Social interactions like +1s on GooglePlus, Facebook shares, comments, and likes, 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 for several years now.
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 own web spam team has stated that Google takes a cautious approach when it comes to social signals, as social trends and relationships can change at a moment’s notice. Without a full ‘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 to “wait and see” how things develop over time, as websites that provide true value normally develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signal Sources
Social media sites that search engines like Google look to when measuring social signals include:
With more than 1.5 billion active users, Facebook is the largest social media network on the planet. Research shows that an average post 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 online business strategy, 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 search rankings of all social media sites, like Twitter orGoogle+.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the next biggest social media site in the world, with over 500 million tweets sent out every single day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence on the cybersphere and places great importance on tweeting posts that provide great value to readers over the number of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent every single day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google Plus
Google’s own social site naturally carries a significant degree of 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 day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big 3 social sites listed above, there are a number of other social sites that provide important social signals, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Digg, and Reddit.
(Social media sites provide important signals to search engines that could affect your rankings)
Social Signals – Which Ones Should You Pay Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines like Google and Bing include:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook comments, likes, and shares you have, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets your site has, the number of people sending a tweet, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (influential users), how many followers on Google+ your site page has, amount and growth rate of +1s, 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 traffic and rankings. These include desirable and negative factors, such as improving clickthrough rate (CTR) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be of poor quality by visitors [negative].
As a website owner, it’s not only important to find ways to grow your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to track, measure and analyze social media marketing in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media marketing can improve your business results)
Social media monitoring allows you to gain insights into what people are saying about your products, company, or brand on social media, spy on your competition, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, avert disasters, and identify market opportunities. It can also provide vital information about emerging trends and what clients and consumers think about specific topics, brands, products, or businesses.
As a tool for business intelligence, being able to monitor social media is invaluable. Using social media monitoring as a form of business intelligence, however, is a complex undertaking, often carried out by a cross-section of groups that include marketing professionals, market research, online reputation management (ORM) specialists, social engagement and community personnel, sales teams, and agencies. Typically, many small businesses do not can’t afford to pay media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately different providers have created affordable tools that facilitate the monitoring of a variety of social media channels, allowing companies to identify and even predict consumer behavior around their brands or products so they can react to conversations and interact with online users in various social media platforms.
Go here to learn more about social media tracking tools and technologies that are worth checking out and knowing about:
(Are you monitoring social signals effectively?)
This article explores a simple plugin for WordPress sites for tracking social media signals and increasing your social media presence online.
Our Recommended WordPress Plugin Is …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics Plugin
Plugin Description
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social analytics WordPress plugin that is designed to make improving your social media presence uncomplicated. It is built on a simple premise – the plugin tracks and measures how each signal is performing and displays either a green or red indicator. Your objective is to convert red squares into greens.
(Social Metrics Pro provides a standard operating procedure that anyone can operate … turn all the 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 display amber and 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 everything “green”. From these tests, they were able to notice 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 SocialMetricsPro developers, improving your social marketing campaigns can impact your search rankings, traffic and revenue!)
More info:
Benefits
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits of using Social Metrics Pro to track Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WP Dashboard on your website:
Fast And Simple To Install And Use. Ready To Start Using In Very Little Time.
Social Metrics Pro installs just like any WordPress plugin. Just upload a zip folder containing the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your WP admin user area and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, your goal is to turn red squares into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social signals the way Google sees it so you know which social marketing campaigns require investing more effort and where to optimize.
Select Only 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 Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Digg, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, and LinkedIn.
SocialMetricsPro 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 Social Metrics Pro, all of this information is available on-demand, with just one click.
(Social Metrics Pro actively tracks the sites that you care most about!)
Features
Social Metrics Pro provides many great features to web site owners. Here are just some of those:
- Quick and easy to install and configure. Be up and running in no time.
- Widgets And 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, add social content to your sidebar or anywhere in your site using widgets.
- One-click updating. You can update the plugin with one click via the WordPress Updates page, or update it manually. You can also opt to be notified via email whenever new plugin updates are released.
- Minimal server resources use. Reports are generated fast, consuming minimal hosting resources. Reports also include the amount of time spent retrieving the information and the server resources consumed when gathering the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sorting, Searching & Filtering Features: Social Metrics Pro allows you to sort, search and filter your data as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by post type, category, publishing date, or by post authors.
- Export Data To Excel: 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 the spreadsheet application of your choice.
(Social Metrics Pro is very simple to use … just convert more red squares into greens!)
User Testimonials
Here are just a few of the testimonials and comments 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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”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
Plugin Tips
Social Metrics Pro comes with a practical, step-by-step guide on how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. how to turn reds into greens).
Social Metrics Pro Plugin Support
SocialMetricsPro is well-supported, and comes with free lifetime updates and support, backed by a risk-free, 60-day, 100% money-back guarantee.
Software Price
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This allows you to set up Social Metrics Pro on a single domain. Includes free lifetime updates and support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site Licensing – This license allows you to set up Social Metrics Pro on unlimited websites that you own. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: The price of the Social Metrics Pro software depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Currently, the plugin is selling for the amounts shown above. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the software developer when you visit the plugin site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing here:
Additional Product Information
SocialMetricsPro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Install This 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 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 website owners instant feedback on the success of their social marketing strategy and guides them how to direct their efforts in order to improve their results.
SocialMetricsPro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WordPress admin area.
Get SocialMetricsPro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to save money on outsourcing your social marketing.
To learn more, check out the plugin here: SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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