Social interactions like Twitter mentions and retweets, Facebook comments, shares, and likes, etc. are called social signals.
With the rise of social sites like Twitter and Facebook, search engines now take into account various social signals when determining a website’s ranking.
Note: Google encourages website owners to build their social media 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 social trends and relationships can change at a moment’s notice. Without a reliable ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign more 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 rank higher in its search engine.
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 network on the planet. It has been estimated that one great post on Facebook can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if no one is 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 social data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, research indicates that Facebook seems to have the most influence on search rankings of all social media sites.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the next largest social media site in the world, with over half a billion tweets sent out each day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence online and places great emphasis on the authority of tweets posted to followers over the amount of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent each day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google+
As Google’s own social site, Google+ 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 interacting on Google+ each week. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big 3 listed above, there are a number of other sites that should not be ignored, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon,Reddit, and Digg.
(Social media sites provide important signals to search engines that could affect your rankings)
Social Signals – Which Ones Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines like Bing and Google include the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook comments, shares, and likes you have, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets your URL has, the authority of the person sending a tweet, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many followers on Google+ your web page has amassed, amount and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. number of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on Digg, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious social media-related signals that can influence search traffic and rankings. These include desirable and undesirable factors, such as age and authority of your social media account [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by other users [negative].
As a business owner, it’s not only important to grow 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.
(Using social media marketing can help improve your business results)
Social media monitoring allows you to gain insights into your brand’s online visibility on social media, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, avert disasters, spot market opportunities, and assess competitor activity and market share. Additionally, monitoring social media can also provide valuable information about emerging trends and what consumers and clients think about specific topics, businesses, brands, or products.
As a business intelligence tool, social media monitoring is invaluable. Using social media monitoring as a form of business intelligence, however, is a complex undertaking, typically carried out by a cross-section of people including PR companies, marketing professionals, market researchers, professional sales reps, social marketing agencies, and social engagement and community staff. Typically, many small businesses don’t can’t afford to pay media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the and actively monitor their digital reputation.
Fortunately different technology companies have developed a range of tools to facilitate the monitoring of a broad range of social media channels, allowing you to track what consumers, competitors, critics, and supporters are saying about your products or brand so you can respond proactively to conversations and engage with online users in various social media platforms.
We have created a detailed article listing a number of social media measurement tools and technologies that you may want to check out. More info:
(Are you looking for an effective way to measure your social signals?)
This article discusses a simple, yet effective WordPress plugin for tracking social signals and improving your social media exposure online.
Let’s Review …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
Description Of Plugin
SocialMetricsPro is an easy-to-install social analytics premium WordPress plugin that is designed to help users increase their social media presence in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple concept – SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures how each signal is performing and displays either a green or red indicator. The site owner’s objective is simple … turn red squares into greens.
(Social Metrics Pro provides a system that any website owner can operate … simply turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts that receive the most shares are colored green. Posts with low social media activity display amber or red.
The plugin developers tested Social Metrics Pro on a network of over two thousand 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 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 their revenue increased by 310%.
(According to the plugin developers, improving your social marketing can result in higher search rankings, more web traffic and an increase in revenue!)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Plugin Benefits
Below we have listed just a few of the benefits of using Social Metrics Pro to track Likes, Tweets, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WordPress Dashboard on your site:
Quick And Simple To Install And Use. Ready To Use In Minutes.
SocialMetricsPro is quite easy to install. Simply upload the plugin file to your Plugins folder via your admin user login and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, your job is to convert reds into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social media signals so you know which social marketing campaigns require more effort and which ones need to be better optimized.
Track Only Signals You Care About
Social Metrics Pro lets you monitor social media activity across leading social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Digg, and StumbleUpon.
Social Metrics Pro lets you easily answer questions like:
- Which social networks work best for my site?
- Which posts are performing the best on these social networks?
- Which of my posts are the most popular?
- And more …
With SocialMetricsPro, all this information can be accessed with just one click.
(SocialMetricsPro actively tracks social signals from the social media sites that you care most about!)
Features
SocialMetricsPro offers many features to WP users. Here are a few:
- Fast and simple to install and configure. Ready to use in no time.
- Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using built-in and external widgets. View the latest stats right on your WP admin bar, display social content on your sidebar or anywhere in your site using widgets.
- One-click updating. You can update Social Metrics Pro with one click via the WordPress Updates page, or update it manually. You can also opt to be notified via email when new plugin updates are released.
- Plugin suits even the smallest hosting. Reports are generated in seconds, using little hosting resources. Reports also include the amount of time spent retrieving the information and the server memory consumed when gathering the data.
Additional features include:
- Sort, Search & Filter Features: SocialMetricsPro allows you to sort and filter your data however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by publishing date, category, post type, or by post authors.
- Export Data: You can export data to 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.
(SocialMetricsPro is simple to use … just turn more red squares into greens!)
User Testimonials
Here are some of the testimonials and comments plugin users have submitted for SocialMetricsPro:
”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
Social Metrics Pro Plugin – Useful Tips
Social Metrics Pro includes a step-by-step, practical guide showing you how to optimize your site for social media success (i.e. how to turn reds into greens).
Support
The plugin is well-supported, and users get lifetime software upgrades and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 60-day, complete refund guarantee.
Software Price
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This lets you run SocialMetricsPro on one site only. Includes free lifetime updates and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site Edition – This lets you use Social Metrics Pro on all web sites that you own. Price includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: Pricing details of SocialMetricsPro depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The pricing shown above was correct at the time this article was written. This may not be the actual price set by the plugin seller when you visit the product website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Information
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Our Recommendation
As mentioned earlier, Google has been tracking social signals as part of its ranking algorithm.
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 instant feedback on the success of their social media marketing strategy and shows them where to improve their results.
Social Metrics Pro is ideal for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WP admin area.
Get Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to monitor which social media networks are working for your business.
For full details, check out the plugin here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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