Social recommendations like +1s on GooglePlus, Facebook shares, 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, rather than 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 social media, as so many things change quickly on social media. Without a perfect ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign more 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 sites that provide value tend to develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google naturally wants to display higher in its search results.
Social Signal Sources
Social media sites that search engines like Google look to for measuring social signals include:
With more than 1.5 billion active users, Facebook is the most dominant social network in the world. Research shows that one great post on Facebook can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if no one is buying your products or services on Facebook, you should not be quick to dismiss Facebook as an important part of your business strategy, as Google processes social 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 next biggest social media site in the world, with over 600 million tweets sent out every day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer on the cybersphere and places great emphasis on the authority of tweets posted to followers over the amount of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent each day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google Plus
Google’s own social site naturally carries great authority online, even if it has not reached the same level of growth and take up as Twitter and Facebook.
(More people are starting to interact socially on Google+ each day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big 3 listed above, there are a number of other social media networks that should not be ignored, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Digg, and Reddit.
(Social media sites provide important signals that can affect your search engine rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Pay Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines like Bing and Google include the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook likes, shares, and comments you have, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets your web page has, how influential the person tweeting is, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many followers on Google+ a site page has, number and growth rate of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. number of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on Reddit, etc.
- Not so obvious signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious signals that can indirectly influence search traffic and rankings. 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 irrelevant by visitors [negative].
As a business owner, it’s not only important to find ways to develop your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to track, measure and analyze your social performance 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 your brand’s online visibility on social media, identify opportunities for engagement, take preventative measures if you detect negative comments or feedback by online users, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, and spy on the competition. Additionally, monitoring social media can also provide you with vital data about emerging trends and what clients and consumers are thinking about specific products, topics, businesses, or brands.
As a business intelligence tool, being able to monitor social media channels like blogs, forums, social networking platforms, micro-blogging platforms, discussion boards, video/photo sharing websites, and user-generated content is invaluable. Using social media monitoring as a form of business intelligence, however, is a complex undertaking, typically carried out by various people including marketing professionals, market researchers, PR staff, social marketing agencies, sales teams, and social engagement and community staff. Typically, small businesses don’t have the budget to pay a social media monitoring service to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately many technology providers have developed affordable tools and solutions that facilitate the active monitoring of a variety of social media channels, allowing companies to identify and even predict what is being said online about their products or brands so they can respond proactively to conversations and engage with consumers in a timely manner.
We have created a detailed article where we explore many 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. To learn more, visit this page:
(Are you measuring your social signals effectively?)
In this article, we review a simple, yet effective plugin for WordPress users for monitoring social media signals and improving your social media exposure.
Announcing …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics For WordPress
Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-use social media analytics WordPress plugin that is designed to help users improve their social media presence in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple premise – Social Metrics Pro measures how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. Your objective is to convert all the red squares into greens.
(A standard operating procedure that any website owner can follow … turn all the reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts that receive the most shares are colored green. Posts with low social media activity display amber or red.
The developers of SocialMetricsPro tested their plugin on a network of 2,000+ sites 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 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, focusing on improving your social marketing can significantly impact your search rankings, web traffic and revenue!)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Benefits
Below are just a few of the benefits of using Social Metrics Pro to track Likes, Tweets, +1s, Pins and more directly from your WordPress Dashboard on your web site:
Be Up And Running In Minutes
Social Metrics Pro is really easy to install. Just upload it to your Plugin folder via your administrator area and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the user’s objective is to change red squares into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social media signals so you know where to invest more effort and where to optimize.
Select Only Signals From Social Networks You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you monitor social activity across leading networks like Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, Digg, Pinterest, and StumbleUpon directly from your WP dashboard.
SocialMetricsPro 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 of this information can be accessed with a single click.
(Social Metrics Pro constantly monitors social signals from the social media sites that you care most about!)
Features
Social Metrics Pro offers a number of great features to website owners. Here are just some:
- Fast and easy to install and set up. Ready to start using in minutes.
- Social Metrics Pro Is Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using built-in and external widgets. View updated information from your WordPress admin bar, add popular content to your sidebar or anywhere in your site using point-and-click widgets.
- One-click updates. Update SocialMetricsPro in one click via the WordPress Updates page, or update the manually manually. You can also choose to be notified via email when new versions are released.
- Minimal use of server resources. Metric reports are compiled fast, consuming very little hosting resources. Reports also display the amount of time it took to retrieve the information and the server memory consumed when gathering and compiling data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sorting, Searching And Filtering Features: SocialMetricsPro lets you sort, search and filter the data however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by publishing date, category, post authors, or by 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 turn reds into greens!)
User Testimonials
Here are a few of the testimonials and comments plugin users have published about the Social Metrics Pro 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
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”If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve.” Goes one of the most important sayings in business. And this is particularly true for tracking of your social mentions I found. There were two things that helped me a great deal to increase sharing after installing Social Metrics: First, I was able to see that some of my articles would perform much better on networks I wasn’t particularly using, such as StumbleUpon for example. Secondly, I could filter out the best performing content more easily and analyse what makes my readers share. Since then I have focused strongly on producing and replicating those posts that performed best.” Leo Widrich, Co-Founder of Buffer
Social Metrics Pro – Tips
A step-by-step guide containing useful advice on how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. turn reds into greens) is also included.
Product Support
The software is well-supported, and users get lifetime upgrades and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, sixty-day, full refund guarantee.
Product Pricing
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Edition – This option allows you to install Social Metrics Pro on a single site. It includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multiple Sites Licensing – This option allows you to install SocialMetricsPro on unlimited domains that you own. Includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: Current pricing for the SocialMetricsPro software can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Presently, the plugin is being retailed for the amounts shown above. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the software developer when you visit the site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing information here:
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, 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 website owners immediate feedback on the success of their social media marketing campaigns and shows them where to improve their results.
Social Metrics Pro 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 Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to use social signals to improve your search engine rankings.
For more details, check out the plugin here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics Plugin
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