Social interactions like +1s on Google+, Facebook likes, etc. are called social signals.
Google has been elevating the importance given to social signals as part of its ranking algorithm since late 2010.
Note: Google encourages businesses 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. 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 so many things change quickly on social media. Without a perfect ‘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 a sensible one - “wait and see” how things develop over time, as websites that provide value normally develop longevity, trust and authority, and these are the sites that Google naturally wants to rank higher in its search engine results.
Social Signal Sources
Social media sites that search engines like Google look to for measuring social signals include:
With almost 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most influential social media network on the planet. Research shows that an average post can reach over 100,000 users, so even if it seems like Facebook is not driving droves of customers to your site, you should not be quick to dismiss the power of leveraging Facebook, as Google processes data and information from Facebook to help determine your search rankings. In fact, Facebook seems influence search rankings more than other social media sites, like GooglePlus or Twitter.
(Number of monthly active Facebook users. Source: Statista.com)
After Facebook, Twitter is the next largest social media site in the world, with over 500 million tweets sent out each day. Twitter has a significant amount of influence on the cybersphere and places great emphasis on tweeting posts that provide great value to readers over the number of tweets sent …
(Over 500 million tweets are sent every day. Source: InternetLiveStats.com)
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 interacting on Google+ each day. 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, StumbleUpon,Reddit, and Digg.
(A number of social sites provide important signals that can affect your search engine rankings)
Which Social Signals Should You Pay Attention To?
Search engines like Bing and Google track various social signals, including:
- Facebook – e.g. how many Facebook shares, likes, and comments 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 (influential users), how many followers on Google+ a URL has, number and authority of +1s, etc.
- Other sites – e.g. growth rate of Pins and re-Pins on Pinterest, upvotes on Reddit, etc.
- Not so obvious signals – In addition to the above, there are other not so obvious factors that can indirectly influence search rankings. These include desirable and undesirable factors, such as improving clickthrough rate (CTR) [positive], and whether your site is deemed to be irrelevant by other users [negative].
As a business owner, it’s not only important to find ways to develop your social media presence, but also to be able to monitor, measure and analyze your social media in order to improve your business results.
(Use social media marketing to improve your results online)
Monitoring social media activity allows you to gain insights into your company’s online visibility on social media, avert disasters, assess competitor activity, measure the impact of your marketing campaigns, and spot potential market opportunities. It can also provide vital information about emerging trends and what clients and consumers are thinking about specific brands, products, businesses, or topics.
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 various groups that include market researchers, marketing professionals, digital reputation managers, agencies, sales teams, and social engagement and community staff. Typically, many small businesses don’t can’t afford to pay social media monitoring professionals to continually track their coverage in the and actively monitor their online reputation.
Fortunately various technology providers have developed a range of tools to facilitate the active tracking of a broad range of social media channels, enabling you to identify what is being said online about your products or brand so you can respond to conversations and interact with consumers in a timely fashion.
We have written a detailed article on social media monitoring tools and technologies that will help you identify new trends and opportunities, track competitor activity, see what conversations are taking place online that could affect your business,etc. Go here to learn more:
(Are you looking for an effective tool to help you measure your social signals?)
This article explores a simple, yet highly effective social media monitoring tool for a WordPress-based web presence and increasing your social media influence.
Announcing …
Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics Plugin For WordPress
Plugin Description
SocialMetricsPro is an easy-to-use social analytics plugin for WordPress that is designed to help you increase your social media exposure in an uncomplicated way. It is built on a simple premise – the system tracks and measures how each signal is performing and returns either a green or red indicator. Your job is simple … change more reds into greens.
(Social Metrics Pro provides a system that any website owner can operate … turn all the reds into greens!)
Colors indicate relative popularity. Posts with highest number of shares display green. Posts with low social media activity display amber and red.
The plugin developers tested SocialMetricsPro on a network of over two thousand sites 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 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 the plugin developers, improving your social marketing campaigns can positively can have a dramatic effect on your search rankings, web traffic and revenue!)
For more details go here:
Benefits Of Using Social Metrics Pro
Below are just some of the many benefits of using Social Metrics Pro to track Likes, Tweets, Pins, +1s and more from your WP Dashboard on your website:
Installation Is Easy
Social Metrics Pro is quite easy to install. Simply upload the plugin file to your Plugins folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Very Simple To Use
As mentioned earlier, the site owner’s goal is to change red squares into greens. SocialMetricsPro tracks and measures social media signals so you know which social marketing campaigns require more effort and which social marketing campaigns need to be better optimized.
Choose Only Signals You Care About
Social Metrics Pro provides a powerful dashboard to monitor social activity across leading networks like Twitter, Facebook, GooglePlus, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Digg, and StumbleUpon.
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 of my posts are the most popular?
- And more …
With SocialMetricsPro, all this information is available on-demand, with a single click.
(Social Metrics Pro constantly tracks the social media sites that you care most about!)
Product Features
SocialMetricsPro provides many unique features to WP users. Below we have listed some of these:
- Quick and simple to install and configure. Ready to use in minutes.
- 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 dashboard, display popular content on your blog sidebar or anywhere in your site using widgets.
- One-click upgrades. You can update SocialMetricsPro with one click via the WordPress Updates page, or update it manually. You can also opt to receive email notifications whenever new plugin updates are released.
- Minimal server resources consumption. The plugin generates social metrics reports very quickly, using very little server resources. Report generation also displays the amount of time spent retrieving information and the server memory used to gather and compile data.
Additional features include:
- Sort, Search And Filter Features: Social Metrics Pro allows you to sort and filter information as you like. You can perform keyword searches to study topic-related posts, and even filter the results by post authors, publishing date, category, or by post type.
- Export Data To Excel: 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.
(Social Metrics Pro is simple to use … just change all reds into greens!)
Feedback From Customers
Below are just a few of the testimonials customers have submitted regarding Social Metrics Pro:
”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
Product Tips
A step-by-step guide showing you how to optimize your campaigns and improve your social media strategy (i.e. how to 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, full refund guarantee.
Software Price
SocialMetricsPro plugin is available in two editions:
- Single Site Edition – This allows you to use SocialMetricsPro on a single web site. Cost includes free lifetime upgrades and support. Price = $27.00 (one-time).
- Unlimited Sites Licensing – This lets you run SocialMetricsPro on multiple websites that you own. It includes free lifetime updates and free support. Cost = $47.00 (one-time).
Note: Current pricing for the SocialMetricsPro product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The price above was correct when this article was written. This may not be the actual price set by the product author when you visit the product site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
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, with the rising importance of social sites like Twitter and Facebook, search engines like Bing and Google now take into account a range of social signals when determining a website’s 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 WordPress users instant feedback on the success of their social media marketing strategy and guides them how to direct their efforts in order to improve their results.
SocialMetricsPro is an ideal tool for beginners and advanced WordPress users alike. It tracks Tweets, Likes, Pins, +1s and more directly from your WordPress admin area.
We recommend this plugin if you own or manage WordPress sites and would like to shorten your social media marketing learning curve.
To learn more, check out the plugin here: Social Metrics Pro – Social Media Analytics Plugin For WordPress
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