Social interactions like +1s on Google+, Facebook comments, 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 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 social trends and relationships can change at a moment’s notice. Without a reliable ‘map,’ Google is understandably reticent to assign more importance to the social sphere 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 develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google wants to ascribe higher search rankings to.
Social Signal Sources
Social media sites that search engines like Google and Bing look to for measuring social signals include:
With more than 1.5 billion active users, Facebook is the most dominant social network in the world. It has been estimated that an average post on Facebook can reach up to 150,000 users, so even if no one is buying your products or services on Facebook, don’t be quick to dismiss Facebook as an important part of your business strategy, as Google processes social data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, research shows that Facebook seems influence search engine rankings more than other social media sites, like Google+ and Twitter.
(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 has a significant amount of influence on the cybersphere and places great importance on the authority of tweets posted to followers over the volume of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent each day. Source: Internet Live Stats)
Google Plus
Google’s own social media site naturally carries great authority online, even if it is still a fledgling social community compared to sites like Twitter and Facebook.
(More people are actively using Google+ every month. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
In addition to the big 3 listed above, there are a number of other social sites worth getting to know, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Digg, StumbleUpon, and Reddit.
(A number of social media sites provide important signals to search engines that could affect your rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Search engines like Bing and Google track a number of social signals, including:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook shares, likes, and comments you have, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. how many tweets and retweets your web page has, how influential the person retweeting your information is, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many followers on Google+ your site page has amassed, amount of adds and shares, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, comments on Digg, etc.
- Other signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious social media-related signals that can influence search engine 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 find ways to grow your presence on major social networking websites, but also to be able to track and analyze your social media in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media marketing to help improve your business results)
Social media monitoring allows you to find insights into your brand’s overall visibility on social media, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, spy on your competition, identify opportunities for engagement, and be alerted to impending crises. It can also provide vital data about emerging trends and what clients and consumers are thinking about specific brands, topics, products, or businesses.
As a business intelligence tool, social signal monitoring is invaluable. Using social media monitoring as a form of business intelligence, however, is a complex undertaking, often carried out by various people including market research, marketing teams, online reputation managers, social engagement and community personnel, professional sales reps, and agencies. Typically, many small businesses don’t have the budget to pay media monitoring professionals to track their coverage in the media.
Fortunately a number of technology companies have developed affordable tools that facilitate the active monitoring of a broad range of social media channels, allowing companies to identify and even predict consumer behavior around their products or brands allowing them to respond proactively to conversations and interact with online users in a timely manner.
We have created a comprehensive article where we explore several social media monitoring tools that will help you manage, measure, and analyze your social media marketing initiatives. Visit this page to learn more:
(Are you searching for an effective way to monitor your social signals?)
This article explores a simple, yet highly effective WordPress plugin for tracking social signals and increasing your social media presence.
Announcing …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics WordPress Plugin
Description Of Plugin
Social Metrics Pro is an easy-to-install social media analytics WordPress plugin that is designed to help users increase their social media presence in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple premise – the plugin measures how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. Your objective is to change all the red squares into greens.
(A system that any user can operate … turn all the reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts that receive the most shares display 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 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 a 360% improvement in traffic for their top 10 performing sites, 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 marketing can dramatically can have a positive effect on your search rankings, traffic and revenue!)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Benefits Of Using SocialMetricsPro
Here we have listed just some of the many benefits and advantages of using SocialMetricsPro to track Likes, Tweets, Pins, +1s and more from your WP Dashboard on your site:
Fast And Simple To Install And Configure. Be Up And Running In Minutes.
Social Metrics Pro is really easy to install. Simply upload it to your Plugins folder via your admin user login and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the user’s job is to convert all the red squares into greens. The plugin tracks and measures social signals the way Google sees it so you know which campaigns require more effort and which campaigns need to be better optimized.
Track The Social Signals From The Networks You Care About
SocialMetricsPro provides a powerful dashboard to track and monitor social activity from networks like Facebook, GooglePlus, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, and Digg.
Social Metrics Pro 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 are my most popular posts?
- And more …
With Social Metrics Pro, all this information can be accessed with a single click.
(SocialMetricsPro constantly tracks social signals from the social sites that you care most about!)
Product Features
SocialMetricsPro offers WordPress users with many features. Here are just a few of these:
- Quick and easy to install and use. Ready to go to work in no time.
- SocialMetricsPro Is Widgets & Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality using built-in and external widgets. Access the latest information from your WordPress admin bar, add socially popular content to your sidebar or anywhere on your site using widgets.
- 1-click upgrading. Update SocialMetricsPro with one click via the WordPress Updates page, or update the manually manually. You can also opt to receive email notifications when new versions are released.
- Plugin even works on the smallest hosting configuration. Metric reports are compiled in seconds, consuming very little hosting resources. Report generation also displays the amount of time spent retrieving information and the server memory consumed when gathering and compiling data.
Additional features include:
- Sorting, Searching & Filtering Features: SocialMetricsPro lets you sort, search 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 authors, publishing date, category, or by post type.
- 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 Excel or the spreadsheet application of your choice.
(SocialMetricsPro is very simple to use … just turn more reds into greens!)
Feedback From Product Customers
Below are a few of the testimonials and comments plugin customers have submitted regarding the Social Metrics Pro plugin:
”Social Metrics is the easiest way to see at a glance which posts have performed well on social networks.” Kevin Muldoon, Founder of WPMods.com
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”If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve.” Goes one of the most important sayings in business. And this is particularly true for tracking of your social mentions I found. There were two things that helped me a great deal to increase sharing after installing Social Metrics: First, I was able to see that some of my articles would perform much better on networks I wasn’t particularly using, such as StumbleUpon for example. Secondly, I could filter out the best performing content more easily and analyse what makes my readers share. Since then I have focused strongly on producing and replicating those posts that performed best.” Leo Widrich, Co-Founder of Buffer
Social Metrics Pro Plugin – Useful Tips
A step-by-step guide on how to optimize your social media strategy (i.e. turn reds into greens) is also included.
Support
Social Metrics Pro is well-supported, and comes with free support and free lifetime updates, backed by a risk-free, 60-day, complete money-back guarantee.
Plugin Price
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Licensing – This option allows you to configure Social Metrics Pro on a single website. Includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Cost = $27.00 (one-time).
- Multi-Site License Edition – This option lets you set up SocialMetricsPro on unlimited domains that you own. It includes free lifetime updates and support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: Pricing details of the Social Metrics Pro product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. When we last checked, the software is being retailed for the pricing shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the software seller when you visit the product site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing details here:
Additional Information
Social Metrics Pro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
The Bottom Line
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 you immediate feedback on the success of your social media marketing campaigns and guides you how to direct your efforts in order to improve your results.
Social Metrics Pro is ideal for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WP admin area.
We recommend Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to shorten your social media marketing learning curve.
To learn more, visit the plugin website: SocialMetricsPro – Social Analytics For WordPress
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