Social recommendations like Facebook likes, comments, and shares, +1s on GooglePlus, etc. are called social signals.
With the growth of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines now take into account various social signals when determining website ranking.
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. Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s own web spam team 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 full ‘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 a sensible one - “wait and see” how things develop over time, as websites that provide true value tend to develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google naturally wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signal Sources
Social sites that search engines like Google look to for measuring social signals include:
With more than 1.5 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most dominant social network in the world. Research shows that an average post can reach over 100,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving a ton of sales on your website, you should not be quick to dismiss the power of leveraging Facebook, as Google uses social data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, research indicates that Facebook seems influence search engine rankings more than other social media sites, like GooglePlus or Twitter.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second largest 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 on the cybersphere and places great importance on tweeting posts that provide great value to readers over the volume of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent each day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google+
As Google’s own social site, Google+ 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 starting to interact socially on Google+ each day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big three social sites listed above, there are a number of other social media networks that provide important social signals, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, Reddit, Digg, and StumbleUpon.
(Social media sites provide important signals to search engines that can affect your rankings)
Social Signals – Which Ones Should You Pay Attention To?
Search engines like Bing and Google track various social signals, including:
- 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 URL has, the number of people tweeting, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many people are following you, spread rate of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on StumbleUpon, etc.
- Not so obvious signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious social media-related signals that can influence search rankings. These include desirable and undesirable factors, such as links from authority sites (backlinks) (not as important as they once were, but still a factor) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be of poor quality by other users [negative].
As a website owner, it’s important to not only find ways to develop your social media presence, but also to be able to track, measure and analyze social media in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media marketing can improve your business results)
Monitoring social media activity allows you to find insights into what people are saying about your brand, products, or company on social media, spy on your competition, spot potential opportunities for engagement, measure the impact of campaigns, and avert impending crises. Additionally, monitoring social media can also provide vital data about emerging trends and what consumers and clients are thinking about specific businesses, brands, topics, or products.
As a tool for business intelligence, the ability to track activity on social media is invaluable. Using social media monitoring as a form of business intelligence, however, is a complex undertaking, typically carried out by various groups that include marketing teams, market research, PR companies, social media marketing agencies, social engagement and community personnel, and professional sales reps. Typically, many small businesses don’t have the budget to pay a social media monitoring service to track their coverage in the and actively monitor their online reputation.
Fortunately many providers have developed affordable tools that facilitate the active monitoring of a broad spectrum of social media channels, enabling companies to identify consumer behavior around their brands or products allowing them to react to conversations and engage with consumers in a timely fashion.
We have created a comprehensive article listing several social media measurement tools and technologies that will help you manage, measure, and analyze your social media marketing initiatives. Go here for more information:
(Can you track social signals effectively?)
In this article, we explore a simple, yet highly effective WordPress plugin for monitoring social media signals and increasing your social media influence online.
Our Featured WordPress Plugin Is …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics Plugin
Plugin Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-use social analytics premium WordPress plugin that is designed to make growing your social media influence uncomplicated. It is built on a simple concept – the system measures and tracks how each signal is performing and returns either a red or green indicator. The user’s job is to change all red squares into greens.
(A system that any user can operate … simply turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics with Excel-like conditional color formatting. Posts with highest number of shares show up green. Posts with low social media activity display amber or 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 the plugin developers, improving your social media marketing campaigns can significantly affect your search engine rankings, web traffic and revenue!)
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Benefits Of Using SocialMetricsPro
Here are just some of the many benefits and advantages 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 Minutes
SocialMetricsPro is really easy to install. Simply upload it to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Really Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the user’s goal is to convert more reds into greens. Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures social media signals so you know which campaigns require more effort and where to optimize.
Track Signals You Care About
SocialMetricsPro allows you to centrally monitor social media activity across leading social networks like GooglePlus, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, Digg, and LinkedIn.
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 of my posts are the most popular on social media?
- And more …
With SocialMetricsPro, all this information can be accessed with just one click.
(SocialMetricsPro actively tracks social signals from the sites that you care most about!)
Features
SocialMetricsPro offers many great features to web site owners. Here are just a few:
- Quick and simple to install and set up. Ready to go to work in very little time.
- Social Metrics Pro Is Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using built-in and external widgets. SocialMetricsPro displays updated stats from your WP admin bar, display socially popular content on your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using point-and-click widgets.
- 1-click updating. You can update the plugin in a single click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update it manually. You can also opt to be notified via email whenever a new version is released.
- Plugin uses minimal server resources. The plugin generates reports fast, using minimal server resources. The tool also includes the amount of time used to retrieve the information and the server resources used to compile the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sorting, Searching & Filtering Features: Social Metrics Pro lets you sort, search and filter information as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by post type, publishing date, post authors, or by category.
- 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 very simple to use … just convert red squares into greens!)
Feedback From Users
Here are a few of the testimonials and feedback customers have provided for 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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“Social Metrics Takes WordPress Stats to the Next Level.” Lorraine Ball, Creative Director, Roundpeg
Useful Tips
Social Metrics Pro includes a step-by-step, practical guide showing you how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. how to turn reds into greens).
Product Support
Social Metrics Pro is well-supported, and users get lifetime updates and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, sixty-day, complete refund guarantee.
Plugin Pricing
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License Edition – This option enables you to use Social Metrics Pro on a single domain. Pricing includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multiple Sites License – This edition allows you to set up SocialMetricsPro on multiple websites that you own. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: Current pricing for Social Metrics Pro can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Presently, the software sells for the prices shown above. This may not be the actual pricing set by the plugin seller 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 latest pricing here:
Additional Info
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
We Recommend
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. 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 campaigns and guides you how to direct your efforts in order to improve your results.
Social Metrics Pro is ideal for beginners and advanced users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WordPress admin area.
We recommend SocialMetricsPro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to avoid wasting resources on over-optimized social media marketing campaigns.
To learn more, visit the plugin website: SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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