Social interactions and recommendations like +1s on GooglePlus, Facebook shares, likes, and comments, etc. are called social signals.
Social signals impact search engine rankings and Google has been elevating the importance given to social signals as part of its ranking algorithm since late 2010.
Note: Google encourages website owners to build their brand on social media 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 own web spam team has stated that Google takes a cautious approach when it comes to social media, as social trends and relationships tend to change too quickly to fully map out. Without a perfect ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign more importance to the social sphere over other aspects of their search algorithm. In short, Google’s strategy is to “wait and see” how things develop over time, as sites that provide value tend to develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google naturally wants to display higher in its search listings.
Social Signals – Which Sites Matter?
Social media sites that search engines look to when measuring social signals include:
With more than 1.5 billion active users, Facebook is the largest social community in the world. Research shows that an average post can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving droves of customers to your site, don’t be quick to dismiss the importance of Facebook in your business strategy, as Google uses data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, research shows that Facebook seems influence search rankings more than other social media sites.
(Number of monthly active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second biggest social media site in the world, with over 500 million tweets sent out every day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence online and places great importance on tweeting posts that provide value to readers over the volume of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent every single day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google Plus
Google’s own social media 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 interacting on GooglePlus each day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big three listed above, there are a number of other social sites worth paying attention to, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Digg, and Reddit.
(A number of social media sites provide important signals to search engines that could affect your rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Search engines track a number of social signals, including the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook shares, comments, and likes a person has, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, how influential the person tweeting is, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many people are following you, authority of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. number of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on StumbleUpon, etc.
- Not so obvious signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious factors that can indirectly influence search rankings and traffic. These include desirable and undesirable factors, such as improving clickthrough rate (CTR) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be of low quality by visitors [negative].
As a business owner, it’s not only important to grow your social media presence, but also to be able to track and analyze your social media performance in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media can help improve your results online)
Tracking social media activity allows you to gain insights into your brand’s overall visibility on social media, help you take preventative measures if you detect negative comments or feedback by dissatisfied customers, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, spy on the competition, and spot market opportunities. Additionally, monitoring social media can also provide vital information about emerging trends and what consumers and clients think about specific brands, products, businesses, or topics.
As a tool for business intelligence, the ability to monitor social media channels like blogs, forums, wikis, micro-blogging platforms, message boards, video sites, and user-generated content 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 groups that include PR staff, marketing professionals, market research, social media marketing agencies, professional sales reps, and social engagement and community personnel. Typically, small businesses don’t have the budget to pay media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately various technology companies have developed a range of tools to facilitate the monitoring of a variety of social media channels, allowing you to identify consumer behavior around your products or brand so you can react to conversations and interact with consumers in various social media platforms.
We have created a detailed article where we explore over 30 social media measurement tools that are worth checking out and knowing about. Visit this page to learn more:
(Do you know how to effectively track social signals?)
This article discusses a simple, yet highly effective plugin for WordPress-powered sites for monitoring social media signals and growing your social media influence online.
Our Recommended WordPress Plugin Is …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics Plugin For WordPress
Description Of Plugin
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-use social media analytics plugin that is designed to help users increase their social media exposure online in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple concept – Social Metrics Pro measures and tracks how each signal is performing and displays either a red or green indicator. The user’s job is to turn all reds into greens.
(A standard operating procedure that anyone can follow … just turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics. Posts with the highest number of shares show up green. Posts with low social media activity show up amber and red.
The plugin developers tested SocialMetricsPro on a network of over two thousand 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 the plugin developers, improving your social media marketing can significantly impact your search rankings, traffic and revenue!)
Learn more here:
Benefits Of Using Social Metrics Pro
Here we have listed just some of the many benefits of using SocialMetricsPro to track Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more from your WordPress Dashboard on your website:
Be Up And Running In Minutes
SocialMetricsPro is really easy to install. Just upload it to your Plugins folder via your admin user section and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the user’s task is to change all the reds into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social media signals the way Google sees it so you know which campaigns need more effort and where to optimize.
Track Social Signals From The Networks You Care About
Social Metrics Pro allows you to centrally track and monitor social media activity across leading networks like GooglePlus, Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, Digg, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.
Social Metrics Pro lets you easily answer 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 constantly monitors the social media sites that you care most about!)
Plugin Features
Social Metrics Pro provides many features to site owners. Below we have listed just a few of these:
- Fast and easy to install and set up. Ready to go to work in no time.
- Social Metrics Pro Is Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality using built-in and external widgets. Social Metrics Pro shows the latest stats right on your WordPress admin bar, add popular content to your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using point-and-click widgets.
- 1-click upgrading. You can update Social Metrics Pro in a single click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update the manually manually. You can also opt to receive an email notification whenever a new version is released.
- Plugin uses minimal resources. Social metrics reports are compiled in seconds, using very 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 as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by publishing date, post type, category, or post authors.
- Export Data: You can export and plot filtered, sorted data and custom queries 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 more reds into greens!)
Feedback From Users
Here are a few of the testimonials and comments plugin customers have written about SocialMetricsPro:
”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
SocialMetricsPro Plugin – Useful Tips
Social Metrics Pro includes a practical guide containing useful advice on how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. how to turn reds into greens).
SocialMetricsPro Support
SocialMetricsPro is well-supported, and users get lifetime upgrades and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a no-risk, sixty-day, 100% refund guarantee.
Plugin Pricing
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License – This allows you to run Social Metrics Pro on 1 domain only. It includes free lifetime updates and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multiple Sites License – This license enables you to use SocialMetricsPro on unlimited sites that you own. Includes free lifetime updates and free support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: The cost to purchase the SocialMetricsPro plugin can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The price shown above was current at the time this article was published. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the plugin developer when you visit the site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest price here:
Additional Information
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
In Conclusion
As mentioned earlier, social signals impact search engine rankings and 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 WordPress users instant feedback on the success of their social media marketing campaigns and guides them how to improve their results.
SocialMetricsPro is ideal for beginners and advanced users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WordPress admin area.
We recommend Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to outperform your competitors on social media.
For complete details, visit the plugin website: SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics For WordPress
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