Social interactions like Twitter retweets and mentions, Facebook comments, etc. are called social signals.
With the growth of social sites like Twitter and Facebook, search engines like Google and Bing are now taking into account a range of social signals when determining a site’s ranking.
Note: Google encourages businesses to build their brand on social media as a long-term investment to drive qualified traffic, instead of 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 social media, as social trends and relationships can change at a moment’s notice. Without a perfect ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign too much importance to social signals over other aspects of their search algorithm. In short, Google’s strategy is a sensible one - “wait and see” how things develop over time, as sites that provide true value normally develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google naturally wants to display higher in its search listings.
Social Signal Sources
Social media sites that search engines like Google look to when measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion active users, Facebook is the most dominant social media network on the planet. Research shows that one great post on Facebook can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving a ton of sales on your website, don’t be quick to dismiss the importance of Facebook in your online business strategy, as Google processes social data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, research indicates that Facebook seems to have the most influence on website rankings of all social media sites, like Twitter andGooglePlus.
(Number of monthly active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the second largest social media site in the world, with over half a billion tweets sent out each day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence on the cybersphere and places great importance on the authority of tweets posted to readers over the volume of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent every single day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google Plus
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 Twitter and Facebook.
(More people are starting to interact socially on Google+ each week. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big three social sites listed above, there are a number of other social media networks worth getting to know, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Reddit, StumbleUpon, 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 include the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook likes, comments, and shares you have, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, the number of people sending a tweet, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (influential 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, upvotes on Digg, etc.
- Not so obvious signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious factors that can influence search engine traffic. These include desirable and negative factors, such as age and authority of your social media account [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be of poor quality by site reviewers [negative].
As a website owner, it’s not only important to find ways to develop your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to monitor, measure and analyze social signals in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media to help improve your results online)
Monitoring social media activity allows you to find insights into your brand’s overall visibility on social media, avert impending crises, measure the impact of campaigns, spy on your competition, and spot opportunities for engagement. Additionally, social media monitoring can also provide vital information about emerging trends and what consumers and clients think about specific businesses, brands, topics, or products.
As a business intelligence tool, being able to monitor 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 a cross-section of people including marketing teams, online reputation management (ORM) specialists, market research, sales teams, agencies, and social engagement and community staff. Typically, small businesses do not have the budget to pay social 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 active monitoring of a variety of social media channels, enabling you to identify consumer behavior around your products or brand allowing you to respond to conversations and interact with online users in various social media platforms.
We have written a comprehensive article where we explore over 30 social media measurement tools that are worth checking out and knowing about. Go here for more info:
(Do you know how to effectively track social signals?)
This article discusses a simple social media monitoring tool for WordPress and improving your social media presence online.
Announcing …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics For WordPress
Description Of Plugin
SocialMetricsPro is an easy-to-install social analytics WordPress plugin that is designed to help users increase their social media exposure online in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple concept – the tool measures and tracks how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. The site owner’s goal is to change more red squares into greens.
(A standard operating procedure that any user can follow … turn all the reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts that receive the most shares display green. Posts with low social media activity are colored amber or red.
The plugin developers tested SocialMetricsPro 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”. From these tests, they noticed 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 Social Metrics Pro developers, focusing on improving your social media marketing campaigns can positively affect your search rankings, traffic and revenue!)
More info:
Benefits Of Using SocialMetricsPro
Below we have listed just a few of the benefits of using Social Metrics Pro to track Likes, Tweets, Pins, +1s and more right from your WP Dashboard on your website:
Installation Is Easy & Fast
Social Metrics Pro is very easy to install. Just upload a zip folder containing the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your WordPress admin user area and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, your task is to convert all reds into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social media signals the way Google sees it so you know which social campaigns need you to invest more effort and where to optimize.
Track Signals You Care About
Social Metrics Pro provides a powerful dashboard to centrally monitor social media activity across leading networks like Facebook, Twitter, GooglePlus, Digg, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and StumbleUpon.
Social Metrics Pro lets you easily answer questions like:
- Which social media 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 is available on-demand, with just one click.
(SocialMetricsPro actively monitors the sites that you care most about!)
Product Features
Social Metrics Pro offers WordPress users with many great features. Below we have listed just some of these:
- Fast and simple to install and implement. Be up and running in no time.
- SocialMetricsPro Is Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using built-in and external widgets. Access updated stats from your WP admin bar, add social content to your sidebar or anywhere in your site using point-and-click widgets.
- One-click upgrades. You can update SocialMetricsPro with a single click via the WordPress Updates page, or update it manually. You can also choose to receive an email notification when new plugin updates are released.
- Minimal use of hosting resources. Reports are compiled fast, using very little hosting resources. Reports also include the amount of time it took to retrieve the information and the server memory used to compile the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sorting, Searching & Filtering Features: Social Metrics Pro lets you sort and filter 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 Excel or the spreadsheet application of your choice.
(SocialMetricsPro is simple to use … just convert all the reds into greens!)
Testimonials
Below are some of the testimonials and comments that plugin customers have submitted for the SocialMetricsPro plugin:
”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
Product Tips
Social Metrics Pro comes with a step-by-step guide containing useful advice on how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. turn reds into greens).
Social Metrics Pro Plugin Support
The plugin is well-supported, and comes with free lifetime updates and support, backed by a risk-free, sixty-day, full refund guarantee.
Software Price
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This allows you to configure SocialMetricsPro on 1 site only. Includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site Edition – This lets you use Social Metrics Pro on multiple websites that you own. Includes free lifetime updates and free support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: The cost to purchase Social Metrics Pro depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the current pricing at the time this content was published. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the product seller when you visit the product site 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
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Get The Plugin
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. 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 campaigns and guides them how and where to improve their results.
SocialMetricsPro is ideal for beginners and advanced users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WP admin area.
We recommend getting SocialMetricsPro if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to reduce your social media marketing learning curve.
For complete details, visit the plugin website here: SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics For WordPress
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