Google Continues Push for Social Domination with Social Engagement Tool

By Angela Brown, Senior Digital Strategist

Just days after launching Google+, the search giant upped the ante with the launch of a social engagement measurement tool in Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools. In Google Analytics, this new feature is available in the Visitor section between Technology and Mobile.

It can only be seen in the new GA interface, so if you haven’t made the switch yet, now is a good time to do so.

Marketers and analysts have been waiting for ages for improved social measurement from GA, so this is a very exciting development. The new Social Plugin Tracking tool for GA allows users to compare the effects various social interactions on traffic to their websites – including +1s, tweets and sharing and likes on Facebook – without some of the GA wizardry and use of third-party tools that was necessary in the past.

Tracking through the Social Plugin allows users to create three new types of reports: Engagement, Action and Pages. Engagement tracks changes in the way visitors interact with your site based visits from social media sites. Pages compares website pages based on the number of social actions (likes, +1 clicks) they receive and Actions tracks the number of social actions users take directly on your site.

The importance and convenience of the ability to track these interactions within the GA interface are undeniable, but we agree with Mashable’s take that this may also be a subtle push to encourage increased adoption of its +1 button.

What This Means to You

If you’re a GA user, this is one less thing you need to track outside of the interface.  But you’ll also have much better insight into the impact of social media platforms and plugins on traffic to your website.

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