Social recommendations like Facebook shares, likes, and comments, Twitter mentions and retweets, etc. are called social signals.
Social signals impact search engine rankings and Google has been tracking social signals as part of its ranking algorithm since late 2010.
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 its web spam team Matt Cutts has stated that Google takes a cautious approach when it comes to assessing social media signals, as social trends and relationships tend to change too quickly to fully map out. 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 short, Google’s strategy is a sensible one - “wait and see” how things develop over time, as websites that provide true value develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google naturally wants to rank higher in its search results.
Social Signals – Which Sites Matter?
Social sites that search engines like Google look to when measuring social signals include:
With more than 1.5 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most dominant social community on the planet. Research shows that a single post 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 Facebook as an important part of your business strategy, as Google processes data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, research shows that Facebook seems to have the most influence on search rankings of all 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 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 followers over the number of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent each day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google+
As Google’s own social networking site, GooglePlus naturally carries a significant degree of authority online, even if it is still a fledgling online community compared to sites like Facebook and Twitter.
(More people are actively using Google+ every day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big 3 listed above, there are a number of other sites that provide important social metrics, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Reddit, Digg, and StumbleUpon.
(Social media sites provide important signals that could affect your search rankings)
Social Signals – Which Ones Should You Pay Attention To?
Search engines like Google and Bing track a number of social signals, including:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook likes, comments, and shares you have, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, the number of people sharing your URL, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (influential users), how many followers on GooglePlus your web page has, number and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on Reddit, etc.
- Not so obvious signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious factors that can indirectly influence search engine traffic. These include positive and undesirable factors, such as improving clickthrough rate (CTR) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by other users [negative].
As a business owner, it’s important to not only grow your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to track and analyze your social signals in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media marketing to help improve your business results)
Tracking social media activity allows you to find insights into your brand’s overall visibility on social media, spy on the competition, help you take preventative measures against the spread of negative comments or feedback by dissatisfied users, measure the impact of campaigns, and identify opportunities for engagement. It can also provide vital information about emerging trends and what clients and consumers are thinking about specific brands, products, topics, or businesses.
As a tool for business intelligence, being able to monitor social activity on social media channels like blogging, forums, social networking platforms, micro-blogging platforms like Twitter, Medium, etc., 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 market researchers, marketing teams, online reputation management (ORM) agencies, sales teams, social engagement and community personnel, and social marketing agencies. Typically, many small businesses do not have the budget to pay social media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the and actively monitor their digital reputation.
Fortunately many service providers have created many tools to facilitate the active monitoring of a wide spectrum of social media channels, enabling companies to identify consumer behavior around their products or brands so they can react to conversations and engage with consumers in a timely manner.
We have created a detailed article where we explore over 30 social media measurement tools that are worth knowing about. To learn more, go here:
(Are you monitoring your social signals effectively?)
In this article, we review a simple, yet effective social tracking tool for WordPress and improving your social media exposure online.
Our Featured WordPress Product Is …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
Description Of Plugin
SocialMetricsPro is an easy-to-use social media analytics plugin for WordPress that is designed to make improving your social media presence online uncomplicated. It is built on a simple concept – the system tracks how each signal is performing and returns either a red or green indicator. The site owner’s objective is to convert all reds into greens.
(SocialMetricsPro provides a standard operating procedure that any user can follow … turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts that get shared the most are colored green. Posts with low social media activity are colored 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 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 SocialMetricsPro developers, focusing on improving your social media marketing can result in better search rankings, more web traffic and more revenue!)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Benefits
Below we have listed just a few of the benefits of using Social Metrics Pro to track Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WP Dashboard on your website:
Be Up And Running In Minutes
SocialMetricsPro is quite easy to install. Just upload a zip file containing the plugin to your Plugins folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s objective is to change red squares into greens. Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures social signals the way Google sees it so you know which social campaigns require more effort and where to optimize.
Track The Signals You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you track and monitor social media activity from networks like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, Digg, and Pinterest directly from your WP dashboard.
Social Metrics Pro helps you get answers to questions like:
- Which social media 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 Social Metrics Pro, all this information can be accessed with just one click.
(Social Metrics Pro actively monitors social signals from the sites that you care most about!)
Social Metrics Pro Features
Social Metrics Pro provides WP users with many features. Below we have listed some:
- Quick and simple to install and configure. Ready to go to work in minutes.
- Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality with external and built-in widgets. Access updated stats right on your WordPress admin bar, display socially popular content on your sidebar or anywhere on your site using widgets.
- One-click upgrades. You can update the plugin 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.
- Utilizes very little resources. Reporting is in seconds, using little server resources. Report generation also displays the amount of time used to retrieve the information and the server resources used to gather and compile the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sort, Search & Filter Features: Social Metrics Pro allows you to sort, search and filter the data as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by post authors, category, post type, or by publishing date.
- 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.
(Social Metrics Pro is simple to use … just convert all reds into greens!)
Testimonials From Product Users
Here are just some testimonials that plugin users have submitted regarding SocialMetricsPro:
”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 – Tips
A practical guide on how to optimize your site for social media success (i.e. how to turn reds into greens) is also included.
Social Metrics Pro Support
SocialMetricsPro is well-supported, and users get lifetime upgrades and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, 60-day, full refund guarantee.
Software Price
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Edition – This license lets you set up Social Metrics Pro on a single web site. Includes free lifetime updates and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site Licensing – This lets you install Social Metrics Pro on all domains that you own. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: The cost of purchasing Social Metrics Pro can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the pricing when this review was published. This may or may not be the actual price set by the plugin developer when you visit the plugin website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Product Info
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Get The Product
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 the importance of social media. SocialMetricsPro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives WordPress users instant feedback on the success of their social marketing strategy and shows them where and how to direct their efforts in order to improve their results.
SocialMetricsPro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WordPress dashboard.
We recommend SocialMetricsPro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to improve social visibility and see more of your keywords getting better rankings on search engines.
For complete details, visit the plugin website: SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics Plugin
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