Social interactions and recommendations like Facebook comments, shares, and likes, Twitter retweets and mentions, etc. are called social signals.
Google has been tracking social signals as part of its ranking algorithm since late 2010.
Note: Google encourages businesses to build their social presence 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 social media, 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 summary, Google’s strategy is to “wait and see” how things develop over time, as sites that provide real value normally 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 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. It has been estimated that one great post 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 Facebook as an important part of your business strategy, 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 Google+ and Twitter.
(Number of 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 day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence on the cybersphere and places great emphasis on the authority of tweets posted to readers over the volume of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent every single day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google+
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 actively using GooglePlus each day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big 3 listed above, there are a number of other social sites that should not be ignored, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon,Reddit, and Digg.
(A number of social sites provide important signals that could affect your search engine rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Pay Attention To?
Search engines like Bing and Google track various social signals, including the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook likes, comments, and shares you have, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets a web page has, how influential the person tweeting is, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (influential users), how many followers on Google+ your site page has accrued, number and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. number of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes 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 positive 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 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 monitor and analyze social signals in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media to help improve your results online)
Social media monitoring allows you to find insights into what people are saying about your company, brand, or products on social media, spy on the competition, be alerted to crises, spot opportunities for engagement, and measure the impact of your marketing campaigns. It can also provide you with valuable information about emerging trends and what clients and consumers think about specific products, topics, businesses, or brands.
As a tool for business intelligence, the ability to track online 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 groups that include PR staff, marketing teams, market researchers, sales teams, social marketing agencies, and social engagement and community staff. Typically, many small businesses do not can’t afford to pay social media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately many providers have made available a range of tools to facilitate the monitoring of a variety of social media channels, allowing you to identify and even predict consumer behavior around your products or brand so you can respond proactively to conversations and engage with consumers in various social media platforms.
We have written a detailed article about social media measurement tools that will help you manage, measure, and analyze your social media marketing initiatives. Go here to learn more:
(Can you track social signals effectively?)
In this article, we discuss a simple social media monitoring plugin for WordPress and improving your social media exposure online.
Presenting …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
Description Of Plugin
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social analytics WordPress plugin that is designed to make increasing your social media influence uncomplicated. It is built on a simple premise – Social Metrics Pro tracks how each signal is performing and displays either a green or red indicator. Your goal is to convert red squares into greens.
(Social Metrics Pro provides a standard operating procedure that anyone can operate … simply turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics. Posts with the highest number of shares are colored green. Posts with low social media activity display amber and red.
The plugin developers tested SocialMetricsPro 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 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 the plugin developers, focusing on improving your social marketing can result in higher search engine rankings, more web traffic and more revenue!)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Benefits
Below are just some of the many benefits of using SocialMetricsPro to track Likes, Tweets, +1s, Pins and more from your WordPress Dashboard on your site:
Ready To Go To Work In Very Little Time
SocialMetricsPro is really easy to install. Just upload a zip file containing the plugin to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Really Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, your objective is to change all red squares into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social media signals the way Google sees it so you know where to put more effort and which social marketing campaigns need to be better optimized.
Track Only Social Signals From The Networks You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you track and monitor social media activity from social networks like Twitter, Google+, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, and Digg directly from your WP admin area.
SocialMetricsPro 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 of my posts are the most popular?
- And more …
With Social Metrics Pro, all this information can be accessed with a single click.
(Social Metrics Pro constantly tracks social signals from the sites that you care most about!)
Plugin Features
Social Metrics Pro offers WordPress users with many features. Below we have listed a few:
- Fast and simple to install and set up. Ready to go to work in very little time.
- Social Metrics Pro Is Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using built-in and external widgets. View updated information right on your WP dashboard, display popular content on your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using point-and-click widgets.
- 1-click auto-update functionality. Update SocialMetricsPro in one click via the WordPress Updates page, or update the manually manually. You can also opt to be notified via email when new plugin updates are released.
- Minimal consumption of hosting resources. Reports are generated in seconds, consuming minimal hosting resources. The tool also displays the amount of time spent retrieving information and the server memory used to gather and compile data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sort, Search And Filter Features: Social Metrics Pro allows you to sort and filter the information as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by publishing date, post authors, category, 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 Excel or the spreadsheet application of your choice.
(SocialMetricsPro is really simple to use … just turn all reds into greens!)
Feedback From Users
Here are a few of the testimonials and feedback 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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”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 Plugin – Tips
Social Metrics Pro includes a practical guide showing you how to optimize your site for social media success (i.e. how to turn reds into greens).
Support
SocialMetricsPro 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.
Software Cost
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This lets you install SocialMetricsPro on a single domain. Pricing includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multiple Sites License Edition – This allows you to install SocialMetricsPro on all domains that you own. Includes free lifetime updates and support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: Pricing details of the SocialMetricsPro plugin depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The price shown above was correct at the time this article was written. This may not be the actual price set by the software seller when you visit the product site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Info
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Our Recommendation
As mentioned earlier, with the rise of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Google and Bing now take into account a range of social signals when determining website 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 website owners instant feedback on the success of their social media marketing campaigns and shows them where and 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 WordPress dashboard.
We recommend Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to monitor which social media networks are working for your business.
For more details, check out the plugin here: SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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