Social interactions and recommendations like Facebook likes, Twitter mentions and retweets, etc. are called social signals.
With the growth of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, search engines have started taking into account a range of 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 signals, as social trends and relationships tend to change too quickly to fully map out. Without a reliable ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign too much 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 true value develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signal Sources
Social sites that search engines like Google look to when measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion active users, Facebook is the largest social media network in the world. It has been estimated 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 website, you should not be quick to dismiss the importance of Facebook in your online business strategy, as Google uses social data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, research shows that Facebook seems to have the most influence on website rankings of all social media sites, like Twitter andGoogle+.
(Number of active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the next biggest social media site in the world, with over half a billion tweets sent out every day. Twitter plays a significant role as a global influencer online and places great importance on the authority of tweets posted to followers over the number of tweets sent …
(Over half a billion tweets are sent every single day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google Plus
As Google’s own social networking site, GooglePlus 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 every week. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big 3 listed above, there are a number of other social media networks worth getting to know, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Digg, and Reddit.
(Social media sites provide important signals to search engines that can affect your rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines include the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook shares, likes, and comments you have, growth rate of likes and shares, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, how influential the person sharing the URL is, trending topics, etc.
- Google+ – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many people are following you, number and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. number of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on StumbleUpon, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious signals that can indirectly influence search engine traffic. These include positive and undesirable factors, such as links from authority sites (backlinks) (not as important as they once were, but still a factor) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by other users [negative].
As a website owner, it’s important to not only find ways to develop your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to track and analyze your social performance in order to improve your business results.
(Using social media marketing can help improve your business results)
Tracking social media activity allows you to gain insights into your brand’s online visibility on social media, measure the impact of campaigns, identify market opportunities, spy on your competitors, and help you take preventative measures against the spread of negative comments or feedback by dissatisfied users. It can also provide you with vital data about emerging trends and what clients and consumers are thinking about specific businesses, brands, topics, or products.
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, typically carried out by a cross-section of people including PR companies, marketing professionals, market research, sales teams, social engagement and community personnel, and agencies. Typically, many small businesses don’t can’t afford to pay social media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately various providers have created affordable tools and solutions that facilitate the monitoring of a broad spectrum of social media channels, allowing you to identify and even predict what is being said online about your brand or products allowing you to respond to conversations and interact with consumers in various social media platforms.
We have written a comprehensive article on social media tracking tools that will help you manage, measure, and analyze your social media marketing initiatives here:
(Do you know how to effectively track social signals?)
In this article, we review a simple, yet effective social media tracking tool for your digital presence and improving your social media exposure.
Introducing …
SocialMetricsPro – Social Media Analytics Plugin For WordPress
Description Of Plugin
SocialMetricsPro is an easy-to-use social analytics plugin for WordPress that is designed to help users improve their social media presence in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple premise – SocialMetricsPro tracks how each signal is performing and displays either a red or green indicator. The site owner’s job is simple … convert all the reds into greens.
(A standard operating procedure that any website owner can follow … turn all the reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts with highest number of shares show up green. Posts with low social media activity are colored amber or 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 their metrics on “green”. From these tests, 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 Social Metrics Pro developers, focusing on improving your social marketing campaigns can can have a positive effect on your search engine rankings, traffic and revenue!)
More info:
Plugin Benefits
Here are just some of the many benefits and advantages of using SocialMetricsPro to track Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WordPress Dashboard on your web site:
Be Up And Running In Minutes
Social Metrics Pro installs just like every plugin. Just upload the plugin file to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s goal is to convert more red squares into greens. Social Metrics Pro tracks and measures social media signals so you know where to apply more effort and where to optimize.
Track Only Social Signals From The Networks You Care About
SocialMetricsPro allows you to track and monitor social media activity across leading networks like GooglePlus, Twitter, Facebook, Digg, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, and Pinterest directly from your WP dashboard.
Social Metrics Pro lets you easily answer questions like:
- Which social 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?
- And more …
With Social Metrics Pro, all this information is available on-demand, with just one click.
(SocialMetricsPro constantly tracks social signals from the social sites that you care most about!)
Features
SocialMetricsPro provides many features to website owners. Below we have listed a few of these:
- Fast and simple to install and implement. Be up and running in minutes.
- Social Metrics Pro Is Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend its functionality using external and built-in widgets. View updated stats right on your WP dashboard, display socially popular content on your blog sidebar or anywhere on your site using point-and-click widgets.
- 1-click auto-upgrading functionality. Update the plugin in one click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update the manually manually. You can also opt to be notified via email whenever a new version is released.
- Uses very little hosting resources. Reporting is in seconds, using minimal server resources. The tool also includes the amount of time it took to retrieve the information and the server memory consumed when gathering and compiling the data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sort, Search And Filter Features: Social Metrics Pro allows you to sort, search and filter the information as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by post authors, category, post type, or publishing date.
- Export Data: You can export filtered data and custom queries 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 change more red squares into greens!)
Feedback From Users
Here are a few of the testimonials and feedback that customers have submitted regarding the Social Metrics Pro plugin:
“Social Metrics Pro is the essential plugin we use to monitor how our content performs on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. It’s simple, neat and works precisely as you would expect it. When we work with our clients such as T-Mobile, the .Me domain name registry and others, Social Metrics Pro is the plugin we use to create reports as well as keep track on each bit of content to optimize it for future performance.” Ivan Brezak Brkan, Editor of Netokracija.com, TechCrunch EU Contributor
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”Social Metrics is one of the recipes for Social WordPress. You can integrate it quickly and easily on your WordPress site to view your performance on social networks” Jean-Francois Arseneault, Arseneault Consultation
Product Tips
A practical guide on how to optimize your site for social media success (i.e. turn reds into greens) is also included.
Support
Social Metrics Pro is well-supported, and users get lifetime updates and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, sixty-day, full refund guarantee.
Software Pricing
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This edition allows you to run Social Metrics Pro on a single website. Includes free lifetime updates and free support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site Edition – This enables you to install Social Metrics Pro on unlimited domains that you own. Cost includes free lifetime updates and support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: Price details for Social Metrics Pro depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Presently, the plugin sells for the amounts shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing set by the product developer when you visit the website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest price:
Additional Plugin Information
SocialMetricsPro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Our Recommendation
As mentioned earlier, with the increase in importance of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, search engines like Bing and Google now take into account social signals when determining website ranking.
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 users immediate feedback on the success of their social media marketing strategy and guides them how and where 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 directly from your WP admin area.
We recommend getting this plugin if you own or manage WordPress sites and want to monitor which network are working for your business.
For complete details, visit the plugin website here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics For WordPress
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