Social interactions like Twitter retweets and mentions, Facebook comments, shares, and likes, etc. are called social signals.
Google has been elevating the importance given to 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, 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 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 a sensible one - “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 wants to display higher in its search listings.
Social Signal Sources
Social media sites that search engines like Google and Bing look to for measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most dominant social media community on the planet. Research shows that one great post on Facebook can reach over 100,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving droves of customers to your website, don’t be quick to dismiss Facebook as an important part of your business strategy, as Google processes data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems influence website rankings more than other social media sites, like Twitter andGoogle+.
(Number of 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 every day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer online and places great emphasis on tweeting posts that provide value to followers over the volume of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent each day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google Plus
Google’s own social networking site naturally carries a significant degree of authority online, even if it is still a fledgling social community compared to sites like Facebook and Twitter.
(More people are actively using Google+ each month. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
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, Digg, StumbleUpon, and Reddit.
(Social media sites provide important signals to search engines that could affect your rankings)
Social Signals – Which Ones Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Search engines like Google and Bing track various social signals, including the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook comments, likes, and shares you have, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets a URL has, the authority of the person sharing your information, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many followers on GooglePlus a site page has amassed, number and growth rate 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 social media-related signals that can influence search traffic. These include desirable and negative factors, such as age and authority of your social media account [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by site reviewers [negative].
As a website owner, it’s not only important to find ways to grow your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to monitor and analyze social media in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media marketing to help improve your results online)
Social media monitoring allows you to gain insights into your brand’s online visibility on social media, spot market opportunities, avert disasters, measure the impact of campaigns, and assess competitor activity and market share. Additionally, monitoring social media can also provide you with valuable data about emerging trends and what clients and consumers are thinking about specific businesses, brands, topics, or products.
As a tool for business intelligence, social media signal monitoring is invaluable. Using social media monitoring as a form of business intelligence, however, is a complex undertaking, often carried out by various people including PR companies, market researchers, marketing teams, sales teams, social engagement and community personnel, and agencies. Typically, smaller businesses do not have the budget to pay a social media monitoring service to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately different service providers have created tools and solutions to facilitate the tracking of a variety of social media channels, allowing companies to track consumer behavior around their brands or products so they can react to conversations and interact with online users in a timely manner.
We have created a detailed article where we explore many social media measurement tools that will help you manage, measure, and analyze your social media marketing campaigns. Go here for more information:
(Are you monitoring your social signals effectively?)
This article discusses a simple, yet highly effective plugin for WordPress users for monitoring social signals and growing your social media influence online.
Our Recommended WordPress Product …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics Plugin
Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social analytics plugin for WordPress that is designed to help you improve your social media exposure online in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple concept – the plugin measures how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. The site owner’s objective is simple … change all the reds into greens.
(Social Metrics Pro provides a standard operating procedure that any user can follow … just 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 and red.
The plugin developers tested Social Metrics Pro on a network of 2,000+ websites 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”. 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 they also experienced a 310% increase in revenues.
(According to Social Metrics Pro developers, improving your social marketing can result in higher search rankings, increased traffic and an increase in revenue!)
More info:
Plugin Benefits
Here are just a few of the benefits of using Social Metrics Pro to track Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WordPress Dashboard on your website:
Be Up And Running In No Time
SocialMetricsPro installs just like every other WordPress plugin. Simply upload the plugin file to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the user’s task is to turn all reds into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social signals so you know where to invest more effort and which need to be better optimized.
Choose Only Social Signals You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you track and monitor social activity from social media networks like GooglePlus, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Digg, StumbleUpon, and Pinterest directly from your WP admin area.
SocialMetricsPro 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 constantly tracks the social sites that you care most about!)
Features
Social Metrics Pro offers a number of great features to website owners. Below we have listed a few:
- Quick and simple to install and configure. Be up and running in minutes.
- Social Metrics Pro Is Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality using built-in and external widgets. Social Metrics Pro shows updated stats from your WP admin bar, add socially popular content to your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using widgets.
- 1-click upgrading. Update SocialMetricsPro in one click via the WordPress Updates page, or update the manually manually. You can also opt to be notified via email whenever a new version is released.
- Minimal consumption of server resources. The plugin generates social metrics reports in seconds, consuming minimal server resources. Report generation also displays the amount of time spent retrieving the information and the server memory used to gather and compile the data.
Additional features include:
- Sorting, Searching And Filtering Features: Social Metrics Pro allows you to sort, search and filter the information however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by publishing date, post type, post authors, 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.
(Social Metrics Pro is really simple to use … just turn reds into greens!)
Testimonials From Users
Here are just some testimonials that customers have published about the Social Metrics Pro plugin:
”As with any cool plugin, it solves a very simple problem – how to view how well your WordPress posts are being promoted.” Adam Small, Marketing Tech Blog
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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 – Useful Tips
A practical guide showing you how to optimize your site for social media success (i.e. how to turn reds into greens) is also included.
SocialMetricsPro Plugin Support
The software is well-supported, and users get lifetime software updates 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 license allows you to activate Social Metrics Pro on a single domain. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites License Edition – This enables you to configure Social Metrics Pro on unlimited web sites that you own. Includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: The cost to purchase the Social Metrics Pro software can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. When we last checked, the plugin is being retailed for the pricing shown above. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the product seller when you visit the product site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the current price:
Additional Plugin Info
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Install The Plugin
As mentioned earlier, with the rise of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Bing and Google are now taking into account various social signals to help determine a website’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 you instant feedback on the success of your social media marketing strategy and guides you where and how to direct your efforts in order to improve your results.
SocialMetricsPro is ideal for beginners and advanced users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WP dashboard.
We recommend SocialMetricsPro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to track your social signals automatically.
For full details, check out the plugin here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics For WordPress
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