Social interactions like +1s on Google+, Facebook shares, etc. are called social signals.
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, 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 social trends and relationships tend to change too quickly to fully map out. Without a reliable ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign too much 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 websites that provide value develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google naturally wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signals – Which Social Sites Matter?
Social media sites that search engines like Google look to for measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion active users, Facebook is the most influential social media community on the planet. Research shows that one great post can reach over 100,000 users, so even if no one seems to be buying your products or services on Facebook, don’t be quick to dismiss the power of leveraging Facebook, as Google processes social data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems to have the most influence on website rankings of all 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 importance on tweeting posts that provide great value to readers over the volume of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent each day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google+
Google’s own social media site naturally carries great authority online, even if it is still a fledgling online community compared to sites like Twitter and Facebook.
(More people are interacting socially on Google+ every day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big 3 listed above, there are a number of other sites that should not be ignored, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Digg, and Reddit.
(A number of social sites provide important signals to search engines that could affect your 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 likes, shares, and comments a person has, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets your web page has, how influential the person sharing the information is, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many people are following you, number of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. number 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 factors that can influence search engine traffic. These include desirable and negative factors, such as links from authority sites (backlinks) (not as relevant as they once were, but still a factor) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by other users [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 monitor, measure and analyze your social media campaigns in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media marketing to improve your results online)
Social media monitoring allows you to gain insights into what people are saying about your company, services, or brand on social media, spot potential opportunities for engagement, assess competitor activity, be alerted to disasters, and measure the impact of campaigns. It can also provide you with valuable data about emerging trends and what clients and consumers are thinking about specific businesses, brands, products, or topics.
As a tool for business intelligence, the ability to monitor activity, social conversations, and trends on social media channels like blogging, forums, news sites, micro-blogging platforms, message boards, video/photo sharing websites, and user-generated content (UGC) is invaluable. Using social media monitoring as a form of business intelligence, however, is a complex undertaking, often carried out by various people including marketing teams, market research, PR agencies, agencies, social engagement and community personnel, and sales teams. Typically, many small businesses don’t can’t afford to pay media monitoring professionals to continually track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately many technology companies have developed affordable tools to facilitate the tracking of a wide range of social media channels, enabling you to track consumer behavior around your brand so you can respond proactively to conversations and interact with online users in a timely manner.
We have created a detailed article listing over 30 social media monitoring tools that will help you identify new business opportunities, track competitor activity, see what conversations are taking place online that can affect your business,etc. More information:
(Are you looking for an effective tool to help you track social signals?)
In this article, you will learn about a simple WordPress plugin for tracking social media signals and increasing your social media influence online.
Introducing …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-use social media analytics premium WordPress plugin that is designed to help users improve their social media presence in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple premise – the system measures how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. The user’s objective is to convert more red squares into greens.
(Social Metrics Pro provides a standard operating procedure that any user can follow … turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts that get shared the most show up green. Posts with low social media activity display amber or red.
The developers of Social Metrics Pro tested their plugin 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 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 media marketing can result in better search rankings, increased traffic and increased revenue!)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Plugin Benefits
Below are just a few of the benefits of using Social Metrics Pro to track Likes, Tweets, Pins, +1s and more right from your WP Dashboard on your site:
Be Up And Running In Minutes
Social Metrics Pro is really easy to install. Simply upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s goal is to convert reds into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social signals the way Google sees it so you know where to invest more effort and where to optimize.
Track The Social Signals You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you centrally monitor social media activity across leading networks like Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Digg, StumbleUpon, and LinkedIn.
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 of my posts are the most popular?
- And more …
With SocialMetricsPro, all this information can be accessed with just one click.
(Social Metrics Pro actively tracks social signals from the sites that you care most about!)
SocialMetricsPro Features
SocialMetricsPro provides many features to website owners. Below we have listed just some of those:
- Fast and easy to install and implement. Ready to use in minutes.
- Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using built-in and external widgets. View the latest stats right on your WP dashboard, display social content on your blog sidebar or anywhere on your site using widgets.
- One-click upgrades. You can update the plugin in a single click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update it manually. You can also opt to receive email notifications when new plugin updates are released.
- Plugin works even on the smallest hosting configuration. The plugin can generate social metrics reports in seconds, consuming little hosting resources. The tool also displays the amount of time it took to retrieve the information and the server resources consumed when gathering the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sorting, Searching And Filtering Features: SocialMetricsPro allows you to sort, search and filter data as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by post authors, publishing date, post type, or by category.
- Export Data: 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.
(SocialMetricsPro is very simple to use … just convert red squares into greens!)
Feedback From Users
Below are a few of the testimonials that users have provided for 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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”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
Social Metrics Pro Plugin – Useful Tips
SocialMetricsPro includes a practical guide on how to optimize your campaigns and improve your social media strategy (i.e. how to turn reds into greens).
Product Support
The plugin is well-supported, and comes with free lifetime updates and support, backed by a risk-free, sixty-day, full money-back guarantee.
Product Pricing
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License – This license lets you configure Social Metrics Pro on a single website. It includes free lifetime updates and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multiple Sites License – This edition allows you to activate SocialMetricsPro on unlimited sites that you own. Price includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: The cost to purchase this product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Presently, the plugin is selling for the prices shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the product developer when you visit the plugin site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
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 The Plugin
As mentioned earlier, social signals impact search engine rankings and Google has been tracking social signals as part of its ranking algorithm.
No website owner can afford to ignore how important social media is to their online success. Social Metrics Pro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives website owners instant feedback on the success of their social media marketing campaigns and guides them how to improve their results.
SocialMetricsPro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WP dashboard.
We recommend Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to shorten your path to success with social media marketing.
For more details, visit the plugin website: Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin
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