Social interactions and recommendations like Facebook likes, comments, and shares, Twitter mentions and retweets, etc. are called social signals.
With the rise of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines like Bing and Google have started taking into account a range of social signals to help determine a site’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 its 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 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 sites that provide real value develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google naturally wants to display higher in its search results.
Social Signals – Which Social Sites Matter?
Social media sites that search engines look to for measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion active users, Facebook is the most dominant social media community on the planet. Research shows that a single post on Facebook can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving droves of customers to your website, you should not be quick to dismiss the power of leveraging Facebook, as Google processes data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, research shows that Facebook seems to have the most influence on search engine rankings of all social media sites, like Twitter orGooglePlus.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second biggest social media site in the world, with over half a billion tweets sent out each day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer on the cybersphere and places great importance on the authority of tweets posted to followers over the number of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent each day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google+
Google’s own social networking site naturally carries great authority online, even if it has not reached the same level of growth and take up as Twitter and Facebook.
(More people are interacting socially on Google+ every week. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big three social sites listed above, there are a number of other sites worth paying attention to, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Digg, and Reddit.
(A number of social media sites provide important signals that could affect your search rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Pay Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines 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 a URL has, how influential the person retweeting your posts is, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many followers on Google+ a web page has, number and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on Reddit, etc.
- Not so obvious signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious factors that can influence search traffic and rankings. These include positive and negative factors, such as age and authority of your social media account [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by visitors [negative].
As a website owner, it’s important to not only grow your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to monitor, measure and analyze social media in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media can help improve your business results)
Monitoring social media activity allows you to find insights into your brand’s online visibility on social media, be alerted to crises, assess competitor activity, identify opportunities for engagement, and measure the impact of campaigns. Additionally, social media monitoring can also provide vital information about emerging trends and what consumers and clients think about specific businesses, products, brands, or topics.
As a business intelligence tool, the ability to track trends, social activity, and volume and sentiments of online conversations on social media channels like blogs, internet forums, social networking sites, micro-blogging platforms, message boards, video/photo sharing websites, and user-generated content (UGC) 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 market researchers, PR companies, marketing teams, professional sales reps, social engagement and community personnel, and agencies. Typically, many small businesses don’t have the budget to pay social media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the and actively monitor their digital reputation.
Fortunately various technology companies have developed affordable tools to facilitate the active monitoring of a variety of social media channels, allowing companies to identify consumer behavior around their products or brands allowing them to respond to conversations and interact with consumers in a timely manner.
Go here to learn more about social media measurement tools and technologies that are worth checking out and knowing about:
(Are you tracking your social signals effectively?)
This article discusses a simple, yet effective social monitoring plugin for WordPress and improving your social media exposure online.
Our Recommended WordPress Plugin Is …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics Plugin
Description
SocialMetricsPro is an easy-to-install social media analytics premium WordPress plugin that is designed to help users improve their social media exposure online in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple concept – the tool measures how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. The site owner’s objective is to change all red squares into greens.
(A standard operating procedure that anyone can follow … turn all the reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics. Posts that receive the most shares display green. Posts with low social media activity are colored amber and red.
The plugin developers tested Social Metrics Pro on a network of over two thousand sites over a period of three months. During this period, all they focused on was turning the “reds” to “greens” and then keeping everything “green”. According to the plugin developers, 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 SocialMetricsPro developers, focusing on improving your social media marketing campaigns can result in higher search engine rankings, more traffic and increased revenue!)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Benefits Of Using Social Metrics Pro
Below are just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Social Metrics Pro to track Likes, Tweets, Pins, +1s and more right from your WP Dashboard on your website:
Easy To Install
Social Metrics Pro installs just like any WP plugin. Just upload a zip folder containing the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your WP admin area and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, your job is to convert red squares into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social signals the way Google sees it so you know which campaigns require more effort and where to optimize.
Track The Signals You Care About
Social Metrics Pro allows you to monitor social media activity from networks like Google+, Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Digg directly from your WP dashboard.
SocialMetricsPro helps you get answers to 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 this information is available on-demand, with just one click.
(Social Metrics Pro actively monitors social signals from the sites that you care most about!)
Product Features
SocialMetricsPro offers a number of features to WordPress users. Here are just some:
- Fast and easy to install and implement. Be up and running in no time.
- Social Metrics Pro Is Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using external and built-in widgets. View updated stats from your WP dashboard, add socially popular content to your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using point-and-click widgets.
- 1-click upgrading. You can update the plugin in a single click via the WordPress Updates page, or update the manually manually. You can also choose to receive an email notification whenever new plugin updates are released.
- Minimal hosting resources consumption. Social reports are generated in seconds, using minimal hosting resources. The tool also includes the amount of time it took to retrieve the information and the server memory consumed when gathering and compiling data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sort, Search & Filter Features: SocialMetricsPro lets you sort and filter data however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by post authors, post type, publishing date, or by category.
- Export Data To Excel: You can export and plot filtered 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.
(SocialMetricsPro is very simple to use … just convert all the reds into greens!)
Feedback From Users
Here are a few of the testimonials plugin users have published about Social Metrics Pro:
”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
***
”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
Social Metrics Pro includes a step-by-step guide containing useful advice on how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. how to turn reds into greens).
SocialMetricsPro Support
The software is well-supported, and comes with free support and free lifetime updates, backed by a no-risk, 60-day, 100% money-back guarantee.
Plugin Price
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This edition lets you install Social Metrics Pro on 1 website only. Pricing includes free lifetime updates and free support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site Licensing – This enables you to use Social Metrics Pro on multiple domains that you own. Includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: The price of the Social Metrics Pro product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. When we last checked, the plugin sells for the prices shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing set by the plugin seller when you visit the plugin 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
SocialMetricsPro 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 how important social media is to their online success. SocialMetricsPro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives users immediate feedback on the success of their social media marketing strategy and guides them how to improve their results.
SocialMetricsPro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WP admin area.
Get SocialMetricsPro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to learn how to use social signals to improve your search engine rankings.
To learn more, visit the plugin website here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics Plugin For WordPress
***
***