Social recommendations like Twitter retweets and mentions, Facebook comments, etc. are called social signals.
With the increased importance of social sites like Twitter and Facebook, search engines like Google and Bing are now taking into account social signals to help determine a site’s ranking.
Note: Google encourages website owners to build their social presence 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 reliable ‘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 real value develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google naturally wants to display higher in its search listings.
Social Signal Sources
Social sites that search engines look to for measuring social signals include:
With more than 1.5 billion active users, Facebook is the most influential social media network on the planet. It has been estimated that an average post on Facebook can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if no one seems to be buying your products or services on Facebook, you should not be quick to dismiss the power of leveraging Facebook, as Google uses data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems to have the most influence on search rankings of all social media sites, like GooglePlus or Twitter.
(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 every single day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence online and places great emphasis on the authority of tweets posted to readers over the amount of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent each day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google+
Google’s own social media site 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 starting to interact socially on GooglePlus each day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big 3 listed above, there are a number of other social media networks that provide important social signals, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and Digg.
(A number of social media sites provide important signals to search engines that could affect your rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Search engines like Bing and Google track various social signals, including the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook likes, shares, and comments a person has, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets a web page has, how influential the person sharing your URL is, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (influential users), how many followers on GooglePlus a web page has amassed, number and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on StumbleUpon, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious signals that can indirectly influence search traffic. These include positive and negative factors, such as age and authority of your social media account [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be of low quality by visitors [negative].
As a business owner, it’s important to not only find ways to develop your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to monitor and analyze your social marketing campaigns in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media marketing can improve your business results)
Social media monitoring allows you to find insights into what people are saying about your company, brand, or products on social media, spot new opportunities for engagement, spy on your competition, avert impending crises, and measure the impact of your marketing campaigns. It can also provide you with valuable information about emerging trends and what consumers and clients think about specific products, topics, businesses, or brands.
As a tool for business intelligence, social media monitoring is invaluable. Using social media monitoring as a form of business intelligence, however, is a complex undertaking, often carried out by a cross-section of people including marketing professionals, digital reputation management companies, market researchers, sales teams, social engagement and community personnel, and social media marketing agencies. Typically, many small businesses do not can’t afford to pay social media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately a number of service providers have created many affordable tools that facilitate the active tracking of a variety of social media channels, allowing companies to track consumer behavior around their products or brands allowing them to respond to conversations and engage with consumers in a timely fashion.
We have written a comprehensive article about 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 affect your business, etc, see what conversations are taking place online that could affect your business,etc. To learn more, go here:
(Do you know how to effectively measure your social signals?)
This article explores a simple, yet effective plugin for WordPress users for tracking social signals and increasing your social media presence.
Our Featured WordPress Plugin Is …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
Plugin Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social analytics premium WordPress plugin that is designed to help users increase their social media exposure online in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple concept – Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures how each signal is performing and returns either a red or green indicator. The site owner’s task is to change more reds into greens.
(A system that anyone can follow … turn all the reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics. Posts that receive the most shares show up 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 noticed a 360% improvement in traffic for their top 10 performing sites, 410% more keywords ranked in the first page of Google and their revenue increased by 310%.
(According to SocialMetricsPro developers, focusing on improving your social marketing campaigns can significantly impact your search rankings, traffic and revenue!)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Benefits Of Using SocialMetricsPro
Here are just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Social Metrics Pro to track Likes, Tweets, +1s, Pins and more right from your WordPress Dashboard on your web site:
Ready To Use In Minutes
SocialMetricsPro is really easy to install. Just upload it to your Plugin folder via your admin area and activate.
Really Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s objective is to turn all the red squares into greens. Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures social media signals the way Google sees it so you know where to apply more effort and which need to be better optimized.
Select Only Signals From The Networks You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you centrally monitor social media activity from networks like Facebook, GooglePlus, Twitter, Digg, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and StumbleUpon.
SocialMetricsPro 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 of this information can be accessed with a single click.
(Social Metrics Pro actively monitors the sites that you care most about!)
Plugin Features
SocialMetricsPro provides website owners with a number of features. Below we have listed a few of these:
- Quick and simple to install and set up. Be up and running in minutes.
- Social Metrics Pro Is Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality with built-in and external widgets. View updated stats right on your WP admin bar, add popular content to your blog sidebar or anywhere on your site using widgets.
- 1-click upgrades. Update the plugin in a single click via the WordPress Updates page, or update the manually manually. You can also choose to be notified via email whenever new versions are released.
- Minimal hosting resources use. The plugin can generate social metrics reports very quickly, using very little hosting resources. Reports also display the amount of time it took to retrieve information and the server resources used to gather data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sort, Search & Filter Features: SocialMetricsPro allows you to sort, search and filter the information as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by post type, category, publishing date, or post authors.
- 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.
(Social Metrics Pro is very simple to use … just change all the reds into greens!)
Testimonials
Below are a few of the testimonials plugin users have submitted for the SocialMetricsPro plugin:
”Our entire marketing strategy relies on social media. Each post on the site has viral potential, but we needed one place to see which social networks are performing the best for us…We went ahead and got the PRO Version of Social Metrics.” Syed Balkhi, Founder of List25 and WPBeginner.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
Useful Tips
Social Metrics Pro includes a practical, step-by-step guide containing useful advice on how to optimize your campaigns and improve your social media strategy (i.e. turn reds into greens).
Plugin Support
The plugin is well-supported, and comes with free lifetime updates and support, backed by a risk-free, 60-day, complete refund guarantee.
Software Price
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Edition – This edition lets you activate SocialMetricsPro on a single website. Includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site Licensing – This enables you to install Social Metrics Pro on multiple websites that you own. Includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: The price of the product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Presently, the software is being retailed for the amounts shown above. This may not be the actual price charged by the product author when you visit the site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
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.
Get This Plugin
As mentioned earlier, with the growth of social sites like Twitter and Facebook, search engines now take into account a range of social signals to help determine a site’s ranking.
No website owner can afford to ignore the importance of social media. Social Metrics Pro 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 and where to direct their efforts in order to improve their results.
SocialMetricsPro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WordPress dashboard.
Get Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to save money on outsourcing your social media campaigns or train your staff to manage your campaigns inhouse.
For more details, check out the plugin here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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