Social interactions and recommendations like +1s on Google+, Facebook shares, comments, and likes, etc. are called social signals.
With the increased importance of social sites like Twitter and Facebook, search engines like Google and Bing are now taking into account various social signals to help determine 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 own 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 full ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign more importance to social signals over other aspects of their search algorithm. In short, 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 rank higher in its search engine 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 in the world. It has been estimated that a single post can reach over 100,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving droves of customers to your site, don’t be quick to dismiss Facebook as an important part of your online business strategy, as Google uses social data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems to have the most influence on website rankings of all social media sites.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the next biggest social media site in the world, with over 600 million tweets sent out every single day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer on the cybersphere and places great importance on tweeting posts that provide great value to followers over the volume of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent every single day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google+
As Google’s own social site, GooglePlus naturally carries great authority online, even if it has not reached the same level of growth and take up as Facebook and Twitter.
(More people are starting to interact socially on Google+ every day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big three social sites listed above, there are a number of other social media networks that provide important social signals, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, Digg, Reddit, and StumbleUpon.
(A number of social media sites provide important signals that could affect your search rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Search engines like Google and Bing track a number of social signals, including:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook comments, likes, and shares a person has, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, the authority of the person tweeting, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many followers on GooglePlus your web page has amassed, amount and growth rate of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on Digg, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious social media-related signals that can indirectly influence search engine traffic. These include desirable and undesirable factors, such as age and authority of your social media account [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be of low quality by other users [negative].
As a website owner, it’s not only important to grow your social media presence, but also to be able to track and analyze social media in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media can improve your results online)
Tracking social media activity allows you to find insights into your company’s overall visibility on social media, identify new market opportunities, spy on your competitors, measure the impact of campaigns, and avert crises. Additionally, monitoring social media can also provide valuable information about emerging trends and what clients and consumers think about specific topics, products, brands, or businesses.
As a tool for business intelligence, social monitoring 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 digital reputation management (ORM) agencies, marketing professionals, market research, social marketing agencies, social engagement and community staff, and sales teams. Typically, small businesses do not have the budget to pay media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the and actively monitor their digital reputation.
Fortunately various technology companies have developed many tools to facilitate the active tracking of a variety of social media channels, enabling companies to identify and even predict what customers, competitors, supporters, and critics are saying about their brands or products so they can react to conversations and interact with online users in various social media platforms.
We have written a detailed article on social media tracking tools that will help you identify new trends and opportunities, track competitor activity, see what online conversations are taking place that can affect your business,etc here:
(Do you know how to effectively measure social signals?)
This article discusses a simple WordPress plugin for monitoring social signals and growing your social media influence.
Introducing …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics Plugin For WordPress
Plugin Description
SocialMetricsPro is an easy-to-use social analytics plugin that is designed to help you grow your social media influence online in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple premise – Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures how each signal is performing and displays either a red or green indicator. The site owner’s objective is simple … turn all the red squares into greens.
(SocialMetricsPro provides a system that any user can follow … just 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 developers of SocialMetricsPro tested their plugin on a network of 2,000+ sites 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 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 Social Metrics Pro developers, improving your social media marketing can result in better search engine rankings, increased traffic and increased revenue!)
More info:
Benefits Of Using Social Metrics Pro
Here are just some of the benefits of using Social Metrics Pro to track Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more from your WP Dashboard on your site:
Installation Is Easy, Fast And Simple
Social Metrics Pro installs like every other plugin. Simply upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, your task is to change all red squares into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social media signals so you know where to apply more effort and where to optimize.
Select Only Social Signals You Care About
Social Metrics Pro lets you monitor social activity across leading social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, StumbleUpon, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Digg.
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 are my most popular posts?
- And more …
With SocialMetricsPro, all this information is available on-demand, with just one click.
(Social Metrics Pro constantly tracks the sites that you care most about!)
SocialMetricsPro Features
Social Metrics Pro offers many features to WordPress users. Below we have listed just some:
- Fast and easy to install and set up. Be up and running in minutes.
- SocialMetricsPro Is Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality with external and built-in widgets. Access the latest stats right on your WP admin bar, add socially popular content to your sidebar or anywhere on your site using point-and-click widgets.
- One-click upgrading. You can update SocialMetricsPro with a single click via the WordPress Updates page, or update the manually manually. You can also opt to be notified via email whenever new plugin updates are released.
- Minimal hosting resources use. The plugin can generate social metrics reports fast, consuming minimal server resources. Report generation also includes the amount of time used to retrieve information and the server memory used to gather and compile the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sorting, Searching And Filtering Features: SocialMetricsPro allows you to sort, search and filter the data however you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by post authors, publishing date, category, or by post type.
- Export Data To Excel: You can export and plot data 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.
(SocialMetricsPro is simple to use … just convert all the red squares into greens!)
Testimonials
Here are some of the testimonials plugin customers have submitted regarding SocialMetricsPro:
”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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“Social Metrics Takes WordPress Stats to the Next Level.” Lorraine Ball, Creative Director, Roundpeg
SocialMetricsPro Plugin – Tips
A practical, step-by-step guide containing useful advice on how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. turn reds into greens) is also included.
Product Support
SocialMetricsPro is well-supported, and users get lifetime upgrades and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, 60-day, complete refund guarantee.
Product License Price
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This edition lets you install Social Metrics Pro on a single site. Pricing includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site License – This option allows you to run Social Metrics Pro on multiple sites that you own. Pricing includes free lifetime updates and free support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: Pricing for the Social Metrics Pro software depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The price above was current at the time this review was published. This may or may not be the actual price set by the software developer when you visit the website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing information here:
Additional Information
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Install This Product
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. 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 shows them where and how to improve their results.
Social Metrics Pro 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 campaigns.
For complete details, check out the plugin here: SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics Plugin
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