring social signals include:
With over 1.5 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most influential social network in the world. Research shows that a single post on Facebook can reach over 100,000 users, so even if no one is buying your products or services on Facebook, don’t be quick to dismiss the importance of Facebook in your online business strategy, as Google uses data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, research indicates that Facebook seems influence search rankings more than other social media sites.
(Number of monthly active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second 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 on the cybersphere and places great emphasis on tweeting posts that provide value to followers over the volume of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent every single day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google+
Google’s own social networking site naturally carries great authority online, even if it is still a fledgling social community compared to sites like Twitter and Facebook.
(More people are interacting on Google+ every week. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big three listed above, there are a number of other social media networks that provide important social signals, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, Reddit, Digg, and StumbleUpon.
(A number of social media sites provide important signals to search engines that could affect your rankings)
Social Signals – Which Ones Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Search engines like Google and Bing track a number of social signals, including the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook comments, shares, and likes a person has, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets your URL has, the authority of the person tweeting, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many followers on Google+ your URL has accrued, number and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on StumbleUpon, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious social media-related signals that can indirectly influence search traffic. These include positive and undesirable factors, such as age and authority of your social media account [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be of low quality by site reviewers [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 and analyze your social marketing campaigns in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media marketing can help improve your results online)
Tracking social media activity allows you to find insights into what people are saying about your company, brand, or services on social media, spy on your competitors, identify opportunities for engagement, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, and help you take preventative measures against the spread of negative comments or feedback by embittered customers. Additionally, social media monitoring can also provide vital information about emerging trends and what clients and consumers think about specific businesses, topics, brands, or products.
As a tool for business intelligence, being able to monitor volume and sentiments of social conversations and activity on 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 online reputation managers, marketing professionals, market research, social engagement and community staff, social media marketing agencies, and sales teams. Typically, many small businesses do not have the budget to pay a social media monitoring service to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately different technology providers have developed tools and solutions to facilitate the monitoring of a variety of social media channels, enabling companies to identify what is being said online about their brands allowing them to respond to conversations and engage with consumers in a timely fashion.
We have written a comprehensive article where we explore several social media measurement tools and technologies that will help you manage, measure, and analyze your social media marketing campaigns. More info:
(Are you monitoring social signals effectively?)
In this article, we review a simple social tracking plugin for WordPress and increasing your social media exposure online.
Presenting …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics For WordPress
Plugin Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-use social analytics plugin that is designed to help you grow your social media influence in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple premise – Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures how each signal is performing and displays either a red or green indicator. The user’s objective is simple … convert reds into greens.
(A system that any user can follow … turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts that get shared the most display green. Posts with low social media activity display amber and red.
The plugin developers tested SocialMetricsPro on a network of over two thousand 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 were able to notice 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 the plugin developers, improving your social media marketing campaigns can dramatically can have a dramatic effect on your search engine rankings, traffic and revenue!)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Benefits Of Using Social Metrics Pro
Below are just some of the benefits of using SocialMetricsPro to track Tweets, Likes, +1s, Pins and more right from your WP Dashboard on your website:
Easy, Fast & Simple To Install
Social Metrics Pro installs like any plugin. Just upload it to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the user’s goal is to convert all red squares into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social signals so you know which social marketing campaigns need you to invest more effort and which need to be better optimized.
Choose Only Social Signals From The Networks You Care About
Social Metrics Pro lets you track and monitor social activity across leading social networks like Facebook, Twitter, GooglePlus, LinkedIn, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, and Digg directly from your WordPress dashboard.
Social Metrics Pro lets you easily answer 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 this information can be accessed with just one click.
(SocialMetricsPro actively monitors social signals from the sites that you care most about!)
Social Metrics Pro Features
Social Metrics Pro provides WordPress users with many unique features. Below we have listed a few:
- Fast and simple to install and use. Ready to start using in minutes.
- Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality with built-in and external widgets. Access updated information from your WordPress admin bar, display social content on your blog sidebar or anywhere on your site using point-and-click widgets.
- One-click updates. You can update the plugin in one click via the WordPress Updates page, or update it manually. You can also choose to be notified via email whenever new versions are released.
- Minimal server resources consumption. Social reports are compiled very quickly, consuming very little hosting resources. The tool also includes the amount of time spent retrieving information and the server memory used to compile data.
Additional features include:
- Sort, Search And Filter Features: Social Metrics Pro lets you sort and filter information 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: You can export filtered 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 simple to use … just change all the reds into greens!)
User Feedback
Here are a few of the testimonials and feedback that customers have submitted for the SocialMetricsPro plugin:
“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
SocialMetricsPro – Tips
Social Metrics Pro comes with a practical guide containing useful advice on how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. turn reds into greens).
SocialMetricsPro Plugin Support
Social Metrics Pro is well-supported, and users get lifetime updates and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 60-day, full money-back guarantee.
Plugin Price
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This lets you install SocialMetricsPro on 1 website only. Cost includes free lifetime updates and support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multiple Sites Licensing – This lets you run SocialMetricsPro on all domains that you own. Cost includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: The cost of purchasing the Social Metrics Pro plugin can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The above reflects the current price at the time this article was written. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the plugin seller when you visit the product site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing details:
Additional Product Information
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
We Highly Recommend This
As mentioned earlier, with the rising importance of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, search engines like Bing and Google are now taking into account social signals to help determine website 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 strategy and shows you how to improve your 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.
We recommend getting this plugin if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to save money on outsourcing your social media campaigns or train your staff to manage your campaigns in-house.
For complete details, check out the plugin here: SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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