Social interactions and recommendations like Facebook likes, comments, and shares, +1s on GooglePlus, 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 businesses 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. Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s web spam team has stated that Google takes a cautious approach when it comes to assessing social media signals, as so many things change quickly on social media. Without a reliable ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign more 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 sites that provide true value develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google naturally wants to display higher in its search results.
Social Signal Sources
Social media sites that search engines look to for measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion active users, Facebook is the largest social network on the planet. It has been estimated that a single post on Facebook can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving a ton of sales on your website, don’t 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 rankings more than other social media sites, like Twitter orGoogle+.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second largest social media site in the world, with over 600 million tweets sent out every day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer on the cybersphere and places great emphasis on tweeting posts that provide value to readers over the amount of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent every single day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google Plus
As Google’s own social networking site, GooglePlus naturally carries great authority online, even if it is still a fledgling social community compared to sites like Facebook and Twitter.
(More people are starting to interact socially on GooglePlus each day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big three listed above, there are a number of other social sites that should not be ignored, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon,Reddit, and Digg.
(A number of social media sites provide important signals that can affect your search engine rankings)
Social Signals – Which Ones Should You Pay Attention To?
Search engines like Bing and Google track a number of social signals, including:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook likes, shares, and comments you have, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, the authority of the person sending a tweet, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (influential 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, comments on Reddit, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious social media-related signals that can indirectly influence search engine rankings and traffic. These include positive and undesirable 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 important to not only develop your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to monitor, measure and analyze your social marketing in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media marketing to help improve your results online)
Tracking social media activity allows you to gain insights into your brand’s online visibility on social media, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, identify potential market opportunities, spy on your competitors, and be alerted to impending crises. It can also provide vital data about emerging trends and what consumers and clients are thinking about specific products, businesses, topics, or brands.
As a business intelligence tool, social media signal monitoring 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 market researchers, digital reputation management companies, marketing professionals, professional sales reps, social media marketing agencies, and social engagement and community personnel. Typically, smaller businesses do not can’t afford to pay a media monitoring service to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately a number of providers have developed tools and solutions to facilitate the active monitoring of a broad spectrum of social media channels, enabling companies to identify and even predict consumer behavior around their products or brands allowing them to respond to conversations and engage with consumers in various social media platforms.
We have written a comprehensive article on social media measurement tools that are worth knowing about. Go here to learn more about this:
(Do you know how to effectively track your social signals?)
In this article, you will learn about a simple, yet effective WordPress plugin for tracking social media signals and increasing your social media exposure online.
Our Recommended WordPress Product …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics WordPress Plugin
Description Of Plugin
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social media analytics WordPress plugin that is designed to help you increase your social media influence online in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple concept – the plugin measures and tracks how each signal is performing and displays either a green or red indicator. The user’s objective is simple … turn all the red squares into greens.
(A standard operating procedure that any user can operate … turn all the reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts that receive the most shares show up green. Posts with low social media activity are colored amber or red.
The developers of SocialMetricsPro tested their plugin on a network of 2,000+ websites over a period of 3 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 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, improving your social media marketing can result in higher search engine rankings, increased traffic and more revenue!)
More info:
Plugin Benefits
Below are just some of the benefits of using SocialMetricsPro to track Tweets, Likes, +1s, Pins and more right from your WP Dashboard on your website:
Fast And Easy To Install And Use. Ready To Start Using In Minutes.
SocialMetricsPro is very easy to install. Simply upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your admin login and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, your task is to change reds into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social signals the way Google sees it so you know where to apply more effort and which social marketing campaigns need to be better optimized.
Select Only Signals From Social Networks You Care About
Social Metrics Pro lets you track and monitor social activity across leading social media networks like Twitter, Facebook, Google+, StumbleUpon, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Digg.
Social Metrics Pro 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 are my most popular posts?
- And more …
With Social Metrics Pro, all of this information is available on-demand, with just one click.
(SocialMetricsPro actively tracks the social media sites that you care most about!)
Social Metrics Pro Features
Social Metrics Pro offers many unique features to WP users. Below we have listed a few:
- Quick and easy to install and set up. Be up and running in minutes.
- Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality with built-in and external widgets. View updated stats from your WP dashboard, display popular content on your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using point-and-click widgets.
- 1-click auto-updating functionality. You can update the plugin in a single click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update the manually manually. You can also choose to receive email notifications whenever new plugin updates are released.
- Minimal server resources use. The plugin generates reports fast, using minimal hosting resources. Reports also display the amount of time spent retrieving information and the server memory used to gather and compile data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sorting, Searching & Filtering Features: Social Metrics Pro lets you sort, search and filter the information however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by category, publishing date, post type, 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.
(SocialMetricsPro is really simple to use … just change all reds into greens!)
Feedback From Users
Here are just a few of the testimonials and feedback that plugin users have published about Social Metrics Pro:
”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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”If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve.” Goes one of the most important sayings in business. And this is particularly true for tracking of your social mentions I found. There were two things that helped me a great deal to increase sharing after installing Social Metrics: First, I was able to see that some of my articles would perform much better on networks I wasn’t particularly using, such as StumbleUpon for example. Secondly, I could filter out the best performing content more easily and analyse what makes my readers share. Since then I have focused strongly on producing and replicating those posts that performed best.” Leo Widrich, Co-Founder of Buffer
SocialMetricsPro – Useful Tips
A practical, step-by-step guide containing useful advice on how to optimize your site for social media success (i.e. how to turn reds into greens) is also included.
SocialMetricsPro Plugin Support
SocialMetricsPro is well-supported, and comes with free lifetime updates and support, backed by a risk-free, 60-day, complete money-back guarantee.
Product Licensing Pricing
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This edition enables you to set up SocialMetricsPro on one website only. It includes free lifetime updates and support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site Edition – This enables you to run SocialMetricsPro on multiple domains that you own. Includes free lifetime updates and support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: The cost of purchasing the SocialMetricsPro plugin depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The above reflects the price when this article was published. This may not be the actual price charged by the software developer when you visit the product 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 Info
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Install The Plugin
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 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 how to direct their efforts in order to improve their results.
Social Metrics Pro is ideal for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WordPress dashboard.
We recommend getting Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to save money on outsourcing your social campaigns.
For more details, visit the plugin website: Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics For WordPress
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