Social interactions like +1s on GooglePlus, Facebook comments, shares, and likes, etc. are called social signals.
With the rising importance of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, search engines like Google and Bing have started taking into account various social signals when determining a website’s ranking.
Note: Google encourages businesses 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. Google’s own head of the web spam team Matt Cutts has stated that Google takes a cautious approach when it comes to social media, as so many things change quickly on social media. Without a reliable ‘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 to “wait and see” how things develop over time, as websites that provide value normally develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google naturally wants to rank higher in its search engine results.
Social Signal Sources
Social sites that search engines look to when measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the largest social media community in the world. It has been estimated that a single post can reach over 100,000 users, so even if no one is buying your products or services on Facebook, 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, Facebook seems to have the most influence on website rankings of all social media sites, like Twitter andGoogle+.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second biggest social media site in the world, with over 600 million tweets sent out every single day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence online and places great emphasis on tweeting posts that provide value to readers over the number of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent every single day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google Plus
Google’s own social site naturally carries great authority online, even if it is still a fledgling social community compared to sites like Twitter and Facebook.
(More people are actively using GooglePlus each month. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big three listed above, there are a number of other sites worth getting to know, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Digg, and Reddit.
(A number of social media sites provide important signals that can 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 the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook comments, likes, and shares a person has, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets a URL has, the authority of the person sharing the URL, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many followers on GooglePlus a URL has, authority of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on Reddit, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious factors that can indirectly influence search traffic and rankings. These include desirable and undesirable factors, such as improving clickthrough rate [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by visitors [negative].
As a business owner, it’s important to not only find ways to develop your social media presence, but also to be able to monitor and analyze your social signals in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media marketing to improve your results online)
Monitoring social media activity allows you to gain insights into what people are saying about your brand, products, or company on social media, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, avert crises, spot market opportunities, and assess competitor activity. Additionally, social media monitoring can also provide you with vital information about emerging trends and what clients and consumers are thinking about specific businesses, brands, products, or topics.
As a business intelligence tool, being able to track online conversations and activity on social media is invaluable. Using social media monitoring as a form of business intelligence, however, is a complex undertaking, often carried out by various people including online reputation management companies, market research, marketing professionals, sales teams, social media marketing agencies, and social engagement and community personnel. Typically, many small businesses do not have the budget to pay a social media monitoring service to continually track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately different technology providers have developed tools that facilitate the active monitoring of a wide range of social media channels, allowing companies to identify and even predict consumer behavior around their brands allowing them to respond proactively to conversations and interact with consumers in various social media platforms.
Go here to learn more about social media measurement tools that will help you identify new trends and opportunities, track competitor activity, see what online conversations are taking place that affect your business,etc:
(Are you measuring your social signals effectively?)
This article explores a simple, yet highly effective plugin for WordPress users for monitoring social signals and growing your social media influence online.
Announcing …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
Description Of Plugin
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-use social media analytics premium 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 tracks and measures how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. The site owner’s job is simple … turn all the red squares into greens.
(Social Metrics Pro provides a standard operating procedure that any user can follow … turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts that receive the most 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”. According to the plugin developers, 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 Social Metrics Pro developers, focusing on improving your social media marketing can positively impact your search rankings, web traffic and revenue!)
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Benefits
Below are just some of the many benefits and advantages of using Social Metrics Pro to track Tweets, Likes, +1s, Pins and more right from your WP Dashboard on your web site:
Fast And Simple To Install And Set Up. Be Up And Running In Minutes.
Social Metrics Pro installs just like every plugin. Just upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your administrator section and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the user’s job is to convert all the red squares into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social signals so you know which campaigns need more effort and where to optimize.
Select Only Social Signals From The Networks You Care About
SocialMetricsPro lets you monitor social media activity from networks like Twitter, Facebook, Google+, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Digg.
Social Metrics Pro lets you easily answer questions like:
- Which social 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 of this information is available on-demand, with a single click.
(SocialMetricsPro actively monitors social signals from the sites that you care most about!)
Social Metrics Pro Features
SocialMetricsPro provides a number of great features to website owners. Here are a few:
- Quick and easy to install and set up. Ready to go to work in minutes.
- Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using external and built-in widgets. Access the latest information from your WordPress dashboard, display socially popular content on your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using point-and-click widgets.
- One-click upgrading. You can update the plugin with one click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update the manually manually. You can also choose to receive an email notification when new plugin updates are released.
- Plugin uses minimal resources. The plugin can generate reports very quickly, consuming minimal hosting resources. The tool also displays the amount of time it took to retrieve the information and the server resources used to compile data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sorting, Searching And 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 post type, publishing date, post authors, or category.
- 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 the spreadsheet application of your choice.
(SocialMetricsPro is really simple to use … just convert all the red squares into greens!)
Testimonials
Here are some of the testimonials that plugin users have provided for the SocialMetricsPro 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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”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 Plugin – Useful Tips
SocialMetricsPro includes a step-by-step guide on how to optimize your site for social media success (i.e. how to turn reds into greens).
Support
The plugin is well-supported, and comes with free support and free lifetime updates, backed by a no-risk, sixty-day, full money-back guarantee.
Software Cost
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Edition – This edition enables you to set up Social Metrics Pro on 1 site only. Includes free lifetime updates and free support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This license enables you to set up Social Metrics Pro on all websites that you own. Includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: Pricing details of the product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The pricing shown above was correct when this review was written. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the product author when you visit the plugin site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing:
Additional Information
SocialMetricsPro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Our Recommendation
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 immediate feedback on the success of their social media marketing strategy and shows them how and where to direct their efforts in order to improve their results.
Social Metrics Pro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WordPress dashboard.
We recommend this plugin if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to make social marketing measurable.
For more information, visit the plugin website: SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics For WordPress
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