Social interactions and recommendations like +1s on GooglePlus, Facebook likes, etc. are called social signals.
Google has been tracking social signals as part of its ranking algorithm since late 2010.
Note: Google encourages businesses to build their social media presence as a long-term investment to drive qualified traffic, instead of aiming for short-term benefits like search ranking placement. Google’s own head of the 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 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 websites that provide real value normally develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the websites that Google wants to rank higher in its search listings.
Social Signal Sources
Social sites that search engines like Google and Bing look to for measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion active users, Facebook is the largest social media community in the world. It has been estimated that a single post on Facebook can reach over 100,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving a ton of sales on your site, you should not be quick to dismiss Facebook as an important part of your business strategy, as Google processes data and information from Facebook when determining your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems influence search engine rankings more than other social media sites.
(Number of monthly 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 has a significant amount of influence online and places great emphasis on tweeting posts that provide great value to readers over the amount of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent every single day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
Google+
As Google’s own social site, GooglePlus naturally carries a significant degree of authority online, even if it is still a fledgling online community compared to sites like Twitter and Facebook.
(More people are interacting socially on GooglePlus each week. Source: Internet Live Stats)
In addition to the big three social sites listed above, there are a number of other social media networks that provide important social metrics, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon,Reddit, and Digg.
(Social media sites provide important signals that can affect your search rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Be Paying Attention To?
Social signals tracked by search engines like Bing and Google include the following:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook shares, likes, and comments you have, growth rate of shares and likes, etc.
- Twitter – e.g. tweets and retweets, the number of people tweeting, trending topics, etc.
- GooglePlus – e.g. who is following you (high profile users), how many followers on Google+ your site page has amassed, spread rate 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 indirectly influence search traffic. These include desirable and negative factors, such as links from authority sites (backlinks) (not as influential as they once were, but still a factor) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be of poor quality 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, measure and analyze your social campaigns in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media to help improve your business results)
Monitoring social media activity allows you to gain insights into what people are saying about your brand, company, or services on social media, be alerted to crises, identify market opportunities, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, and spy on your competitors. Additionally, social media monitoring can also provide vital information about emerging trends and what consumers and clients think about specific brands, products, topics, 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, typically carried out by a cross-section of people including PR companies, marketing teams, market research, social engagement and community staff, social marketing agencies, and sales teams. Typically, small businesses do not can’t afford to pay a media monitoring service to continually track their coverage in the and actively monitor their digital reputation.
Fortunately different technology providers have developed a range of affordable and even free tools to facilitate the active monitoring of a variety of social media channels, allowing companies to track what is being said online about their products or brands so they can react to conversations and interact with consumers in a timely fashion.
We have created a comprehensive article where we explore over 30 social media monitoring tools that are worth knowing about. See this page to learn more:
(Are you looking for an effective tool that can help you track social signals?)
This article discusses a simple social media tracking plugin for WordPress and increasing your social media presence online.
Announcing …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics Plugin For WordPress
Plugin Description
SocialMetricsPro is an easy-to-use social analytics plugin that is designed to make increasing your social media influence uncomplicated. It is built on a simple premise – Social Metrics Pro tracks how each signal is performing and displays either a green or red indicator. Your job is simple … turn more red squares into greens.
(SocialMetricsPro provides a system that anyone can follow … just turn reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. This simplifies your social analytics. Posts that receive the most shares are colored green. Posts with low social media activity are colored amber or red.
The developers of SocialMetricsPro tested their plugin on a network of 2,000+ websites 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 noticed 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 media marketing campaigns can positively impact your search engine rankings, web traffic and revenue!)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Plugin Benefits
Here we have listed just some of the many benefits of using Social Metrics Pro to track Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more right from your WordPress Dashboard on your website:
Really Easy To Install
SocialMetricsPro is really easy to install. Just upload the plugin file to your Plugins folder via your admin user area and activate.
Really Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s objective is to change reds 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.
Select Only Signals From The Networks You Care About
SocialMetricsPro provides a powerful dashboard to monitor social media activity across leading networks like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Digg, and StumbleUpon.
SocialMetricsPro 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 on social media?
- And more …
With Social Metrics Pro, all of this information can be accessed with a single click.
(SocialMetricsPro actively tracks social signals from the sites that you care most about!)
Product Features
SocialMetricsPro provides WP users with a number of features. Below we have listed some:
- Fast and easy to install and set up. Be up and running in minutes.
- SocialMetricsPro Is Widgets And Extensions Ready. You can extend the plugin’s functionality with external and built-in widgets. View updated stats from your WP admin bar, display socially popular content on your blog sidebar or anywhere on your site using point-and-click widgets.
- 1-click updates. You can update the plugin in one click via the WordPress Updates screen, or update the manually manually. You can also choose to be notified via email whenever a new version is released.
- Plugin uses very little resources. Metric reports are generated very quickly, using very little server resources. Report generation also displays the amount of time spent retrieving the information and the server memory used to gather and compile data.
Additional plugin features include:
- Sort, Search And Filter Features: SocialMetricsPro lets you sort, search and filter data as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study posts related to certain topics, and even filter the results by post type, post authors, publishing date, or by category.
- 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 the spreadsheet application of your choice.
(Social Metrics Pro is really simple to use … just change all red squares into greens!)
User Testimonials
Here are some of the testimonials and feedback users have published about Social Metrics Pro:
”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
***
”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
Plugin Tips
A practical guide showing you how to optimize your campaigns and improve your social media strategy (i.e. turn reds into greens) is also included.
Support
The software is well-supported, and users get lifetime updates and new releases for free with their purchase, backed by a risk-free, sixty-day, complete money-back guarantee.
Plugin Cost
Social Metrics Pro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site License – This enables you to configure SocialMetricsPro on a single site. Price includes free lifetime upgrades and free support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This edition lets you set up SocialMetricsPro on all web sites that you own. Includes free lifetime updates and support. Price = $47.00 (one-time).
Please Note: Pricing for the product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Currently, the plugin is selling for the pricing shown above. This may not be the actual price set by the plugin author when you visit the site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing here:
Additional Info
SocialMetricsPro requires a self-hosted installation of WordPress and can be instantly downloaded after purchase.
Download This Product
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. Social Metrics Pro solves the problem of how to find a simple, time-saving solution that gives WordPress users instant feedback on the success of their social media marketing campaigns and shows them how and where to direct their efforts in order 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 directly from your WordPress dashboard.
We recommend Social Metrics Pro if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to measure your social media marketing results professionally.
To learn more, visit the plugin website here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Analytics For WordPress
***
***